discussing anarchism with strangers

the other day i was on the metro reading murray rothbard's for a new liberty. the clean-cut gentleman seated next to me, who appeared to be about 45, was engaged in a phone conversation for half of our journey. shortly after snapping shut his cell phone, i noticed him peering over me and reading along. hoping to subtly proselytize, slowly moved my hand away so he could fully appreciate rothbard's acumens.

after a few minutes i looked up and he, embarrassed, apologized for reading over my shoulder. he noted that what i was reading seemed interesting, and i told him a little about rothbard (what little i know). he then told me a little about his family. his grandparents were coal miners in west virginia, who advocated unions and all sorts of government programs. he went on to explain that the carter era's fiascos, as well as union corruption, made his parents and grandparents skeptical that government intervention was the solution. we then had a long, interesting, and thoughtful discussion of unions, their viability, and their compatibility with a libertarian worldview.

funny, the people you meet on the metro - or anywhere, really. the media likes to portray america as a nation divided, with everyone falling into one of two boxes. i'm always pleasantly surprised when talking to the "average" person (outside the policy world) about how non-ideological they are. or maybe i'm just lucky.

Labels: personal