This document discusses the effects of social media in promoting political awareness of free market ideas and minimal government. It outlines three types of free market advocates: anarchists who want zero government, minarchists who want small government limited to security and law, and "minimax" who can't decide. The document promotes advocacy on blogs, websites, and social media to spread these ideas instead of seeking government funding. It argues social media allows information competition that centralized propaganda cannot overcome. A challenge is countering creeping dictatorship in the Philippines with vigilant social media use.

1. Bienvenido “Nonoy” Oplas Jr.
Minimal Government Thinkers, Inc.
The effects of social media in political
awareness
UP Sapul forum
Main library lobby, UP Diliman, Quezon City
14 September 2016

2. Creating political awareness for less/minimal (not zero)
government, free market and individual freedom
Free market – free trade, voluntary exchange, zero to little government
intervention in many sectors of the economy. More individual freedom,
personal and civil society responsibility.
* 3 types of free marketers:
(1) Anarchist – zero state authority, zero central (and local?) government,
citizens’ self-government by voluntary organizations and individuals.
(2) Minarchist – small or minimal government, function is mainly to enforce
the rule of law, protect the citizens against aggression, their right to private
property, right to liberty.
(3) “Minimax” – one side advocates minarchy, another side advocates
more government, more or higher taxes. Confused free marketers.
* Independent -- receive or solicit no government funding or donation
(local, national, multilateral/foreign aid money). Only private and civil
society donations.

3. NOT advocating “good governance” under a BIG government
• Advocacy is limited, minimal governance – small government, small
and few taxes, few regulations and prohibitions.
• NOT good governance of a big, intrusive, prohibitionist and tax-hungry
government. Like “No business, no job creation allowed unless
entrepreneurs will first get the signatures and permits of regulators and
officials, dozens of permits.”
• Free society: everything is allowed except for a few prohibitions:
No murder, No abduction, No rape, No stealing, No destruction of
private property, etc. Drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc allowed so long as
none of the NOs mentioned is committed.
• Unfree society: everything is NOT allowed except with government
permits. Driving your car, putting up a business, building a house,
renovating a house or office, having a pet, etc. – all of them require
permits. Relatively easy to comply yet, but moving towards more
complicated, more costly permits.

4. Outlets in spreading this pol.
awareness
1. blogs:
http://funwithgovernment.blogspot.com/
https://electricityasia.wordpress.com/
2. website: http://minimalgovernment.net/
(not regularly updated though)
3. South East Asia Network for
Development (SEANET), KL-based
http://seanetwork.asia/,
https://seanet2.wordpress.com/.
4. Previously with “Fat-Free Economics”,
http://interaksyon.com/
Now with “My cup of liberty”,
http://www.bworldonline.com/
Also with Business 360, Kathmandu-
based monthly mag., http://biz360.com.np/

5. Free trade

6. Free market in energy policies

7. Climate alarmism, governments and the UN
El Nino-La Nina cycles, 1950-2015

8. Facebook and
the socialists
"You know that
free markets and
free trade have
won when self-
proclaimed
socialists and
communists
express their
views on
Facebook,
Youtube and
Twitter using
Macbooks and
iPhones."

9. Social media and pol. awareness: Bernard Ong in facebook
• Bernard is a fellow UPSE alumni, fellow student activist in the 80s, Marcos
was still the President.
• He’s not a columnist in a newspaper or online papers, he only posts in fb
and hundreds or thousands of his followers watch for his postings.
• Viral post on “Attack the west…” with nearly 5l likes and nearly 6k shares.

10. Rule of law and Duterte

11. Concluding notes
• Social media provides information competition. Along the lines of
anti-oligopoly, anti-central planning and centralized thought
conditioning. Even the most well-thought lies and propaganda
cannot succeed if they are not shared in social media. Seemingly
ordinary fb posts that become viral, shared 5k+, 10k+ and
reaching out to tens or hundreds of thousands of readers. (Talo
pa ang maraming newspaper stories or columns)
• The free market system can guarantee this type of information
competition. Not central planning and big, interventionist
government.
• Big challenge now is how a creeping PH dictatorship with little respect
for human rights and international rule of law can be countered by
vigilant citizens through social media.