"A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim."

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Editor's Notes

by John Taylor

The Libertarian Enterprise is proud to devote this issue to the essays from the winners in the Liberty Round Table Essay contest. The best thing I can do at this point is to let the contest's organizer tell the tale. Congratulations to all who entered -- there's always hope with great thinkers like these among our youth!

Your Editor

Hello Friends and Knights,

"And now the moment you've all been waiting for..." ;-)

The winners of the third annual Liberty Round Table Essay contest!

In the 19 to 21 age group:

1st place: Nikolina Kulidzan, 18, SLOBODA (Serbian for "Freedom")
2nd place: Rhys J. Southan, 19, THE PRISON OF CHILDHOOD
Honorable Mention: Scott Van Bergen, 21, A WALL OF SEPARATION: Between Civil Society and State

In the 16 to 18 age group:

1st place: Amber Grunte, 17, UNTITLED
2nd place: Gabe Page, 18, THE SLAVE FACTORY
Honorable Mention: Tessa Somers, 16, THE CHAINS OF HABIT

In the 13 to 15 age group:

1st place: Andy Weiss, 15, STUDENT SUFFRAGE: Stomping Out the Last Vestiges of American Slavery
2nd place: NOTA
Honorable Mention: Casey Brown, 13, WHAT FREEDOM MEANS TO ME

In the 10 to 12 age group:

1st place: Gillian Farroll, 11, FREEDOM
2nd place: Nolwen Cifuentes, 11, UNTITLED
Honorable Mention: Marc Barcomb, 12, WHAT FREEDOM MEANS TO ME

In the 0 to 9 age group:

1st place: NOTA
2nd place: Rylla Smith, 9, I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT WACO
Honorable Mention: Jessica Scheller, UNTITLED

Hobbyt Kudos go to: Ben Hazlewood, for his very well written untitled satire of the legal boundary between childhood and adulthood.

DLT Kudos go to: Kendra Onstott, Kevin Hennessy, Nathan Jones, Justin Mallone, Kristina Okonski, Renee Mizar, Drew Bisson, Mike Thompson, (from Italy) Alberto Mingardi, Kimberly Martin, Ramit Sethi, Lyra D. Monteiro, Ashli Irwin, Jason G. Mahoney, Greg Newburn, Ryan H. Sager, Mike Allen, Heather Barnes, Kendra C. Okonski, Kelly Erin Heinz, and Kevin Hartman.

[My chief regret in this issue is that space will not permit us to print all the "Kudos" entries. My apologies. -- Ed.]

I wish I was a millionaire -- you'd have all won prizes! Congratulations to the winners!

And we hope those who didn't win this year will try again next year if they are still eligible. We had few entries in the younger age groups (hence the unhappy appearance of NOTA, None Of The Above, in those categories), so the chances for young folks who write essays that are on-target in the younger categories are excellent. In the older categories, we had a LARGE number of truly excellent essays. Almost all of the judges said that picking the winners was hard because of the number of deserving entries. In order to try to recognize more of these terrific young writers and thinkers, we've decided to increase the number of prizes in the contest next year (see the announcement below).

All the winner's essays are available for your review on the Liberty Round Table web site (http://www.lrt.org). Check 'em out!

I thank all the Friends and Knights of the Liberty Round Table that made this contest possible, and are making next year's contest possible. I also thank all the authors who entered the contest--just that effort alone is a kind of Doing Freedom and I commend you for it.

Great job everybody!

Bests,

Don L. Tiggre

P.S. PLEASE forward the announcement for the next round of the contest to as many parents and freedom-lovers as possible! Any lists or newsgroups you are on, where it would be appropriate, would be great, as would be reaching caring people in your rolodex. This contests needs more entries, and more supporters (contributors get to help judge the essays, which is a lot of fun). Thanks! -- DLT

---

ANNOUNCING: the 4th annual Liberty Round Table essay contest, on the FREEDOM topic of your choice!

Prizes:     1st    2nd:      3rd:      4th
            $750   $150      $50       $25
   best essay from an entrant aged 19 to 21

            $500   $100      $40       $20
   best essay from an entrant aged 17 to 18

            $200   $50       $25       $15
   best essay from an entrant aged 14 to 16

            $100   $25       $15       $10
   best essay from an entrant aged 0 to 13

Honorable Mentions: $5 in each level (younger entrants may compete in higher levels).

"Hobbit" Kudos (most humorous entry in whole contest): $100

"DLT" Kudos (personal favorites): no cash prize

DATES:
Deadline for entries: March 1, 2000
Prizes Awarded: May 1, 2000

It is vitally important that young people of all cultures around the world understand the nature of freedom, individual rights, and responsibility. Sadly, these critical ideas seem to have fallen out of fashion in modern public 'education' and few young people anywhere understand them thoroughly. It is no surprise then that-even though they may feel an indignation they cannot explain at curfews, dress codes, mandatory 'volunteerism,' compulsory military service, and a host of other violations-young people are often the most docile victims of state aggression.

All of these aggressions against young people make for good essay topics. Here are some more: should school attendance be compulsory? What is freedom? What are rights? What is adulthood? When should one be considered an adult? Should there be an age limit on the right to keep and bear arms (or on drinking, smoking, driving cars, etc.)? What is the relationship between freedom and happiness? What is the relationship between freedom and responsibility? Who is really free, and; Is it right for schools to suspend children's rights?

This is your chance to stand up for yourself: it's time to pick up your pen and fight!

For more information on this contest, including complete rules and the results of our last contest (on defending individual rights), interested persons should point their World Wide Web browsers at: http://www.lrt.org and go to the contest pages. Alternatively, persons with internet access can e-mail Don L. Tiggre ([email protected]) for more information. Hard-copy information is available by writing (include 78� SASE) to: Don L. Tiggre, c/o The Liberty Round Table, 1101 Main Street, PMB 104-254, Evanston, WY 82930

---

Prometheus Award finalist Y2K: THE MILLENNIUM BUG, a suspenseful thriller by Don L. Tiggre does "a superb job of conveying the impact of Y2K to the average non-technical reader," says Ed Yourdon, author of TIME BOMB 2000. Bob Boardman, author of SAVIOR OF FIRE says: "I was up all night, tossing and turning, trying to think of the right words to tell you how great I think your book is." Details at: http://www.allwest.net/ralston

And if you really want to DO FREEDOM check out: http://www.lrt.org, Home of The Freedom City!

Table of Contents

1. Sloboda (Freedom)
                  by Nikolina Kulidzan

2. Untitled
                  by Amber Grunte

3. STUDENT SUFFRAGE: Stomping Out the Last Vestiges of American Slavery
                  by Andy Weiss

4. Freedom
                  by Gillian Farroll

5. The Prison of Childhood
                  by Rhys J. Southan

6. The Slave Factory
                  by Gabe Page

7. Untitled
                  by Nolwen Cifuentes

8. I Want To Know About Waco
                  by Rylla Cathryn Smith

9. A WALL OF SEPARATION: Between Civil Society and State
                  by Scott Van Bergen

10. These Chains of Habit...
                  by Tessa Somers

11. What Freedom Means To Me
                  by Casey Brown

12. What Freedom Means To Me
                  by Mark Barcomb

13. Untitled
                  by Jessica Scheller

Back to The Libertarian Enterprise 1999 Issues.