A very important U.S. civic holiday is coming up -- one that far too many Americans are not aware of.

Perhaps you can help bring it to their attention. It's never been more important than today.

December 15 is "Bill of Rights Day" -- a day to celebrate, honor and renew support for our precious Bill of Rights.

It was on December 15, 1791 that the Bill of Rights -- the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution -- went into effect.

One hundred and fifty years later, in 1941, "Bill of Rights Day" was officially recognized as a national civic holiday.

The Bill of Rights is, of course, the great protector of American liberties. It boldly declares that people have certain inalienable rights that government cannot abridge -- fundamental rights like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to keep and bear arms, and more. It also provides procedures for defending those rights -- such as fair trials and limits on federal power.

The Bill of Rights doesn't just belong to America. It has inspired freedom fighters around the world. The Founders viewed their Revolution as the first blow in a struggle to win liberty for *all* the people of the world. So the Bill of Rights is truly a document for everyone.

That's why I hope libertarians and other freedom lovers will use this upcoming Bill of Rights Day as an opportunity to teach their families, friends, neighbors and others about our precious heritage.

It's a *great* time for a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, discussing the vital importance of our Bill of Rights freedoms and calling for reflection on our heritage -- and urging citizens to speak out against current calls to sacrifice liberty for (alleged) security.

With our fundamental Bill of Rights freedom under unprecedented assault in recent years, this has never been more important.

To help with that, here's a short summary of the Bill of Rights, prepared by students at Liberty Middle School in Ashley, Virginia. (I've added just a few words.) While this condensed version doesn't have the majesty, depth and detail of the entire document, it is short and easy to understand, and may be useful to you in discussions and letters:

THE BILL OF RIGHTS: First Ten Amendments to the Constitution

1. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, right to assemble peaceably, right to petition the government about grievances.
2. Right to keep and bear arms.
3. Citizens do not have to quarter soldiers during peacetime.
4. No unreasonable searches and seizures.
5. Rights of the accused.
6. Right to a fair trial.
7. Right to a trial by jury in civil cases also.
8. No cruel and unusual punishments.
9. Unenumerated rights go to the people.
10. Reserves all powers not given to the national government to the states or the people.

All Americans should be familiar with their Bill of Rights freedoms. Sadly, numerous surveys indicate most are not. A 1991 poll commissioned by the American Bar Association found that only 33% of Americans surveyed even knew what the Bill of Rights was!

Those of us who love liberty should do our best to correct that.

Happy Bill of Rights Day!

Most political conversations begin accidentally. Without a conscious purpose.

One person reads about a current event, or someone's comment on a current event, and says something about it. Another person responds to the first person's comments, and a conversation begins.

Or a person sees political or economic news, and expresses an opinion about it. Another person reacts to the first person's opinion, and a discussion begins.

A chance exposure to an event or piece of information. A spontaneous reaction by one person. A reaction by another person. Then a conversation.

Is it any wonder that so few of these conversations change people's minds?

Would you like a way to make these kinds of conversations pay off?

When you find yourself in one of these situations, briefly pause, and ask yourself two questions:

1. What do I want to accomplish in this conversation?

2. What can I do to make it happen?

Do you want to raise libertarian questions in the other person's mind?

Do you want to offer him a different way of looking at the issue? Which way?

Do you want to draw him out, to hear what he knows or doesn't know about the issue? Or hear which remedies he's considered or hasn't considered?

What can you do to raise libertarian questions in his mind? Ask them? State them? Tell a story? Use several of the techniques from Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion? (Available from the Advocates:http://www.theadvocates.org/secrets.html)

What can you do to give him a different perspective on the issue? Use metaphors? Use the feel, felt, found technique?

How can you draw him out on the subject? Use the "Ah," "Oh," "Um" technique? Ask stimulating questions?

In a world of spontaneous political conversations and unplanned economic discussions, the person with a purpose and plan will run the conversation.

Why not you? Why not a purpose and plan for the conversation that leads to liberty?

What will you try to accomplish in your next political conversation?

While speaking for liberty, have you ever worried that you might sound like a broken record -- saying the same things over and over again?

