2019 Free Market Road Show

Europe at a Crossroads
Reinventing Freedom 30 Years After the Wall

Federico N. Fernández
Free Market Diaries
4 min readJan 9, 2019

--

Europe has been suffering -for a very long time- of the same problems. High public spending and extremely dangerous budget deficits have become the new normal in several of our countries. European addiction to welfarism is also reaching new heights. The projections regarding the future of pensions in the now more than ever Old Continent are appalling.

On the taxation front things do not look any better.

On top of already voracious national states we hear the Brussels siren calls for “tax harmonization.” In a nutshell, this is just a code word for raising taxes across Europe and guaranteeing that big nations such as Germany and France do not face competition from smaller and more dynamic ones. Case in point: the persecution and bullying suffered by the Republic of Ireland at the hands of the all-powerful European Commission.

The EU’s latest idea of a “digital ad tax” is also bad news for a business environment already suffocated by burdensome taxes and regulations.

Present day Europe is under the shade of an unelected body of über bureaucrats which pushes for more centralization in Brussels. These dangerous features beg many questions. Does the EU today pose more threats or more opportunities to the cause of liberty on the Continent? And more fundamentally, how long will the vestiges of the original liberal project of the European Union endure the assault of those who want to close and homogenize Europe?

Photo Credit

What is more, liberal democracy –a fundamental European value– is in crisis. Many claim that illiberal regimes proliferate across the continent. Extremist parties are on the rise. The very concept of liberal democracy finds itself in question and under attack.

Do our self-proclaimed elites have any answers to the rise of populism and the discontent more and more people feel for democracy? It remains to be seen…

The 2019 European Parliament Elections are not to be expected to dissipate the fog. In all likelihood, they will add confusion and loudness to an already complicated political scenario.

Europe’s horizon is filled with uncertainty. What will happen with Brexit? Is the migrant crisis going to deteriorate? And is there a new financial crisis in the making? The only certainty Europeans of all Nations have is that close to no candidates at all are running with the intention to make Europe a more competitive and freer place.

But Liberty Is On The Move

In order to confront these multiple challenges, the Liberty Movement has to evolve. And the Free Market Road Show wants to spearhead that evolution. In 2019 we will tour 30+ cities across Europe with a clear message for less government and more freedom for all.

We will combine top speakers from all over the world with the most cutting-edge topics and views of the libertarian world. We want to make clear that in spite of the state, there are still good news.

Humanity is only starting to see the potential of 3D Printing, Cryptocurrencies, Blockchain technology, the Dark Web, the Sharing Economy, Peer to Peer Networks, Automation, Vlogging, and so on.

Moreover, there was no time in history when so many people knew about the ideas of authors like Adam Smith, John Locke, Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, FA Hayek, and Murray Rothbard — just to name a few. Thanks to new platforms and tools it is possible to reach millions of individuals who are tired of the predominant statist narrative.

Photo Credit

The libertarian challenge is to make good use of these positive trends to expand the frontiers of our Freedom. There is a lot happening that points in the direction that Freedom can make a big comeback.

Thirty years ago, the Berlin Wall fell and millions were liberated. After three decades, it is high time to have a New Libertarian Revolution. Let’s make this message be heard all across Europe: Individual Liberty is possible in our lifetime!

For More Information, Please Visit: www.freemarket-rs.com

--

--