LOS ANGELES, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Milton Friedman...Madonna...Barry
Goldwater..."The Yuppie"...Brian Lamb...Dennis Rodman...Jeff Bezos...Margaret
Thatcher...Larry Flynt.
These are just a few members of the eclectic group of people named by
Reason as "Heroes of Freedom" in the magazine's 35th anniversary issue, which
is now on newsstands.
What do the personalities on this offbeat list have in common?
"Intentionally or not, they have made the world a freer, better, place through
their work in politics, culture, technology, business, and sports," explains
Reason Editor-in-Chief Nick Gillespie. "For all of its many problems, the
world we live in is dizzying in its variety, breathtaking in its riches, and
wide-ranging in its options. Malcontents on the right and left who diagnose
modernity as suffering from 'affluenza' or 'options anxiety' will admit this
much: These days we've even got a greater choice of ways to be unhappy. Which
may be as close to a definition of utopia as we're likely to come," says
Gillespie. "Our list pays tribute to the 35 people who helped make this
possible during the past 35 years."
Typical of what appears in Reason, it shakes up conventional political
categories in a way that's sure to confound both traditional liberals and
conservatives. Others on the list include:
-- Willie Nelson: For "pulling off a Martin-Luther King like achievement
by uniting hippies and rednecks in a single audience."
-- John Ashcroft: "A little bit J. Edgar Hoover and a little bit Janet
Reno," the attorney general has "created an unprecedented coalition of
conservatives, liberals, and libertarians around a single noble cause:
the protection of civil liberties."
-- Alfred Kahn: For deregulating the airline industry and "ushering in
an age in which virtually every slob in America could afford to fly."
-- Clarence Thomas: For being an "all-too-rare advocate on the Supreme
Court" for limited government and freedom of speech.
-- Martina Navratilova: Who "smashed stultifying stereotypes like so
many poorly hit lobs."
-- Norman Borlaug: By preventing the starvation of billions by
increasing crop yields in the developing world -- and for fighting
environmentalists who attack the biotechnology that will help wipe out
world hunger.
SOURCE Reason magazine
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http://www.reason.com
CONTACT:
Mike Alissi of Reason magazine,
+1-203-407-0114, malissi@reason.com
NOTE TO EDITORS: Editor-in-Chief Nick Gillespie is available for
interviews. To interview Nick Gillespie, obtain copies of the
article, or for any other questions, please contact Mike Alissi
at 203-407-0114 or malissi@reason.com.
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