America's Future Foundation

So you want to be influential? Right. Start at the top! But that may be a bit hard to do. So maybe you could
start at the bottom, instead. I suppose that’s where I started. And I learned a few things on the way “up.”

I’ve worked for liberty as a student activist, an author, an editor, a petitioner, a campaign manager, a public
relations agent, a rabble-rouser, a seminar organizer, a think tank officer, a journalist, a public speaker, a
teacher, and a lobbyist. I’ve promoted libertarian ideas in academic lectures and seminars, on talk shows, on
national television, in debates, in one-on-one conversations, in parliamentary and congressional testimony,
in scholarly papers and books, in op-eds in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and other papers in the United States, and in papers abroad, such as Die Welt, Caijing, Al Hayat,
and The Spectator of London.

I’ve done so in Baghdad, Kabul, Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, London, Accra, Jakarta, Berlin, Istanbul, Nairobi, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and even in hostile territory, such as Washington, D.C. I’ve set up libertarian projects in fourteen languages. You name the job, and chances are I’ve gotten some experience at it. I was an intern at the Cato Institute and ended up as vice president for international programs there. (I’m now a senior fellow at Cato and vice president for international programs at the Atlas Network, to which we transferred Cato’s international programs.)

So, what did I learn? I’ve come up with seven things I think I’ve learned and that I think you may be able to
put to work to become a more influential and successful promoter of liberty. I will share them here on AFF’s blog in this new series, which is adapted from the Institute for Humane Studies’ “Creating Your Path to a Public Policy Career” guide.

First, be the person on whom others can rely to get the job done. If you develop a reputation for making
things happen (and not just talking about how great it would be if something were to happen), people will
look to you for leadership, as well. Projects don’t just happen. They are projected and implemented by
someone. Be that person. (There’s some irony in writing that, when my submission of this essay was after
the deadline, but I was busy! My only excuse is to cite an adage that I’ve generally found to be true: “If you
want something done, ask a busy person.”)

It’s good not to be known as a clockwatcher. The best way not to be known as a clockwatcher is not to be
a clockwatcher. I generally find that the project, not the clock, dictates the schedule of a successful person.
And, on a related note, don’t be seen as the person who finishes a job and then goofs off. Finish your work
and then—if you have the time—ask your colleagues what else needs to be done.

Palmer is vice president for international programs at the Atlas Network and senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Learn more about him here. Read the full IHS “Creating Your Path to a Public Policy Career” guide here.

Schrader is program assistant at The Heritage Foundation.  She can be reached at internships@heritage.org

Gene Healy is vice president of the Cato Institute. He is also a self-described recovering lawyer from New Jersey.

What makes Gene Healy unique is the success he has found in writing on libertarian issues. Gene’s work can be found in his weekly column in the Washington Examiner and in other outlets including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Legal Times.

By Heather Lakemacher

What’s the difference between being a manager and being a non-manager?  Obviously, there are myriad answers to that question, but let’s just focus on one: your to-do list.

Thank you for all you do to make America’s Future Foundation possible.  Whether you are a member, regular attendee, financial supporter, Doublethink reader, or otherwise a fan, you play an important part in AFF’s mission to identify and develop young professional leaders for liberty.

2011

2011 was a transitional year for the organization.  The board of directors maintained continuity and helped me get started on the right foot during the summer.  We worked hard to re-engage our supporters and re-launch AFF’s core programs while also building on the success of AFF’s regional chapters.

Highlights of the year included AFF’s 15^th anniversary gala, a return of the monthly roundtable discussions in Washington, D.C., a leadership dinner with Senator Rand Paul, and numerous happy hours, and co-sponsored programs.  A new group of talented staff joined us in the fall and improved programs and communications for members and attendees.  Doublethink magazine was re-launched with editor Noelle Daly and has already published 15 feature pieces covering issues from marriage to tax policy, and more.  In addition, the “Conventional Folly” blog included colorful commentary from AFF members and friends.

