Dear fellow libertarian,

There's something outrageous going on in America's schools, and we need your immediate help to fight it.

To put it bluntly, instructors across the USA are teaching students that libertarians don't exist.

Let me make this clear: These teachers are not telling students that libertarians are WRONG...

Or that our ideas have FAILED...

Or that voters have REJECTED libertarian solutions.

No, they're teaching students that libertarians have NO PLACE on the political map. We don't exist.

They're telling impressionable young minds that Left and Right are the ONLY choices in American politics.

With your help, we CAN fight back. I'll tell you how in a moment.

But first I need to show you how bad the problem is. (You won't believe the flat-out-wrong nonsense that is being taught to students!)

Here are some examples, from actual lesson plans...

* The University of Illinois in Chicago offers an "Introduction to American Government & Politics" class. In it, the instructor tells students that the "total political spectrum" is a line that looks like this: COMMUNISM > SOCIALISM > DEMOCRATS > REPUBLICANS > MONARCHY > FASCISM.

Read that again. "Monarchy" is included. But what's missing?

* Seattle Central Community College in Washington offers a class called "Intro to Political Science." In it, the professor asks students what political ideology they believe in. Their choices: CONSERVATISM, LIBERALISM, SOCIALISM, COMMUNISM, or FASCISM.

What's missing?

* At the University of Oregon in Eugene, a professor teaches students about the "main political ideologies in the contemporary world." The good news is that in his "Introduction to Political Ideologies" class, the professor says politics doesn't end with LIBERALISM, CONSERVATISM, SOCIALISM, and FASCISM.
The bad news is that he says the other two important ideologies are -- brace yourself -- "FEMINISM" and "RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM."

What's missing?

* At Clarke County High School in Berryville, Virginia, students take an "Advanced Placement U.S. Government & Politics" class. In it, they are instructed to read about "Political Ideology" in their textbook. Then they're asked: "Based upon what you read, would you categorize yourself as a LIBERAL or a CONSERVATIVE? Explain your reasoning."

What's missing?

* At the University of Hawaii at Hilo, in a class entitled "Modern Political Ideologies III," students learn about "LIBERALISM and its ideological rivals." What are those rivals? According to the lesson plan, they are CONSERVATISM, COMMUNISM, and FASCISM.

What's missing?

Well, you don't need to be a genius to figure out what's missing from those classes.

It's you and me. It's what we believe.

It's libertarianism.

In every one of those schools -- and in thousands of other colleges and high schools -- students are taught that politics is a straight line from Left to Right. In the middle are Moderates. At the fringe are Communists and Fascists.

With a few quirky exceptions, that's it.

LIBERTARIANS DON'T EXIST.

* Did you ever wonder why you have such a tough time persuading people about libertarianism?

* Did you ever wonder why people look confused when you explain to them that you're not a conservative OR a liberal?

The reason is simple.

Most Americans THINK they understand politics. But libertarians don't fit into their worldview. We're off the "political map" they were taught in Social Studies class.

You may be asking: Is this REALLY still a problem? Doesn't EVERYBODY knowabout libertarianism?

Sadly, no.

Over the last 20 years, the libertarian movement has made tremendous progress. Tens of millions of Americans DO know what libertarians are, and what we stand for.

But tens of millions still DON'T -- including thousands of high school and college instructors.

That's right: The very people who should have the BEST understanding of politics are sometimes the MOST ignorant. And they're passing their ignorance on to a new generation of students.

Vladimir Lenin said, "A lie told often enough becomes truth."

Well, there's a lie being told in high schools and colleges all over America. And we need to counter that lie before it becomes the truth in the minds of millions of students.

That's where the Advocates for Self-Government comes in. (And that's where you can help.)

We need to open a new front in the battle for liberty.

We need to reach out to Social Studies and Political Science teachers -- and convince them to INCLUDE libertarianism in their lesson plans.

We can do this by showing them that we have a better, easier, more entertaining way to teach politics.

That way -- our secret weapon! -- is the World's Smallest Political Quiz.

As a friend of the Advocates, you already know about the Quiz.

The Quiz incorporates David Nolan's brilliant insight about politics: that political beliefs fit on a two-axis chart that measures support for personal AND economic freedom.

The Quiz chart reveals that politics isn't a simplistic Left-Right line -- but, instead, is a sparkling diamond that encompasses FIVE major political beliefs: Liberal, Conservative, Centrist, Libertarian, and Statist.

The Quiz also incorporates Marshall Fritz's idea to add 10 questions to the "Diamond Chart," so people can quickly figure out where they fit.

Put David's and Marshall's insights together and you have the World's Smallest Political Quiz.

When teachers find out about the Quiz, many are eager to use it in the classroom. It's fun. It's easy. It's interactive.

Best of all, once teachers use the Quiz, libertarianism becomes an INTEGRAL part of any discussion of politics. The Quiz is an "Ah-hah!" experience.
Once you encounter it, you can NEVER go back to thinking of politics as just Left-vs.-Right.

So, how do we get the Quiz into the hands of teachers?

We have a plan!

We want to run eye-catching ads about the Quiz in three major educational magazines.

In the ads, we'll show teachers what the Quiz is, how EASY it is to use, how much FUN it is, and how it will ENHANCE their classroom discussion of politics and ideology.

Here's the best part...

In the ads, we'll offer to send any teacher FREE copies of the Quiz. As many copies as they need for however many classes they teach. Absolutely free. We'll even pay for the postage.

Sounds irresistible, right?

Well, maybe. You see, there's one other hurdle we must overcome. We have to convince teachers that the Quiz is a valid teaching tool.

In other words, we must reassure them that they won't get in trouble with their principal (or college president) if they use the Quiz in the classroom.

Here's the good news...

