[Anonymous]

I thought it’d be great to have an intro thread for everyone to introduce themselves. My name is Shawn and I teach IB European history and starting next year AP US history as well at a large public high school in El Paso Tx. I’m also a graduate student in history at UT El Paso and hoping to continue on to a Ph.D. also in history. This is my second career as I spent a decade serving the Empire in the Navy.

[jmlicari]

Good idea. My name is John and I am a elementary music teacher in Far Rockaway, NY. While my professional and educational background is entirely in music, I have a soft spot for history, and free-market economics. Aside from teaching, I run a small electronic music engraving business on the side. I also compose classical music, and play drums in a few punk rock bands.

[dbledsoe83]

My name is Daniel Bledsoe and I graduated from UNT with a BA in Radio/TV/Film in 2005. I went to college with the misunderstanding that I would come out on the other side with knowledge that would make my life prosperous. Well, my naivety got the better of me b/c I came out with absolutely no understanding on how the world works. Don’t get me wrong, my time at college gave me experiences and friends that I never would of had but with respect for my parents who are responsible enough to save and send me, I think that money could have been way better spent to reach my ends.

I considered it a hobby but History has always been a love of mine and if I would have stayed a little longer for one more class I could have minored in it (whoopee). After the Ron Paul ’08 run and the economic downturn I was determined to understand how the economy works. With the direction of the Campaign for Liberty website’s education page, after I watched the videos on Economics in One Lesson everything just clicked, it’s so simple. I literally never read, I mean never, and I found The History of Banking in the U.S. by Rothbard online and read it online till about halfway through the book over a weekend, until I bought it.

Some of the Austrian concepts were tough to wrap your head around at first but through History, much like Aesop’s Fables, I was able to get it with real world examples. Through my own efforts and a little point in the right direction I have been able to makes sense of the world faster and more efficiently than all of my years in public school.

“History should teach us to recognize causes and to understand driving forces; and when we understand everything, we will forgive everything.” ~ Mises

I don’t mean to tell my whole life story or anything but I really expect to love this site and I would like to thank anyone who sacrificed personal gain in pursuit of the truth, so that I can learn it today.

[nightshift1961]

Hi, my name is Steve and I came here in hopes of continuing my self-education. For the first 40 years of my life I kept my head in the sand and stayed away from anything to do with politics, in fact I rarely watched any news other then the weather. It was only after 9-11 that I started paying attention to the news mainly because I was retired military and I had a son in the Army heading over to Iraq. After supporting the great central Government in the response to 9-11 I started getting this feeling that I didn’t fully agree with what was going on but it felt almost unpatriotic to speak out on those feelings. The 2008 Presidential campaign was the first time I really started paying attention to politics, that lead me to starting a blog (www.forourfoundingfathers.blogspot.com) (shameless plug) mainly so I could vent. Writing led me to actually reading the Constitution and the Declaration and that led to some research into what each really meant. I mostly write from my own opinions but at the same time I try to at least ensure I’m not putting out false statements. I would also like to give Mike Church a plug here, during what I would like to call my awakening I found Mike Church on satellite radio which ultimately led me to some of books written by the men that started this website. In short, like I stated before I came here to continue learning.

[metroulas]

Howdy- my name is Mike Metroulas. If you’re wondering, it’s pronounced “Meh-TRUE-liss.” I teach history and geography at St. Louis Community College. This is a second career for me as well; I spent the first part of my adult life playing and teaching guitar, which I still do, only now it’s just for fun. Remember those loons onstage at the St. Louis Tea Party rally a few years back, dressed as the Founding Fathers? I’m part of that. The band is called The Sounding Fathers.

I also write pieces for Breitbart’s Big Journalism when I have time.

I am currently in a cooperative doctoral program in history offered by the Southern Illinois University system… SIU Carbondale awards the degree, but I take most of my classes at Edwardsville (the campus close to St. Louis). I have taken a few courses through the Mises Academy and when I saw this, I signed up immediately since I’ve been a fan of Dr. Woods for a long time. I was pleasantly surprised to see Dr. Bean taking part in this as well. I am enrolled in his class on American conservatism for this fall, which I am looking forward to.

It’s great to meet all of you.

Mike

[jdladeur]

Hi everyone! My name is John LaDeur. I am a senior psychology major at North Central College in Illinois. I was introduced to libertarian thought about two years ago, largely through some of Dr. Woods’ books as well as writings from Peter Schiff, Ron Paul, and Lew Rockwell. I’ve quickly become quite passionate about the liberty movement, as I suspect all of us are, and although I plan to work as an occupational therapy assistant after graduation, I have my heart set on running for local office in the relatively distant future.

I’m extremely excited to learn about and discuss historical, economic and all other matters concerning personal freedom with like-minded individuals like yourselves!

[erik-libertyclassroom]

Hi, I’m Erik Carlseen, in San Diego, CA. I deal with IT infrastructure and sell women’s underwear. Mostly because of the looks I get from people when I introduce myself this way. I enjoy reading books by folks like Dr. Woods. I’m currently slogging my way through Human Action (which, while fascinating, is an extraordinary substitute for Ambien – not due to boredom, but because after about 20 minutes my brain is completely exhausted). I also like to watch YouTube videos about history and economics while I work two jobs (multitasking masochism at its finest), so I’m excited to have this resource available.