AFF’s mission does not stop at the beltway.  Richard Lorenc was hired this year as National Chapter Coordinator to replicate his success as the Chicago chapter leader over the past three years.  In addition to leading 17 events in Chicago last year, he mentored the Pittsburgh chapter which had three events, and helped launch the New York City chapter. Highlights included visits by Governor Gary Johnson, author Richard Miniter, and Cato Institute scholar Mike Tanner along with events about religion and liberty, free markets, entitlements, and a film screening.

2012

In 2012, America’s Future Foundation is positioned for growth to further our mission of identifying and developing young professional leaders for liberty. In addition to strengthening AFF’s core programs, we will try new programs and build on partnerships with other groups advancing liberty.  Details will be announced soon, but we are also open to your ideas and feedback.  What do you want AFF to become and how do you see yourself participating in that vision?  Please let us know.

Roundtables in Washington, D.C. are scheduled for each third Thursday and happy hours are scheduled for each fourth Thursday.  We hope you can join us for these and other AFF programs.  The annual AFF Gala will be held in May and a Leadership Dinner will be held March.  Details and invitations will follow.

Regional chapters are growing and AFF is working to expand them even further.  In 2012, we will strengthen existing chapters in Chicago, New York, and Pittsburgh, while also starting new chapters in Raleigh and several other cities.  If you are interested in AFF coming to your city, please contact Richard Lorenc at Richard@americasfuture.org.

Membership will be a key component of America’s Future Foundation in 2012.  We will strengthen our offerings for members, increase personal follow-up, and further solidify the connections needed to advance liberty in Washington and around the country.  In addition, AFF’s Crabfest will return in the fall as a much-anticipated social event in the DC area!

Is Russia headed toward a new revolution?

Probably not, but the seeds of discontent with Putin’s United Russia are growing.  After the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) released a statement claiming the elections were heavily slanted to favor the ruling party, demonstrators took to the street in droves in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Rostov-on-Don.

The election results showed that the ruling party, United Russia, had roughly 50% of the vote, a fall from their previous 64% representation in the State Duma.  The Communist Party of the Russian Federation took 20% of the vote, with A Just Russia (social democrat party) and the Liberal Democrat party taking 14% and 13% respectively.

Though all parties except United Russia gained seats, there were many allegations of vote fraud, obstructing of observers, and illegal campaigning.  Sec. of State Hillary Clinton said that the elections “were neither free, nor fair,” and in the latest development former Premier of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev said, “I think [Russia's leaders] can only take one decision – annul the results of the election and hold a new [election].”

I agree with Mr. Gorbachev, but asking for the election to be redone will not accomplish anything under Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.  The people are the ones taking the needed steps for change.  Naturally, their protests are being met with sweeping arrests by the political police; however, people have not been deterred and are still attempting to organize protests as troops head for downtown Moscow.

It is my opinion that, despite people taking to the street now, this is just a taste of what will come after the presidential election in March.  The last time Putin became president he had the constitution changed, invaded Chechnya, then invaded Georgia during the Olympic games; what will he do with the reigns of power this time?

In the coming weeks Russia is expected to lobby for and join the World Trade Organization.  Dan Griswold and Doug Peterson at the Cato Institute recently released a new bulletin on the trade advantages their membership would offer, the necessary US policy for accession, and the concerns our members of Congress have over trading with the Bear.

The bulletin highlights the tremendous potential for gains in US export areas such as Information Technology, PVC pipe, livestock, aircraft, and automobiles.  It also shows that we would practically (and somewhat literally) hit a gold mine with the import of Russian raw materials.  Russia is the worlds second largest producer of natural gas, and, in 2009, surpassed Saudi Arabia as the worlds largest producer of crude oil.  Russia also has the worlds largest supply of diamonds, and massive mineral deposits such as uranium, nickel, copper, and gold.

The commercial concerns raised by Congress are largely fair: Russia is notoriously bad in areas of intellectual property, and their automobile industry (much like our own) dislikes foreign competition.  However, the desire for American goods is stronger than ever, and the financial capital is now in Russia for large-scale purchases. It’s a big step up from 1991, when (as one of my professors pointed out) you could trade a pair of Levi’s and 2 packs of Marlboro Reds for a Hero of the Soviet Union medal.

