See PFP159.
See https://propertyandfreedom.org/paf-podcast/pfp151-gabb-margaret-thatcher-hero-or-villain-pfs-2016
See https://propertyandfreedom.org/paf-podcast/pfp148-taghizadegan-on-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-university-pfs-2016
See https://propertyandfreedom.org/paf-podcast/pfp147-richard-on-free-and-compulsory-education-pfs-2016
From Tim Haffner:
The annual meeting of the Property and Freedom Society for the year 2016 met in Bodrum, Turkey from 01-06 September and attracted over seventy five participants. Despite the political instability stemming from a recent failed military coup and terrorist attacks at the Istanbul airport, through which most participants would travel, a core group gathered at the luxurious Karia Princess Hotel to engage in the uncompromising radical scholarship the society has offered since its inception.
It is rather fitting that political violence would wean away all but the most dedicated libertarian thinkers from a conference dedicated to highlighting the folly of political authority, bureaucratic security provision, and the dysfunctions inherent to government intervention in what most consider basic services. Proving once more that governments create problems that free markets solve, this year’s conference offered intellectual stimulation in an opulent setting, lush with sumptuous cuisine, fine entertainment, and a day of floating on the Aegean sea, even while contemplating the ravages of war, cultural decline, incendiary immigration, financial depletion, and international brinksmanship. [continue reading…]
The 2016 Annual Meeting has just concluded. The final list of speakers and program may be found here. Media of the proceedings will be released in due course.
Initial reports on the 2016 meeting are already rolling in: X: The Only Conference Worth Attending: A Personal Account of the 11th Conference of the Property & Freedom Society; Block: Hans Hoppe’s PFS Conference in Turkey, a Report; Gabb: Notes from the Eleventh Conference of the Property and Freedom Society. For reports on earlier meetings, see our Press page.
The 2017 Annual Meeting of the PFS will be held from Thursday, September 14, 2017 (date of arrival) to Tuesday, September 19, 2017 (date of departure), in Bodrum, Turkey, at the Hotel Karia Princess. Those interested in attending should contact Dr. Hoppe or Mr. Jay Baykal (jcbaykal@gmail.com) (Administrative Secretary/Membership), regarding conditions, availability, and requirements. Information about the speakers and topics for the 2017 meeting will be released in due course.
Another nice write-up of the recently-concluded 2016 PFS Annual Meeting by second-time attendee X.
Commentary on previous meetings. Media from the presentations will be made available here in due course.
The Only Conference Worth Attending
In an age when most conference speeches are almost automatically uploaded to Vimeo or YouTube, why bother going to the conference in person? Surely, it is so much more enjoyable to watch the conference speeches in the comfort of your own living room from your laptop, one per night for about a week? Conferences are generally awful. The speakers can be dull. The room might be ugly. The chairs might be uncomfortable. The food – if there is any – might be inedible. There is never any entertainment. Why bother going?
This holds up pretty well for most conferences, but not for the annual conference of the Property & Freedom Society, hosted by Professor Hans-Hermann Hoppe and Dr. Guelcin İmre Hoppe at the gorgeous Hotel Karia Princess in Bodrum, Turkey. As Dr İmre Hoppe put it last year in her own speech, the PFS is the Club Med of conferences.
The annual meetings of the PFS are the only conferences designed as if the attendees actually mattered. As I said, other conferences are awful. I could now start a long digression on the particular flaws of all the other conferences I attend, but that would not be very charitable. Instead, I will explain just what it is about the annual meetings in Bodrum that makes them so enormously enjoyable.
Taken by Sean Gabb
First, the format is leisurely. The formal proceedings start late, after a comfortable window for breakfast, and then after a few speeches there is a long lunch break. The formal proceedings then resume and are over with long before dinner, allowing bags of time to read, dress, shower, sunbathe, swim, play tennis, nap, or whatever else takes your fancy. Oh, and after every speech there is a 15 minute coffee break. These breaks are essential, and yet I can’t recall attending any other conference with them. Instead, what usually follows speeches at most poorly organised conferences is a long “Q & A” session, which basically just becomes an excuse for bores to drone on and on while hogging the microphone – and occasionally they might actually have a question! At PFS, this is remedied by the use of panel sessions at the end of every day of speeches, which work much better than monotonous questions and answers. After every speech, Professor Hoppe stands up and reminds everyone of the welcome 15 minute break and attendees stretch their legs, drink coffee or water, or go outside to smoke. At this point the conference room and the one adjoining it becomes filled with conversation – on all manner of topics, not just the contents of the last speech. I will return to the topic of conversations later, but here I will just stress the importance of it.
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