All of us at Free To Choose Network are saddened to learn of the passing of our friend, Dr. Walter E. Williams. Walter once told me he tried to avoid using anything written within the last 40 years in his economics class. He wanted students to know that Coase, Hayek, and Friedman were right then, and they’re still right today. Walter’s straight-faced irreverence masked his genuine compassion for the human condition; he’d often break the ice at our regular dinners in Wayne, PA by asking, “How many times have you been arrested?” to our stunned table guests, then proceed to …
Category: From Our President
THE ROB REPORT: Without a Story, It’s Just a Fact by Rob Chatfield
A study published in 2011 by the Journal of Ethnic and Racial Studies shows 46% of European countries do not collect data based on origin of race.
In 2018, France removed the word race from its Constitution.
These are interesting, but largely forgettable facts. Logic, reason, and facts by themselves do not stoke human emotion. Facts need context and need to strike a chord to become memorable. Facts – when presented as stories – can become instantly memorable.
Can you imagine changing the FOUNDING article of the U.S. Constitution? Yet that’s exactly what France did when it took the mantra that France “shall ensure the equality of all citizens before the law, without distinction of origin, race or religion” and threw race out of the equation in 2018.
This was done by unanimous vote! From the far left to the far right and every faction in between, the French decided race is an outdated, meaningless, social construct. Understand there are 577 members in the French National Assembly, representing 9 different political parties whose last unanimous vote required large grocery stores to donate unsold, edible food to charity after learning the grocers previously poured bleach on this food to prevent scavenging.
Race was first introduced to the French Constitution in 1946 as a direct response to racist theories expounded by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (better known to most as Nazi Germany). Over 500,000 French citizens were killed during the largest race-based atrocity in modern history and they’ve determined race no longer matters. What does that say about the United States?
I added context to facts and may have piqued your interest, but these facts are missing a vital ingredient to make them memorable: THE STORY.
Our brains are hard-wired to receive facts in the form of a story. Storytelling creates empathy and helps humanity better understand issues. All cultures throughout all times of humanity use some version of storytelling to teach universal truths. So, this tale is not yet complete…
Eli Steele was born profoundly deaf into a mixed-race family. He married a woman who came from yet another culture. Eli was bullied throughout his youth for being different, and when he learns that he must declare a race for his first-born child – or leave that decision to a committee of “experts” – Eli decides to take a stand.
Learn the story of Eli Steele in Outside the Box, this month’s featured project. You will never see racial identity or identity politics the same way again. If you agree, please include a link to this video in your own social media feed so we can finally dispel the notion that tribes matter more than individuals. You can find the link to the full video on www.izzit.org.
THE ROB REPORT: The Sphere of Influence by Rob Chatfield
How to Travel with a Salmon. Out of thousands of tightly-packed titles on the shelves of a used book store in Prince Edward Island, what made this slender paperback jump out at my teenage daughter? A further dive shows how this simple act serves as a microcosm of what we strive for with our non-profit organization. It was not by accident that I took my daughter to a bookstore on vacation. We must first connect the teen audience to an arena where they can find serendipity. Exposing teens to “winning ideas” is where we excel and how we will win …
THE ROB REPORT: Bradbury’s Warning By Rob Chatfield
Ray Bradbury predicted a scenario that appears hauntingly similar to today’s environment for both entertainment and education. In Fahrenheit 451, Fireman Montag has stolen a book when he’s visited by Captain Beatty. Beatty tries to explain to Montag that books don’t actually need to be burned; no one wants to read them. The fireman’s job was simply to keep peace by removing items that might cause someone to feel inferior to their fellow man.
“Picture it. Nineteenth-century man with his horses, dogs, carts, slow motion. Then in the twentieth century, speed up your camera… Whirl man’s mind around so fast under the pumping hands of publishers, exploiters, broadcasters that the centrifuge flings off all unnecessary, time-wasting thought.
“School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped. English and spelling gradually neglected. Then, the bigger the population, the more the minorities. Don’t step on the toes of the dog lovers, cat lovers, … Mormons, Baptists, second-generation Chinese, … people from Oregon or Mexico.”
The concept of inoffensive behavior wasn’t created by government proclamation. “Technology, mass exploitation and minority pressure carried the trick!”
Welcome to the 21st century, folks, because the video generation is upon us. Our children are overloaded with information at a magnitude that is nearly incomprehensible just one generation removed.
While I’d prefer my teenage children would open a book on occasion, I’m much more concerned that they be exposed to ideas and concepts that will teach them—and their classmates—HOW to live in a free society.
How do we reach this audience with thought-provoking ideas that generate true critical thinking? It matters less today how they get the information, but that we find a way to guide the information toward their screens.
From the Founder: Time & Timelessness by Bob Chitester
Time. With on-the-half-hour and -hour scheduling of broadcast and cable TV channels. With the demands of meeting deadlines over the twelve months needed to complete a TV documentary. With the decreasing attention span of viewers (inversely related to age) calling for shorter and more memorable videos. Our lives at izzit.org and Free To Choose Network are driven by “time.”
I’ve asked Tara Schupp, our chief operating officer, to put together an article for the next newsletter that will give you a sense of how we manage time in bringing together the inputs necessary to create TV documentaries and education modules. The same systems approach is also used in building our expanding distribution network.
There are two other aspects of “time” that, although intangible, are the foundation from which we start the creative process. First, a video of any length should be as “evergreen” as possible. The stories told may “age” in terms of fashion or technology, but the ideas conveyed should be universal in application. Second, to introduce a new idea or suggest changing an established doctrine is a long-term process.