One other concern may not be so easy to address: human rights.  As the report notes, “House Foreign Affairs chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen stated on July 7, 2011, that PNTR (permanent normal trade relations, a unilateral condition of WTO membership) for Russia is ‘simply not an option’ absent human rights reform, a sentiment shared by other members of Congress.”  However, this issue has no place in a debate over trade.

In all, Russian membership in the WTO would be a win-win scenario.  It would boost both of our economies, and would bolster our political relations Kremlin far more than our “reset” ever did.

I was born on Oct 14, 1989. A month later, the Berlin Wall came down.  1991 saw the collapse of the Soviet Union.

That was 22 years ago, and now members of my generation- the children of the Cold War- are coming of age, finishing school, getting married, having children, beginning careers, and voting.  As we step into the spotlight, we begin to replace the eldest ahead of us- the children of World War II.

This transition of power will not be easy, seamless, or painless. It will be hard for everyone. It will be hard because no two generations value the same things, nor do we view problems in the same light.

There is a growing murmur amongst my generation: a realization that we are reaping what our fathers and our fathers’s fathers have sown.  It is 66 years of the same politics.  66 years of “us vs. them”. 66 years of traversing the globe to establish puppets, whose final “useful” function is to absorb our surplus missiles while we find a new puppet to manipulate.

Many Americans wonder why the world hates us, and the answer is blatantly obvious.  We kept fighting the Cold War after the Cold War ended: Iraq part I, Somalia, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq part 2, Libya, and Uganda.  And even as I write this, the drums of war are beginning to beat toward Syria and Iran.

As a generation, we are beginning to realize the unforeseen fallacy of our fathers ways. We are waking up. We must take the helm and steer our ship in a new direction. We can no longer afford to be careless; we can no longer ride the same current.

Movements like Occupy Wall Street do serve a purpose and demonstrate one clear fact: that people are angry at the status quo.  They do not know how to fix it, but they show that the support structure exists for those who are willing to lead.

So Cold War Kids, will you be content keeping up with the Kardashians, or will you take the helm and steer our ship to new waters?

Today, Norwegian Psychiatrists announced that mass murderer and bomber Anders Behring Breivik is criminally insane, meaning he will likely be placed in psychiatric care rather than prison.  To rewind a little bit, Breivik killed 77 people and injured an additional 150 on 22 July in order to prevent a “Muslim invasion of Europe”.

I think there is no question that Breivik is insane, but should a mass murderer be given a free pass?  Not at all.

As a libertarian, I have always found the subject of capital punishment to be the hardest question to face in politics. The government should not be able to control your life; however, I do believe that men like Breivik should pay for their crimes, and life imprisonment seems like lack-luster justice. The problem rises when you try to define the time and place the death penalty should be used. Everyone has a different opinion.  The last thing needed is a numbers game: kill x number of people and you will be executed.

I really have trouble explaining this personal paradox. Maybe it’s because I’m from Alabama; we practically have an execution autobahn. And no, I do not say that with pride.

Several years ago, a friend of mine, a district attorney in Birmingham, gave me a tour of Birmingham’s prison.  It was a truly disturbing experience. I toured every floor. I saw the abortion clinic and Centennial Park bomber, Eric Robert Rudolf, and I shook hands with a serial killer who murdered five people and was enjoying his last 2 days on planet earth playing basketball with a guard. Though these experiences stood out, the truly shocking thing was how crowded and run down the prison was.  The “nonviolent prisoner” floor was the worst in the building.  Cell blocks built to house around 25-30 people were holding 60 or more, all for misdemeanor offenses like possession, vandalism, and theft.

The most shocking experience came after the tour when I sat in on a few hearings.  There was a man from Denver who had visited Birmingham on a business trip.  He had been in jail for 2 weeks after being arrested and charged with drunk in public.  He had not been able to contact his friends, loved-ones, or lawyer because the jail’s phone was broken.  What does the judge do? He tells the bailiff to take the man back to the jail, and to let him have his phone call after the phone is fixed.  Never mind the fact that the judge probably had a cell phone in his pocket, and could’ve fixed the problem then and there on the spot.

