A large and pro-active state that provides safety and certainty is attractive to many, who believe any problems can be managed by electing a better leader next time. For others, this idea is simply mistaken - this conference tells their side of the story.



We expect tax to make life better. To make sure our education system raises all our children properly. Our doctors keep an eye on our lifestyles. Our councils look after our daily needs. Our regulators decide how the economy and our businesses are to be made fair and decent. Our benefits offices give the unfortunate comfortable independence. Our armies insist our values are followed in every part of the world. Our taxes will pay for everything – if only the rich can be squeezed hard enough.



This bubble-wrapped utopia is forced upon you even now. Does it and can it work in practice? Is it even what you want? What if you want to teach your children differently? Enjoy something even if it is bad for you? Buy your first house? Make a profitable investment and put your own family first? Trade in another currency? Stay out of international conflicts? How well do your refuse collections work? Do you have money to live as you wish after the utopianists have taken their share?



How might those that crave comfort and certainty, for themselves and for others, accept that it is OK to leave people alone to enjoy (or be at the mercy of) a laissez-faire political and economic system?



This conference will present the ethical reasons to accept such a settlement and the institutional and technological alternatives to a tax and spend society.











Conference Schedule and Programme:



12:30 - Conference Registration / Check-in

12:45 - Introduction by Simon Gibbs

13:00 - Poverty Solutions Without Politics - Syed Kamall

Syed Kamall is chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament and a stood against Zac Goldsmith for the Conservative mayoral nomination the recently concluded election. The overriding theme of his domestic political career is his interest in community and technical solutions to social problems - outside political institutions [Bio]

13:30 - DIY Governance - Janina Lowisz, BitNation and Julio Alejandro, Humanitarian Blockchain

This decade's standout technological breakthrough is the blockchain - a consensus driven public ledger which allows arbitrary records to be kept on any topic. See how this amazing new technology permits the delivery of services normally associated with nation states and how it revolutionises the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

14:15 - Break

14:35 - Historical Precedents for Laissez Faire Welfare - Dr Anton Howes PhD (KCL)

What happened before the NHS? Before Job Centre Plus? If it was mere charity how did it scale to providing coverage to the majority of the population? Can we return to these precedents?

15:20 - Refreshments break (Tea, Coffee, Sandwiches provided)

15:55 - Capitalism and Inequality [Keynote] - Yaron Brook, President and Executive Director, Ayn Rand Institute

Capitalism - the system of private property and free-markets - is the only ethical system and the only system which maximises individual flourishing. It is a just system in its entirety, including the unequal outcomes it permits. Dr Yaron Brook is a tireless advocate for Objectivism and the implementation of a laissez-faire economic system and is co-author of the recently released book Equal is Unfair [Bio].

16:55 - Break and Book Signing - pre-order your copy of Equal is Unfair when you buy tickets.

17:05 - Panel Discussion: Principled Incremental Transition - How do we get there from here?

Panellists will discuss how to arrive at a Laissez Faire economy, blending US and UK perspectives. We will discuss opportunities in revolutionary approaches, succession, counter-economics etc, and what can and should be done about the escalating furore over tax planning and avoidance.

18:00 - Networking (Drinks provided)





Tea, coffee, drinks and snacks will be catered within the ticket price.





Additional tickets are available on Meetup.com