For the FIRST TIME EVER, we have irrefutable proof that the Quiz is a bona-fide educational tool.

As you may know, in 2004 we conducted research to discover how widely the Quiz has penetrated the American educational system.

The results were exciting. We found that the Quiz is used in more than 250 colleges and high schools around the United States and around the world!

That includes prestigious schools like Duke University, UCLA, Penn State -- and even Harvard University.

(Let's see a principal argue with Harvard University!)

Plus, we learned that the Quiz is used as part of the enhanced digital content for a dozen popular textbooks -- including such best-selling titles as Power & Choice: An Introduction to Political Science (McGraw-Hill) and Challenge of Democracy (Houghton Mifflin).

(Let's see a principal argue with a dozen textbooks!)

The bottom line: We can make a PERSUASIVE case that the Quiz is a solid, respected, useful tool for education.

Now the question is: Which magazines will best reach teachers?

We did the research and came up with three publications....

* Social Education magazine. It's published by the prestigious National Council for Social Studies -- and is read by 24,000 teachers of history, political science, and economics. This magazine is a laser beam that reaches exactly the instructors we need to reach!

The cost of a full-page, color advertisement is $2,695.

* Homeschooling Today magazine. With 1.1 million students, homeschooling is America's fastest growing educational option. There's also evidence that homeschoolers tend to be more libertarian-leaning than parents of government-schooled children. We MUST reach them. Homeschooling Today has a circulation of 30,000.

The cost for a half-page, two-color ad is $1,195.

* Learning & Leading with Technology magazine. It's geared to teachers who incorporate new technologies into the classroom. Here's a bonus: In November 2004, it ran an article, "Virtual Ideology: Using Online Quizzes to Help Students Develop Personal Political Values," which featured the online World's Smallest Political Quiz! We want to capitalize on that publicity -- and see if these forward-thinking teachers are most likely to embrace new teaching methods like the Quiz. The magazine has a circulation of 12,000.

The cost for a full-page, b&w ad is $1,295.

With ads in these three magazines, we will reach 66,000 teachers, homeschooling parents, and professors.

And every one of those 66,000 educators will be offered the opportunity to get FREE Quizzes -- so they can teach their students about an expanded political map that INCLUDES libertarianism.

How many students might we reach? We calculate we have the potential to touch the lives of 1.8 million students.

Think about that!

Imagine 1.8 million students taking the World's Smallest Political Quiz!

Imagine 1.8 million students learning about libertarianism!

Of course, not every teacher or homeschooling parent who sees our ads will request the Quiz. And that 1.8 million number of students is a best-case scenario.

But these ads are the FIRST STEP towards reaching those 1.8 million students.

It's a big task. And we need to start immediately.

We want to advertise in the first available issues of these magazines, which come out BEFORE the next school year starts. We must reach teachers as early as possible -- before lesson plans are set in stone. We also need to give teachers time to contact us, and time for us to ship batches of Quizzes to them.

Most magazines have advertising deadlines two to three months before the issue date.

So, by the time you read this message, we have less than 30 days to raise the money, book advertising space, create three customized ads, and get them to the publishers.

Will you help us?

Without your financial support, we don't have the money to launch this advertising campaign.

And without your support, students will continue to be force-fed the kind of nonsense that's taught at the University of Illinois. That the political spectrum looks like this: COMMUNISM > SOCIALISM > DEMOCRATS > REPUBLICANS > MONARCHY > FASCISM.

Let me make this clear: Without your help, students will continue to be taught that "monarchy" is a legitimate part of the American political spectrum...

But libertarianism ISN'T!

That's just plain wrong. Please, don't let it happen.

To run one ad in these three magazines will cost $5,185. Plus, there's staff time, overhead, and the cost of printing and mailing packets of the Quiz to teachers.

If we run the ads twice, that's $10,370. Experts tell us that most people need to see an ad MULTIPLE times for it to have an impact.

Only your donation will make this possible.

Every ad we run means MORE teachers we'll reach. And every teacher we reach means MORE students we'll reach.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions."

We have a chance to stretch the minds of a new generation of students -- and tell them about libertarianism.

And no matter how hard subsequent teachers try, they won't be able to UN-stretch those young minds.

It will cost $5,185 to run the first three ads.

We've got to move quickly. We've got less than 30 days to raise the money, book the space, and create the ads.

Your donation, right now, will make it happen.

Somebody's got to reach these students. Somebody's got to tell them that libertarians -- that WE -- exist.

If you could spare $100, that would be an enormous help.

$1,000 would get us 20% of the way to our goal.

Or, could you be a hero and donate $5,185? That would allow us to reserve and pay for the first batch of ads immediately -- so we can start working to raise the money for a second run.

But whatever you give -- $10, $25, or $50 -- moves us closer to making these ads a reality.

Please, young minds are crying out for your help. If you don't act, we risk losing a generation of students to ignorance and misinformation.

Your support WILL make the difference.

To make your donation online now, click here: https://securecommanders.com/advocates/donations.asp or call toll-free 800-932-1776.

Thank you,

Sharon Harris, President, Advocates for Self-Government

PS: If you can make a donation of $100 or more (or become a monthly donor for $10 or more per month), I'd like to send you a special gift. It's an audio tape of a speech from John Taylor Gatto.

Gatto was the 1990 New York State Teacher of the Year and author of the classic book, Dumbing Us Down. He's also the nation's leading educational renegade. What he says will forever change the way you view public schools.

In this speech, recorded just a few months ago, Gatto argues that government schools are so dangerous that they're wrecking people's ability to lead meaningful lives -- and destroying America's ability to compete in a global economy. When you hear it, you'll understand why he called the speech "The Trapped Flea Principle."

To make a donation and to get your copy of this provocative speech, click here https://securecommanders.com/advocates/donations.asp or call toll-free 800-932-1776.