It's a common concern of many people who have the opportunity to speak out for liberty -- whether it's for a candidate, for an initiative or referendum, against a tax increase or stadium bond, or appearing before the city council. We might think that we always need fresh material, new things to say.

In fact, it's best to say the same old thing! (That is, if your "same old thing" is a tried and true soundbite for liberty. Learn how to develop your soundbites here:
http://www.theadvocates.org/one-minute.html#Soundbites )

Once you're comfortable with your soundbite and able to deliver it persuasively and with conviction, the key is to say it over and over and over again.

There are two reasons to do this:

1. People are listening who have never heard it before. If you've gotten your point down to your best shot, you want as many people as possible to hear it.

2. For those who've already heard it, the repetition reinforces the messages and makes it more likely that the listeners will remember it. People may even start quoting you!

The late great Harry Browne was an expert at this. Some libertarians complained "I've heard him say that same sentence before," but those critics didn't realize the two points above. Harry was able to greatly multiply the effectiveness of his well-developed points by repeating them to as many people as possible.

If you follow the Ron Paul campaign, you'll notice that Congressman Paul does the same thing -- driving home his key points, time and time again.

So, go ahead -- sound like a broken record. It's sweet music to liberty-loving ears!

QUESTION: I recently saw the movie "Amazing Grace," about the end of the slave trade in England. How does libertarianism respond to the American Civil War and the Civil rights movement? In both of them, government action was used to enhance freedom.

MY SHORT ANSWER: Government action made slavery possible, and kept it possible -- and the government only backtracked when the citizenry objected.

For example, prior to the Civil War, slavery was legal and enforced by governments of both North and South. Slaves who escaped to the North were returned -- by law -- to their Southern "owners." It was against the law in the North to help slaves escape. To fight slavery it was necessary for freedom lovers to fight the law.

Members of the Underground Railroad, who tried to get the escaped slaves to Canada where they couldn't be extradited, were routinely hauled into court. Courageous individuals serving on the juries refused to convict. (Juries have the constitutionally-granted power to "nullify" laws that they believe to be unjust; to learn more, see www.fija.org .)

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was not issued until the Civil War had been underway for years, and it only "emancipated" slaves in states that had joined the Confederacy. Towards the end of the Civil War, indignant abolitionists, supported by President Lincoln, lobbied for an amendment to the Constitution to free the blacks still enslaved in Northern states (see http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=40 )

Although Southern states didn't vote on this amendment, it still did not pass easily.

Similarly, government power enforced, and often mandated, compulsory racial segregation in the South in the first half of the twentieth century. For example, economist Thomas Sowell points out that racially segregated seating on public transportation, far from being a traditional Southern policy, only began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries -- and it was government that created the problem.

Writes Dr. Sowell:

"Many, if not most, municipal transit systems were privately owned in the 19th century and the private owners of these systems had no incentive to segregate the races.

"These owners may have been racists themselves but they were in business to make a profit -- and you don't make a profit by alienating a lot of your customers. There was not enough market demand for Jim Crow seating on municipal transit to bring it about.

"... Private owners of streetcar, bus, and railroad companies in the South lobbied against the Jim Crow laws while these laws were being written, challenged them in the courts after the laws were passed, and then dragged their feet in enforcing those laws after they were upheld by the courts.

"These tactics delayed the enforcement of Jim Crow seating laws for years in some places. Then company employees began to be arrested for not enforcing such laws and at least one president of a streetcar company was threatened with jail if he didn't comply.

(Source: http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4457 )

(Dr. Sowell discusses this in greater detail in his book Preferential Policies, An International Perspective, 1990, pp.20-21.]

This is not to say that these transportation company owners were not racists, or were champions of black freedom. They simply wanted to make money. And free markets make racial discrimination extraordinarily, even prohibitively, expensive.

Because of such government-mandated discrimination, the modern Civil Rights movement was pioneered by individuals such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, who practiced peaceful civil disobedience. Without the courageous sacrifices of such people, it's unlikely that Congress would have been inspired (shamed?) into action.