Our nation, our police state, has the largest prison population in the world, and there are no signs that our staggering arrest rate of 1.8 million people/year will slow down.  We urgently need to reevaluate our justice system.  Though insanity pleas and capital punishment are major issues that deserve some serious inspection, the real problem in the United States lies with all the lesser offenses.  Incarceration is unquestionably overused as a method of punishment, and our tax-funded prison industry shows no signs slowing it’s growth.  Start at the bottom. Fix the way lesser offenses are prosecuted, then the answer to the big questions will be easier to see.

For further reading, check out Matt Welch’s excellent piece in the July 2011 issue of Reason Magazine: “The Ends Didn’t Justify the Means“

by Yasmin Tadjdeh

Facing an uncertain job market, some recent college graduates have begun to opt for internships over jobs.

With a 9.1 percent unemployment rate in the United States, and a 14.7 percent unemployment rate among 20 to 24-year-olds, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, many are finding jobs harder to come by.

But for think tanks and organizations in the Washington, DC area, internship application rates have steadily risen, and increasingly, many applicants are not just undergraduates. “I’ve certainly noticed a trend of many more recent graduates applying [for our internships],” said Heather Pfitzenmaier, director of the Young Leaders Program at the Heritage Foundation. According to Pfitzenmaier, only a third of their current internship class are undergraduate students, and more graduate and master students apply each year. Their overall applicant pool has also increased. Pfitzenmaier speculates that the shift is tied to the unique features of Washington’s professional culture. “D.C. is a unique case. I think you need to be here to get a job.”

At the Institute for Humane Studies Journalism Internship Program, application rates for their summer, spring and fall internships are also on the rise. “The number of libertarians applying for the journalism internship has grown dramatically. I have far more qualified  libertarian applicants than internships.  It is a nice problem to have,” said John Elliott, IHS’ journalism program director. Elliott notes several reasons for the increase: Ron Paul’s candidacy; the Obama presidency; the financial crisis; IHS’ marketing efforts; and their various seminars for young libertarians interested in journalism.

Most applicants are undergraduates, Elliott said, but college graduates, especially the libertarians, tend to be more committed to journalism careers. Elliott has also noticed that he is getting older applicants, namely people over 30. He believes this may be due to the tough economy and some people wanting to make a career change.

However, at the Cato Institute, internships in general are down from 2009, the year that they had their largest applicant pool, said Chip Bishop, director of Student Programs at the libertarian think tank. “We actually saw a trend pick up about two years ago, but recently that trend has actually gone down,” he explained. “We’ve been trying to figure out why that is—are people buckling down with studying [for example]?” In 2009, Cato “experienced a huge bubble of applicants” with an average of 800–1,000 applicants per semester for their internship program. The number has since fallen to about 700–800 per semester (though the Cato summer internship is still more competitive than Harvard University). Another potential reason for the drop, Bishop added, is that more potential applicants may be opting to continue their education rather than step out into the job market.

For Dixie Cline, an intern at the Heritage Foundation, taking up an internship at the conservative think tank made sense after deciding to leave behind her background in science. Cline had graduated from college in 2009 with a degree in wildlife biology, but it took her eight months to find a temporary job at a state agency in Florida. After completing her job, Cline began to reconsider her field of study and decided to apply to Heritage. She’s happy with the decision, saying “The area I’m currently interning in at Heritage doesn’t require the knowledge I’ve obtained with my degree, but while I’ve been at Heritage I’ve been provided with opportunities to network with several people who have science backgrounds as well, and they’ve all encouraged me that I can definitely use my degree in policy, too.”

Though internships are at times derided as more an assortment of menial tasks than substantive work experience, Cline says that is not the case at Heritage. “The Heritage Foundation really does invest in their interns. The instruction, advice, and work experience I’ve received at Heritage has given me the confidence and tools to move forward in the field of conservative public policy.”

Of course, even in good economic times it’s a challenge to get by in Washington on an intern’s wages (or lack thereof). But those who doubt that it’s worth it can look to their own bosses, many of whom got their start with a DC internship.