Fr. Robert Sirico

Speaker Profile

Fr. Robert Sirico has been active in public policy affairs for more than twenty years.  His concern that religious communities knew little about the economic issues surrounding today’s social problems prompted him to found the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in 1990.  Father Sirico regularly lectures in the U.S. and around the world, and his writings have appeared in various journals, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, National Review, The London Financial Times, and Crisis. In addition to his duties at the Acton Institute, he serves most recently on the staff of Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Grand Rapids, and is the founder of a new religious community, St. Philip Neri House, also in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  His latest book is entitled Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy (May 2012, Regnery Publishing).

Event Information

Milwaukee Athletic Club
758 N. Broadway
Milwaukee, WI  53202

Cocktail Hour: 5:30pm
Dinner: 6:30pm
Speaker: 7:15pm

That said…Anthony Wile just wrote a fascinating editorial at the Daily Bell which sparked the idea for this blog post. It’s on the latest developments surrounding the Megaupload and Bodog fiascos, (and yet so much more). I thought I would share one of his insights.

“It took the elites a number of centuries to control the damage done by the Gutenberg Press. These massive technological changes are not merely dealt with by flicking a “kill switch.”

The Internet, as we often point out, is a process not an episode. Many of its ramifications are yet to unfold.”

(You can read the full article if you click on this link. It’s worth your time.)

The reason I feel compelled to share it is that I am reminded (and really excited) about the many possibilities. The possibility for increasing liberty through the use of technology will EXPLODE in the years ahead and NOTHING will be able to stop it if “they” let it. This is good news for the common man and bad news for the powerful, the elite, and the totalitarian minded among us. Thankfully I do not think they see: their days are numbered.

If the prospect for Liberty in our life time excites you as much as it does me, then I hope you will join us some time at the Wisconsin Forum. Browse our new website for more information. We look forward to meeting you at one of our future meetings, in the company of like minded individuals from all walks of life.

(To read more on technology as it relates to Liberty I recommend reading this essay from former Wisconsin Forum Speaker Gary North. Fair warning…it may change your life if you understand it’s ramifications and look into the details and links provided. It is perhaps one of the most powerful “windows” into what technology will bring, for good or ill, and there is nothing the powerful can do to stop or contain the process ultimately.)

Take care and we hope to see you soon!

In Liberty,

Ryan Law

Wisconsin Forum Board Member

The Board of the Wisconsin Forum would like to make you aware of an upcoming event hosted by the Milwaukee Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. Richard Brookhiser, one of America’s preeminent historians of our country’s founding, will speak about his recently published book James Madison on Wednesday, March 21st at Noon at the next Federalist Society luncheon event at the Milwaukee Athletic Club. Details regarding the luncheon are attached. In James Madison, Mr. Brookhiser chronicles Madison’s role as the Father of the Constitution but also examines Madison’s lesser-appreciated role as the Father of Politics. Mr. Brookhiser is a journalist, historian and biographer who has written and spoken about politics and politicians (living and dead) for over forty years. He has authored ten books, including George Washington on Leadership, What Would the Founders Do? and Alexander Hamilton, American. Mr. Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review, where has written for 35 years, and is a columnist for American History. He also wrote a column for the New York Observer for twenty years and has contributed to The New Yorker, Commentary, and Vanity Fair. He wrote and co-hosted the PBS documentaries Rediscovering George Washington and Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton. He appears frequently on the History Channel and the Colbert Report.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Here is a link to more information on this event.

Doug Bandow

Speaker Profile

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, specializing in foreign policy and civil liberties. He worked as special assistant to President Reagan and editor of the political magazine Inquiry. He writes regularly for leading publications such as Fortune magazine, National Interest, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Times. Bandow speaks frequently at academic conferences, on college campuses, and to business groups. Bandow has been a regular commentator on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. He holds a J.D. from Stanford University.

Event Information

Milwaukee Athletic Club
758 N. Broadway
Milwaukee, WI  53202

Cocktail Hour: 5:30pm
Dinner: 6:30pm
Speaker: 7:15pm

Dr. Robert Genetski

Speaker Profile

Robert Genetski’s contributions in the world of economics and finance range from serving as Chief Economist for a major Midwest Bank to teaching at NYU and the prestigious University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. In between, he has managed to be crowned a top-five speaker in the field of Economics and Finance, and is renowned for the simplicity with which he explains critical elements and classical principles of economics. In his free time, he has also managed to author several other books, notably A Nation of Millionaires, Taking the Voodoo Out of Economics, and Winning with Money.

Prof. Richard M. Esenberg

Speaker Profile

Richard M. Esenberg is a professor of law at Marquette University Law School. Mr. Esenberg has overseen international acquisitions and business expansions throughout Europe, Latin America, and Canada. He also has served as lead trial counsel in major intellectual property and advertising litigation and as trial counsel in numerous public-law cases. He recently published You Cannot Lose If You Choose Not to Play: Toward a More Modest Establishment Clause, 12 Roger Williams Law Review 1 (2006) and his recent paper, Of Speeches and Sermons: Worship in Limited Purpose Public Forums is forthcoming in the Mississippi Law Journal. Professor Esenberg is a frequent columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and publishes a blog, Shark and Shepherd.

Event Information

Milwaukee Athletic Club
758 N. Broadway
Milwaukee, WI  53202

Cocktail Hour: 5:30pm
Dinner: 6:30pm
Speaker: 7:15pm

Prof. Joshua Hall

Speaker Profile

Joshua Hall is a professor in the Economics Department at Beloit College. Formerly an economist for the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, Professor Hall has an extensive background in writing for scholarly audiences as well as for policy makers and citizens. In addition to authoring or co-authoring over 100 journal articles, book chapters, and academic book reviews, numerous articles and reviews, he is co-author of the widely-cited annual Economic Freedom of the World report. Professor Hall also directs the Charles G. Koch Student Research Colloquium and Speaker Series.

Event Information

Milwaukee Athletic Club
758 N. Broadway
Milwaukee, WI  53202

Cocktail Hour: 5:30pm
Dinner: 6:30pm
Speaker: 7:15pm

She quotes a pertinent Murray Rothbard passage as well…

“The state is the only institution which can use the revenue from this organized theft [taxes] to presume to control and regulate people’s lives and property. Hence, the institution of the state establishes a socially legitimatized and sanctified channel for bad people to do bad things.”

The America we once knew “is disappearing day by day” and articles like this book review should serve as serious reminders to us all.

See this link from Mises.org

Read the Federalist Papers