Friday, January 14, 2011

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey

I didn't get to see this movie in Hong Kong. Have you watch it yet ?


One of the most misunderstood books in the world.

The original Gulliver’s Travels was written in 1726 by Jonathan Swift, since then there have been various versions released on TV, film and on radio. Aren't they entertaining?


Summary of the plot




Here is "The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible"

"I've been meaning to tell you for some time that I think you're doing fabulous work in the struggle for liberty…Jonathan Gullible is a great read and makes the principles of liberty accessible, even possibly to those with alien and hostile minds."
--Walter E. Williams, Economist

"It certainly presents basic economic principles in a very simple and intelligible form. It is an imaginative and very useful piece of work."
--Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate in Economics

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey is a humorous fable about a young boy in a sailboat who is driven by a storm and shipwrecked on a remote Pacific Island. While marooned, Jonathan encounters people who explain the strange (statist) customs of the island.


     A multitude of issues are covered, including: prohibiting inventions, protectionism, farm subsidies, the tragedy of the commons, property regulations and takings, taxes, inflation, unions, political bribery, occupational licensing, government monopoly, market alternatives to government services, government funding of the arts, special-interest lobbying, tax collection, efficiency, government franchises, government education, property rights, varieties of government, forecasting, paying people not to produce, bureaucracy, elections and voting, contradictions between school and the market, labor laws, social security, patents, liability, vice and drugs, responsibility and virtue, unemployment compensation, rent controls, building codes, zoning, majority rule, and self rule.


     The book ends with chapter questions and a general statement of philosophy which usually generates plenty of excited discussion over the issues. Finally, some other free-market books and organizations are listed for those who want to look further into the free market.

Link: http://www.isil.org/tools/jonathan-gullible.html






The Philisophy of Liberty



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