This past weekend turned out to be a great experience at Freedom Fest. There were not as many people as I had hoped there would be (probably due to timing), but the quality of the people is what matters most – and as far as conferences go, this one not only had an overall great quality of people, but the lack of the masses of people also provided more quality time with the people (old and new faces alike) that I met.
Another good thing was that because Freedom Fest was in Vegas, I was able to meet a new crop of people – Westerners. Yep, lots of people from California in particular, but also Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and other places out in the old frontier.
There were some great moments…
First, I finally got to meet Brendan Steinhauser, who I’ve communicated so much with over email, IM’s and phone calls – it’s great to meet people personally that you’ve communicated with, especially a fellow comrade in the revolution. Brendan and I conducted a panel on “Bringing Conservative Principles to Your Campus,” where Brendan spoke more of the on-campus experience that he had as the Executive Director of the Young Conservatives of Texas, and I spoke more about how students could utilize ISI’s resources as well as the resources of other national organizations that provide them.
I also got to meet a few other students I have been in frequent contact with, though I wasn’t expecting to – including one student from UC-Boulder who started The Liberty Club, an ISI Group. Friday night, 3 students from UC-Boulder, 2 from UN-Reno, and 2 from two schools in California (including Brendan) got together for dinner – conversations included everything from “when the sun will blow up,” or “whether it will dim out”, to “did man really walk on the moon? or was this just a fiction?” Yes, a bunch of conservative/libertarian students got together and forgot about politics and talked about random crap. Then again, I think this defines the conservative. It wasn’t about ideology, but about thinking, with prudence of course.
Another high of the weekend was meeting and actually having a good little discussion with Dinesh D’Souza. I had bought his book, “Letters to A Young Conservative,” and he signed it, “To Francisco – A Champion of Conservative Principles!” (was I ever ecstactic – actually I still am). I think Dinesh is one of the great conservative thinkers (not to mention speakers) of our time. Who knows what the future has in store for him, but whatever it is, he has certainly had an impact on our generation of conservative intellectuals and activists.
Freedom Fest should get better every year – and I think it’s very healthy that it is a conference that is all about great ideas, great thinkers, and great books – but more importanly, about great debate. It ended with a debate between Bob Barr and Dinesh D’Souza over whether the war on terrorism has helped spread liberty or impede it. Both sides presented relevant issues, and made each side think a bit more, rather than what the Left does – they hardly debate, but only promote “group think.” Group think makes people feel like they are united, but it makes them less free, and less productive.
Freedom Fest certainly lived up to its name – not only does it celebrate freedom through the many organizations that sponsor it, but it encourages freedom of thought among all its participants.