SE4PARKES006 Throwback Thursday March 13 “How rural communities can thrive with Libertarian values”

SE4PARKES006 Throwback Thursday March 13 “How rural communities can thrive with Libertarian values”

Peter Kenyon from Bank of Ideas was a big influence on how I saw rural communities and their ability to thrive. Peter is passionately adamant, “Great communities don’t just happen! They are created, nurtured and sustained by caring, connected and involved residents”.

Peter shared many insights while working in our region, one nugget of gold was a quote by John Kania, “Community has the power to change everything. No amount of innovation, individual brilliance, or money can transform our broken society as effectively and sustainably as building community.”

Peter’s enthusiasm and passion for change was infectious, he reinstalled the belief in me that communities really do have the power to create the future of their design – if they choose.

Over many years, I had become despondent, to a point where change only seemed possible if the right government funding was available at the same time. How wrong was I? This was a dangerous belief to let take seed. Thankfully Peter’s influence course corrected me.

Through two proud and generous Libertarians’ in Peter Rothwell and John Ruddick, I first learned the principles of “Libertarianism”, a political philosophy that seemed to support and enable all the foundations of rural community development. I was both intrigued and excited. I read, I listened, I watched and I read some more. Like any philosophy there appears to be extreme fringes, and often these are what get talked about the most, but the great big chunk of middle-ground, left me feeling right at home.

I don’t think there is a more apt way to introduce “Throwback Thursday’s” than to share a snippet by the founder of the Libertarian Party of Australia, Dr John Humphrey’s from his opening remarks from the most recent Friedman Conference, held last year. Thank you Dr John, for sharing Libertarian thoughts and wisdom with Australian’s over many years, I truly hope the tide has turned and we will begin to see a surge of understanding and belief in what Libertarian principles offer our society and economy. I’m excited to be a part of this conversation and growing awareness.

In my readings, I came across this powerful quote, “The fatal conceit of intellectuals is to think that smart people can design an economy or society better than the apparently chaotic interactions of millions of people. Such intellectuals fail to realise how much they don’t know, or how a market makes use of all the localised knowledge each of us possesses”. Friedrich A Hayek - a Nobel prize winner, a Author, Academic and Political Philosopher, a Libertarian.
May we all genuinely appreciate the knowledge and skills that each of us possess and work together towards an economy and society that our kids can be proud of and that will see their kids into a safe and secure future?

#timeforchange #parkes #rurallife #centralwestnsw #nsw #regionalnsw #regionalaustralia #future #farming #mining #smallbusiness

Video Credit and thanks to Topher Field. Full video can be found at
https://www.youtube.com/@TopherField