By Lambert Nduwayezu and Egide Nduwayo
We dedicate this report to author Ken Schoolland, the initiator of the Jonathan Gullible readers group Glenn D. Boyer, the Libertarian “family,” and free market supporters.
Thank you, Prof. Ken Schoolland. Your book challenged us to think about why some countries are rich while others are poor. It has been an excellent opportunity for our think tank, the Institute for Economics and Enterprises, Burundi, to explore and reinforce the value of free markets in developing a country.
Your book was an excellent motivator for our economic thought.
Its philosophy of self-ownership helped us understand that each individual is the best owner of their own life. It should not be in the hands of someone else.
Thank you for giving us a rich and exciting book of inspirational ideas. My colleague Egide and I have just finished reading the PDF version in French you sent us. We found it engaging and useful for the construction of a free and prosperous society. It deals with basic libertarian principles.
The book “The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible” relates how an island’s authorities intervened in its society’s life and how this intervention affected its population economically and socially. The intervention of “The Council of Lords” often increased the government’s size. A larger government increases the costs to the people without improving their quality of life. The larger government caused many problems with rent control laws and other interventions. They crippled intellectual freedom through compulsory taxes on independent libraries and established the “free” government library (it may be called “free” according to the Council of Lords, but it was not free). The Council of Lords took money through compulsory taxes to pay for it, yet the Council of Lords controls it. The book shows us how taxation is a theft of property rights and how it is used against taxpayers.
We found the book dealt with many aspects of the libertarian vision:
* Non-aggression,
* Free trade,
* Property rights,
* The rule of law,
* Free movement of people,
It defends the free market by repeatedly showing that state intervention is used by politicians and their cronies to enrich themselves and to stay in power. They manipulate other people through taxes, distributing favors, allocating essential permits, and establishing “free” services. Often, they force others to conform to their self-centered vision.
This book is excellent in passing on the ideas to create a free society that will bring many benefits. We would love to distribute it.
Therefore, we would like to obtain print copies of the book in the latest French Language edition to distribute to students’ universities and related institutions of our country of Burundi. Local printing is the most economical, but shipments are good too. Anyone willing to sponsor a printed run of the French edition or mail copies to us, should please contact us.
We are also considering disseminating the book’s ideas to a broad audience through discussions, events, and conferences. It is a book whose contents deserves to be shared with many to build a free, prosperous, and peaceful society.
We are waiting to hear from you,
Thank you!
Best regards!
Lambert Nduwayezu and Egide Nduwayo
The Institute for Economics and Enterprises, Burundi.
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://instituteforeconomicsandenterprises.wordpress.com/contact/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/instituteforeconomicsandenterprises/
Editor’s note: According to the latest world bank online data Burundi’s GDP per capita is extremely low. It is at $261.20, and the USA’s is $65,297.5. (checked Feb. 2021: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD)