Milton Friedman challenged my focus on television. “Bob, anyone who can be persuaded by an hour TV program, can be dissuaded by another TV program the next night.” I countered that the series would help sell the book, which chapter by chapter followed the themes of the series, and it has sold tens of millions worldwide. As producers we place enormous value on productions that are evergreen, that like Free To Choose can be effectively communicating basic principles decades after their release.
Milton also came to see how, properly crafted, a video can surprise viewers with a new way to think about ideas they believe they understand or have previously rejected. Johan Norberg does this every week with his Dead Wrong vlog. We also do a weekly blog, drawing on the hundreds of hours of videos in our archives. These online products build brands and celebrity by “visiting” viewers every week in a format consistent with shortened attention spans.
The individual also requires time to shape a world view, and even more time to adapt or change that perspective. One of my favorite quotes is from a “hippie” book, The Aquarian Conspiracy by Marilyn Ferguson: “No one can persuade another to change. Each of us guards a gate of change that can only be opened from the inside. We cannot open the gate of another, either by argument or emotional appeal.”
Ferguson, like many, was blinded to reality by a powerful image of a peace-and-love utopia. Yet in this quote, she points to Jonathan Haidt’s recent research that supports our contention that appeals to emotion must be the starting point for increasing understanding and acceptance of a world based on the winning ideas of freedom. That—and acceptance of the timelessness of the effort—should pay dividends if we are wise, patient and persistent.
Meet Rob Chatfield, Our New CEO | A Quick Q&A with the New Boss
Q: What attracted you to Free To Choose Network? A: I saw an advertisement for “Free To Choose Network” and immediately thought: “That has to be about Milton Friedman!” But good looks only go so far in a relationship. After I met with the entire team in Erie, I knew their culture of self-management and determination to grow the organization would draw me in like a magnet. Q: It’s always a daunting challenge to fill the shoes of a founder. What will your FTCN shoes look like? A: Probably J&M slip-ons, with a tassel… We need to be flexible to …
From the Founder – From Start to Finish by Bob Chitester
Starting in 1964 I led the creation of a public TV station in Erie, PA. From 1967 to 1983 I was general manager, then president/CEO of this PBS and NPR member. It was a dream job for someone with a BA and MA in Radio and Television. I was not politically focused or active but by 1974 I realized my “artistic” friends loved freedom to do as they wished, but were jealous and bitter when others used their freedom to start businesses and accumulate wealth. I thought they were hypocritical. I started having weekly breakfasts with an Erie business leader …
From the Founder – Bob Chitester
Time & Timelessness
by Bob Chitester
Time. With on-the-half-hour and -hour scheduling of broadcast and cable TV channels. With the demands of meeting deadlines over the twelve months needed to complete a TV documentary. With the decreasing attention span of viewers (inversely related to age) calling for shorter and more memorable videos. Our lives at izzit.org and Free To Choose Network are driven by “time.”
I’ve asked Tara Schupp, our chief operating officer, to put together an article for the next newsletter that will give you a sense of how we manage time in bringing together the inputs necessary to create TV documentaries and education modules. The same systems approach is also used in building our expanding distribution network.
There are two other aspects of “time” that, although intangible, are the foundation from which we start the creative process. First, a video of any length should be as “evergreen” as possible. The stories told may “age” in terms of fashion or technology, but the ideas conveyed should be universal in application. Second, to introduce a new idea or suggest changing an established doctrine is a long-term process.
Milton Friedman challenged my focus on television. “Bob, anyone who can be persuaded by an hour TV program, can be dissuaded by another TV program the next night.” I countered that the series would help sell the book, which chapter by chapter followed the themes of the series, and it has sold tens of millions worldwide. As producers we place enormous value on productions that are evergreen, that like Free To Choose can be effectively communicating basic principles decades after their release.
Milton also came to see how, properly crafted, a video can surprise viewers with a new way to think about ideas they believe they understand or have previously rejected. Johan Norberg does this every week with his Dead Wrong vlog. We also do a weekly blog, drawing on the hundreds of hours of videos in our archives. These online products build brands and celebrity by “visiting” viewers every week in a format consistent with shortened attention spans.
The individual also requires time to shape a world view, and even more time to adapt or change that perspective. One of my favorite quotes is from a “hippie” book, The Aquarian Conspiracy by Marilyn Ferguson: “No one can persuade another to change. Each of us guards a gate of change that can only be opened from the inside. We cannot open the gate of another, either by argument or emotional appeal.”
Ferguson, like many, was blinded to reality by a powerful image of a peace-and-love utopia. Yet in this quote, she points to Jonathan Haidt’s recent research that supports our contention that appeals to emotion must be the starting point for increasing understanding and acceptance of a world based on the winning ideas of freedom. That—and acceptance of the timelessness of the effort—should pay dividends if we are wise, patient and persistent.
From the Founder: Seeing is Believing from Bob Chitester
From the Founder: Between the Ideal and the Possible
The ultimate goal of our efforts can be started simply: reduce the role of government in order to increase individual freedom. The tough part is agreeing on the specifics. What’s the size and scope of government that’s desirable? By what means do we get there? What is the right balance between accepting the need for incremental change and advocating for core principles?First we must establish a vision of limited government, but we have to do so recognizing the electorate will ultimately decide to what extent they’ll accept that vision.Therefore we must devise messages that are convincing to the majority of …