I really wish I had some higher noble purpose for all of this. I can’t really run for office because there are too many naked pictures of me on the Internet. Mostly I’ll just use this information to be a pedantic smart-ass whenever I’m around progressives and conservatives. Usually they convert to libertarianism just to make me shut the hell up. Hey, whatever works.

[JoshArizona]

Hi, my name is Josh. I am just a humble student of Liberty. My journey began in 2007 when I read Barry Goldwater’s ‘Conscience of a Conservative, that book converted me instantly to a Paleoconservative, then a few months late I discovered Ron Paul and he quickly converted me into a libertarian. Since 2007, my life has been committed to learning and spreading the philosophy of Liberty. I progressed from a mindless Neocon drone into the Liberty loving, Austrian school embracing, anti-war. anti-state, pro-market, Rothbardian I am today, all because one day I started applying common sense, and logic to politics and government.

I love the site, thank you Tom for all the work you put into it.

One question I have, are there any plans for a lecture or series of lectures on an Austrian perspective of the history of the Soviet Union?

[connornll]

Hello! My name is Connor and I’m not a history major or anything I just love to learn. Before this website I only have had one history course in High School where I only retained a few bits of information and the rest just went in one ear and out the other. I really like how the lectures are really detailed and have a libertarian/Austrian perspective on it.

Thanks for making such an amazing website and for a relatively low price!

[waresite]

Hello, My name is Jim Ware and I am an orthopedic surgeon in Michigan. I’m looking forward to continuing my education regarding our countries real history. I used to be a lock step Republican up until about 5 yrs ago and I began to read more history form original sources and began to see real history wasn’t being presented by mainstream educators, politicians, or media. Given the events of the past 3-4 years my eyes have been opened even wider. For our country to survive in the future we are going to have to rely more and more on the lessons of our REAL past.

[samuel.g.chick]

Good morning. It’s a pleasure to meet fellow scholars on the road to liberty and enlightenment. I’d like to express my gratitude to Dr. Woods and the Liberty Classroom cadre for the opportunity they have so graciously provided.

My name is Sam, and I’m native to the great state of Delaware, where my wife and I currently reside. I’m a former soldier and current executive in a family enterprise, a saddlery company. I’ve chosen to forgo higher education, so in my free time I work to improve myself through the study of history, economics, philosophy, literature and the natural world. While I enjoy intellectual pursuit in itself, the ultimate goal of my studies, whether by influence or direct participation, is to direct government and political understanding towards a free and just society.

I look forward to learning and conversing together in the coming months.

[tim]

I am Tim Dini (pronounced DEE-NEE), born and raised outside of Chicago (not my fault, but I am sorry about the community organizer thing). I am a recovered Republican Party precinct captain since studying Mises and Hayek.

My father was born and raised in a socialist Italy. Since around 1978, he and I continue to wrestle politically, but he is finally seeing the dire consequences of centralized public control mechanisms. Thank God he still has his mind open at 77 years of age.

I am a huge fan of Tom Woods and Kevin Gutzman. Their in-depth understanding of our constitution is both enlightening and addictive to me, especially as they relate to current day events. I remain stunned that two of my favorite intellects are involved together in one place.

Thank you Kevin and Tom! To help support your cause of teaching true liberty, I will be sharing and promoting Liberty Classroom.

I am blessed to have this opportunity.

[bcely21]

Good Afternoon my name is Brian and I reside in the best state in the union… Virginia. I am a former Marine and Iraq veteran and for the past several years my love for ploitics, history, and economics has grown rapidly. I try to look at things from a non partisan angle and when one does that it is blatantly obvious that both parties are killing us. I owe a lot of my awakening to Mike Church and Andrew Wilkow on the XM Patriot channel. I love to learn about our history and I truly believe that the historical distortion that is being perpetrated by our education system is at the root of our problems. Thank you to Tom, Kevin and the rest of the crew for getting this information out there. I look forward to learning more and I will be spreading the word about this site as much as possible.

[davetbh]

I’m Dave Johnson and live in the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts. My family owns a few small companies and I do all the accounting for them.

I used to be your typical Rush Limbaugh loving neo-con until Mike Church, Tom Woods, and Kevin Gutzman opened my eyes with the help of Ron Paul. Which I would love to thank all of you personally if I could.

Since then I’ve took to mises.org and have been like a sponge soaking up as much information and educating myself in Austrian Economics. I consider myself a Rothbardian anarcho-libertarian. No government is good government.

The better I can self educate myself the better I’ll be able to debate all the statist in Massachusetts.

[apnsdad]

My name is Andrew Nappi. I am 58 years old. I had a career in food service which I ended upon selling my Golden Corral in 1999. I was a great restaurant operator in my day. Beyond that I don’t know much and am here to learn. I have read some works by the faculty and hope to increase my knowledge and help make a difference before my expiration date.

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