The Paris Freedom Fest ended yesterday, as a joint conference of the Libertarian International, The International Society for Individual Liberty and the Manifesto Club. The four days were tiring, and some may say that such a stretch of libertarian individual doublethink was too much of a good thing. Nevertheless, the Fest was a success given the short notice within which it was organised and venue difficulties that were reported.
There has not been much reporting of the meeting in blog terms, though Todd Seavey feared that, as it was Europe, the participants would all be oxymorons ("libertarian socialists"). Far from it. The list of speakers showed that this was a diverse and divergent cadre of thinkers who shared similar values and principles but did not agree on method, action or outcome.
The final thoughts on the overall Freedom Fest were that, whilst it did recharge the moral battery worn down by agitprop statist rain, a more structured framework for further action may have been useful. A programme or a manifesto is counter-productive, as libertarian activism demands an individual choice and commitment after considered reflection. Perhaps the signposts wbout where to go could be more clearly marked.
I shall write up some further notes on individual talks and themes over the coming weeks, time permitting.