“We must make the building of a free society once more an intellectual adventure, a deed of courage.”
The great economist Friedrich Hayek wrote those words 70 years ago and his words are every bit as relevant today!
My name is Don Boudreaux.
As a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and an economics professor at George Mason University, I’ve eagerly accepted Hayek’s challenge, and so too have my colleagues.
I’m emailing you today to urge you to join us in this pivotal challenge that’ll decide America’s fate…whether our kids and grandkids will inherit the same nation founded on the values of individual liberty.
If you donate $50 or more, I’ll send you a free copy of F. A. Hayek’s famous 1949 essay, “The Intellectuals and Socialism,” as a token of my appreciation for your generosity!
F.A. Hayek and his Mont Pelerin Society colleagues were the lonely few scholars with the courage to stand strong in defense of a free society and a liberal social order when those ideas seemed dead.
Thanks to Hayek and great thinkers such as Ludwig von Mises and Milton Friedman, the ideas of freedom that you and I hold dear inspired major movements, including the Reagan Revolution in the U.S. and Margaret Thatcher’s reforms in the U.K.
I can’t emphasize enough how much this intellectual giant’s words have inspired Mercatus for the past 40 years and continue to motivate us daily in our tireless efforts...
...to do everything in our power to build a free society!
But to make the critical impact needed to win our battle against the powerful forces fighting to kill the cornerstone of a free society—individual liberty—I need your help.
With your generous gift today, you’ll play a major role in supporting the Mercatus Center’s programs and our scholars, who are working exhaustively to:
Provide powerful university research that debunks economic fallacies and make the undeniable case to restore fiscal sanity;
Train a new generation of outstanding economists and academic leaders who make the case for a free society; AND
Reach key audiences including Congress and decision-makers in DC...governors and state legislators...influential policy organizations and citizen groups...and ordinary Americans…with better economic ideas!
I know there are a lot of terrific organizations out there fighting to advance liberty.
But none are quite like Mercatus!
I couldn’t be prouder of my colleagues’ excellent work, which has put the Mercatus Center at the heart of the biggest policy debates in DC and around the country.
Our scholars don’t toady to politicians or advance half measures.
Mercatus scholars have the integrity to boldly say what’s right...just like Hayek did!
The truth is...our staff makes the ideas of freedom heard like no one else!
But it’s up to you and me to amplify their abilities and message, and to get their important free market ideas to the people who need to hear them.
And don’t forget…as a special thanks for donating a $50 or more, you’ll receive a free copy of Hayek’s “The Intellectuals and Socialism” essay!
As I mentioned earlier, this essay is just as relevant now as it was more than 70 years ago when he wrote it. It clearly lays out the reasons why the work of Mercatus is so vital today.
You probably aren’t surprised that the bulk of Americans do not embrace socialism.
But here’s the problem...the intellectuals who drive the debates do. As a result, collectivists in academia have pushed this agenda further and further.
So, where do these so-called intellectuals get their flawed and destructive ideas?
As Hayek explains, they get them from the universities.
Sadly, university professors were at the core of the “New Deal” and “Great Society” policy revolutions that devastated American liberty in the 20th century.
FDR’s “Brain Trust” came from Columbia University, and the architects of LBJ’s Great Society expansions of government originated at Harvard.
These disastrous ideas were pushed by the “second-hand dealers in ideas” who used them to shape public discourse, change public policy, and fundamentally alter...
...the people’s relationship with the American government!
By setting the terms of the debates, the intellectuals brought us to the situation we’re in today, with a
Massive government that’s grown FAR beyond its intended role, and
An American polity who increasingly have less and less of our natural rights that are also guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution!
Mercatus Center scholars recognize the critical role universities play in this process.
That’s why our core mission is to advocate for a free society, which we do by offering strong, free-market alternatives to “politics as usual.”
Before I continue, let me make something abundantly clear.
Even though I’m writing with great urgency, I’m extremely optimistic. In fact...
...I have great news to share with you!
At this moment in history, in October 2021, you and I have a phenomenal opportunity to successfully follow Hayek’s roadmap to restore American liberty.
That’s why I’m asking you to join our Mercatus team in taking full advantage of this opportunity.
...making a deep and lasting impact that’ll change the future course of America back in the direction of a free society… one that respects liberty and our Founders’ small-government vision.
My Mercatus colleagues CAN accomplish this major challenge, BUT only with your help!
For too long, we’ve let the intellectuals get away with promoting collectivist ideas and government action as the solution to all our problems. For too long, they’ve dominated debates with their utopian notions and addiction to government spending and regulation.
Now is the time for you and me to fight back. It’s time to live up to Hayek’s challenge to “regain that belief in the power of ideas.”
Your investment in the Mercatus Center will make all the difference. I hope we can count on you today. Please give now and help build the free society of which Hayek spoke.
And don’t forget…as a special thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more, you’ll receive a free copy of Hayek’s “The Intellectuals and Socialism” essay!
Thank you for reading my email -- and thank you in advance for standing with Mercatus in the fight to restore freedom.
