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 About ISIL . . .
Welcome to the International Society for Individual Liberty (ISIL). ISIL is one of the pioneers in the creation of the worldwide
libertarian movement – today's fastest-growing philosophical/political movement.
We also incorporate Laissez Faire Books, the world's leading source of books on
liberty. Our website boasts a cornucopia of features: a daily news service, specialty channels Educational Choice, Health Freedom and Environmentalism plus massive
research databases and international contact lists.
We accomplish our networking and movement-building goals through:
Statement of Principles
The International Society for Individual Liberty is an association of
individuals and organizations dedicated to building a free and peaceful world, respect for individual
rights and liberties, and an open and competitive economic system based on voluntary exchange and free
trade. Members and affiliated organizations pursue these goals through independent action, using their
freely chosen strategies. The association exists to promote the exchange of information and ideas, to
study diverse strategies and to foster fellowship.
Freedom Through Education
ISIL is a non-partisan educational foundation which is dedicated to
building a worldwide grassroots movement for liberty. We realize that the principles of liberty must
be understood and cherished by large numbers of ordinary people before any significant or lasting
political change can occur.
We provide support (contacts, books, literature) for libertarian
activists in America and all around the world – with special sponsorship programs for individuals
engaged in building new liberty movements in Third World countries and the former communist bloc. We
also have sponsored many of these individuals to our world conferences, where they have gained
contacts, ideas and inspiration.
The ISIL Educational Literature Series
In the tradition of Thomas Paine, our pamphlet series is designed to
bring the ideas of liberty to a mass audience. The series (now consisting of 38 different titles –
of which 18 are also available in Spanish) presents solutions to current social and economic problems
and is carefully designed to appeal to the intelligent layman. These attractive 2-color pamphlets are
acclaimed as the libertarian movement’s best outreach literature.
In the USA, many local and state Libertarian Party organizations,
single-issue coalitions, libertarian student groups, and others have used ISIL literature as part of
their outreach efforts. These groups have distributed over 5 million of our pamphlets at high schools
and universities, country fairs, etc. They have been reprinted in newspapers and websites, and have
been read over the air by radio hosts. They have even been used in court and legislative testimony.
Others around the world have translated and published them either as
pamphlets or in newspapers, magazines, on websites, etc.
To see the series on-line check out "Intellectual
Resources". Hard copies are available for only 5¢ apiece – and on orders of 1000 or more
(mixed titles OK) we provide a free overprint (in a space provided for this purpose) for the name of
your organization, address, logo, etc.
International Conferences
The interaction among attendees at ISIL's international
conferences have played a vital role in facilitating the growth of libertarian organizations and
publishing projects around the world.
Since 1982, ISIL's annual world conferences have been held in most of
the capitals of Western Europe as well as in some of the former communist countries in Central and
Eastern Europe (Russia, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, old East Berlin, Lithuania). Other events have been
held in Mérida, Yucatan; San José, Costa Rica; London, Canada; Mbabane, Swaziland (Southeast
Africa); Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, France, New Zealand, Prague, Czech Republic and Germany.
At these highly-acclaimed events you can always meet a fascinating
cross-section of individuals with many different interests, backgrounds and and of many races –
all of whom share a love for the ideas of individual liberty. Many attendees have described ISIL
conferences as having the atmosphere of a big family reunion – except of course you always have
the opportunity to meet new friends. Marriages have even resulted from ISIL's conferences!
The events have drawn students, academics and activists from around
the world. Such luminaries as Milton Friedman have addressed our group. We have had heads of state
and members of parliaments and congresses address our conferences.
In recent years we have been providing an increasing number of
scholarships/sponsorships for students and activists from the Third World and former communist
countries to these events.
Freedom Network News
ISIL publishes our newsletter/magazine, the
Freedom Network News to promote the exchange of ideas and information among our members. The
FNN publishes profiles of successful activists and strategies, plus exclusive country reports from our
Representatives. The FNN also publishes analyses of decentralist trends, warnings of authoritarian
legislation, occasional advice on financial and personal privacy, and book reviews.
Overseas Book Publishing
A vital part of spreading the ideas of liberty around the world is to
make available literature in the local language. ISIL has sponsored the publishing and distribution of
thousands of introductory libertarian books in former communist countries, including the works of Ayn
Rand in her native Russia.
ISIL Directors Ken Schoolland and Mary Ruwart have had their
libertarian books translated and published throughout the world. Schoolland's The Adventures of
Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey, which has won two gold medals from the George Washington
Foundation at Valley Forge, and endorsements from such luminaries as Milton Friedman, has been
translated and published in 42 languages (with ten more in the works). Mary Ruwart's Healing Our
World: The Other Piece of the Puzzle which has won widespread praise for it's "kinder, gentler"
emphasis on the win-win benefits of private, voluntary relationships, has been published in eight
languages.
A Brief History of ISIL
ISIL was formed in 1989 through the merger of two older
organizations – the Society for Individual Liberty, founded by Jarret Wollstein, Dave Walter and
Don Ernsberger in Warminster, Pennsylvania in 1969; and the Libertarian International – founded
by Vince Miller at the University of Michican at Ann Arbor, Michigan 1980.
The original SIL emerged out of an historic split between conservatives
and libertarians at a Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) conference in St. Louis, Missouri in 1969.
Many say that this event was the birthplace of the modern libertarian
movement. The issues causing the split/purge included non-interventionist versus belligerent foreign
policy, the military draft, and civil-liberties issues. SIL became an umbrella group for the people
who would ultimately form many of the modern libertarian movement's publications and organizations.
ISIL has carried on the work of SIL, but expanded it worldwide –
creating a remarkable network of the world's top activists.
ISIL's Board of Directors, Advisory Board and International
Representatives reads like a "who's who" of the libertarian movement: in the US, Canada, South Africa,
New Zealand, Europe, Costa Rica, Peru – even Russia, Serbia and Croatia.
Help ISIL Build A Free World
If you believe in the ideas of individual liberty and wish to lend
your support to the continued growth of the worldwide libertarian movement, then we encourage you to
join ISIL as a contributing member (click here).
New ISIL members receive a big Welcome Packet with:
- A one-year subscription to the newsletter/magazine Freedom Network News
- Several recent FNN issues full of news from around the world libertarian movement.
- ISIL World Freedom E-Bulletins
- A complimentary sample set of the ISIL Educational Pamphlet Series. Samples of new and revised pamphlets will be sent with FNN mailings.
- Invitations to the annual ISIL World Conferences
- Membership card
If you live in the USA, an added benefit is that your contributions are tax-deductible.
(ISIL is recognized as a 501(c)3 non-profit educational foundation).
All contributions from anywhere are helpful and appreciated.
Contact ISIL at:
isil@isil.org
International Society for Individual Liberty
836-B Southampton Rd., #299
Benicia, CA 94510-1960, U.S.A.
Tel: + (707) 746-8796
Fax: + (707) 746-8797
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