From: szabo@techbook.com (Nick Szabo)
Subject: Fidesz & the Libertarian Party
Organization: TECHbooks --- Public Access UNIX --- (503) 220-0636
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 13:30:37 GMT

The Libertarian Party is a very intellectual party, and it will be
difficult to translate our ideas to images and sound.  One role
model we might use is the new libertarian-leaning party in Hungary,
Fidesz (pronounced fi-dess).  A good article on them, "From Dissidents
to MTV Democrats", is in September's Harper's Magazine.  It started
as a group of students studying Locke, Mill, Habermas, Von Hayek, 
Dworkin, etc. outside the official school system in 1983. The party is
very youthful, and uses TV very well.  Their leader, Viktor Orban,
called for the prompt withdrawl of Soviet troops on prime time,
at the hero's reburial of Imre Nagy (leader of '56 revoltion) in
1989.  That shocked the nation and got people's attention. They put 
their candidates in Levi jeans ads and recruited at rock concerts.

The Hungarian parliament is broadcast on TV.  Since Fidesz is the
minority party, they can make powerful speeches of principle 
while the other legislators bicker and compromise.  Thus, their
following has risen to 29% of voters, higher than any other party in the
multi-party system.  The Libertarian Party could take their
imagery of energy, youth, and media sophistication as a role model for 
our own efforts to strike into the U.S. media.  Who in the party
works at an ad agency?  Madison Avenue, I surmise, is chuck-full
of libertarians, and could become a great resource for our cause,
as long as we don't get stuck up about the superiority of intellectual 
debating skills.


Newsgroups: alt.politics.libertarian,alt.politics.marrou,soc.culture.mag
yar
Subject: Fidesz & the Libertarian Party
Organization: TECHbooks --- Public Access UNIX --- (503) 220-0636

The Libertarian Party is a very intellectual party, and it will be
difficult to translate our ideas to images and sound.  One role
model we might use is the new libertarian-leaning party in Hungary,
Fidesz (pronounced fi-dess).  A good article on them, "From Dissidents
to MTV Democrats", is in September's Harper's Magazine.  It started
as a group of students studying Locke, Mill, Habermas, Von Hayek, 
Dworkin, etc. outside the official school system in 1983. The party is
very youthful, and uses TV very well.  Their leader, Viktor Orban,
called for the prompt withdrawl of Soviet troops on prime time,
at the hero's reburial of Imre Nagy (leader of '56 revoltion) in
1989.  That shocked the nation and got people's attention. They put 
their candidates in Levi jeans ads and recruited at rock concerts.

The Hungarian parliament is broadcast on TV.  Since Fidesz is the
minority party, they can make powerful speeches of principle 
while the other legislators bicker and compromise.  Thus, their
following has risen to 29% of voters, higher than any other party in the
multi-party system.  The Libertarian Party could take their
imagery of energy, youth, and media sophistication as a role model for 
our own efforts to strike into the U.S. media.  Who in the party
works at an ad agency?  Madison Avenue, I surmise, is chuck-full
of libertarians, and could become a great resource for our cause,
as long as we don't get stuck up about the superiority of intellectual 
debating skills.


-- 
szabo@techbook.COM  Public Access User --- Not affiliated with TECHbooks
Public Access UNIX and Internet at (503) 644-8135 (1200/2400, N81) 
Newsgroups: alt.politics.libertarian