6 weeklypress.com • ucreview.com • December 5 • 2012


Penn Students for Liberty: An inside Look


By Nicole Contosta Staff Reporter


I


deally, those who pur- sue a higher education acquire skills that lead to stable employment.


But that’s only one part of the equation. There’s also a romantic aspect associated with earning a university education. It’s a time for students to intellectually examine and question the world. And the UC Review and Weekly Press just had an inside look into one of the University of Pennsylva- nia’s academic clubs: Penn Students for Liberty (PFL). That’s when this reporter met Zachary Slayback, PFL’s coordinator. The PFL represents one of 780 inter- national groups in the Stu- dents for Liberty Network (SFL), explained Slayback last Friday, November 30th from a table at Saxby’s in University City. Slayback, an undergraduate student studying philosophy, gave this reporter an overview of the PFL and how it ties to


the general SFL. “If you look at human his-


tory, people were the happi- est when they had the most freedom, the most liberty and the ability to pursue their own ends,” Slayback explained of the SFL’s core beliefs. “It’s a very general concept,” Slayback admits. “Especially, when one con- siders the different camps within the student liberty network. From one extreme, there are the members of the anarchist contingent who don’t believe that the government should play any role in society. There are those who subscribe to Clas- sical Liberalism, a branch of liberalism that supports civil liberties, political and eco- nomic freedom with limited government. Then there are those who place the most emphasis on the free market and fiscal conservatism. According to Slayback, those who join the Student Liberty Network were origi- nally inspired by one of two schools of thought. They came from the Austrian


School and the teachings of Friedrich Hayek. Or they came from the Chicago School and the teachings of Milton Friedman. Hayek, a Classical Liberal, believed in a top down approach to disseminating informa- tion, Slayback noted. For example, “the Hayekian theory for social change comes from intellectuals,” Slayback explained. Intellec- tuals share theory for social change with those who then convey it to others such as “professors, policy wonks, teachers and the media. Politicians are at the very bottom,” Slayback noted. “Politicians don’t really lead social change. They respond to what people believe.” Slayback went to add that he hopes that those in the PFL will become the kinds of intellectuals, academics and journalists who will engender change for the Liberty movement. Fried- man’s philosophy, Slayback continued, focuses on the virtues of a free market eco- nomic system with minimal


The Friends of Walnut Street West Library & the UC Garden Club co-sponsored a wreath- making work shop at the library on Saturday, December 1st. Lauren Leatherbarrow, presi- dent, UC Garden club, led the work shop for 5 children & 10 adults. A fun time was had by all. Why not join us next year? Check out our website wswlibraryfriends.org Pictured from left to right: Carol Adler Pagan, Libby Wheeler, Giovanni Pagan, Freda Egnal, & Serena Morrison.


intervention. And Fried- man, Slayback went on to note, worked with Alan Greenspan to eliminate the draft. “Many viewed the draft as a form of slavery,” Slayback added. The PFL as an academic club opened its chapter


this fall. It followed in the footsteps of the now de- funct Penn Libertarian Al- liance, which folded when its founder graduated a few years ago. As for its operations, the PFL meets every other week, Slayback explained. Many of those meetings are designed to spark specific discussions. Take for instance, the an- niversary of John Brown’s attack on Harper’s Ferry. An


abolitionist, many consider Brown’s attack on Harper’s Ferry one the Civil War’s inciting events. So the “abo- litionists were Classic Liber- tarians,” said Slayback. Like the differences with- in the larger SFL network, the members of PFL do not all share the same beliefs, Slayback explained. One of its members, a Democratic Socialist from Denmark,


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