From Prague Spring to Now: An Interview with Larry Reed

“By and large, as people mature and learn about how the real world works, they tend to become more pro-liberty. I know a lot more former socialists than I know former libertarians.”

On March 31st, Larry Reed, the President of the Foundation for Economic Education, joined Merion West’s Erich Prince to discuss his journey to libertarianism, which was inspired by 1968’s Prague Spring, his 1982 run for Congress, and the state of individual liberties around the world.

To begin, could you walk us through your personal journey to libertarianism, the philosophy you’ve come to embrace? What were the catalyzing moments that brought you there? I recall reading about your interest in Prague Spring. Is that what made everything click for you?

I grew up in a family that was relatively apolitical. My father had instincts in a conservative direction, but it was not a big thing with him. My mother had no interest, at all, in political or economic issues, but I think my father planted some anti-authoritarian instincts early. So maybe that helped me generate an interest in world events.

In 1968, I became very interested at the age of fourteen in developments in Czechoslovakia. Early that year was Prague Spring, the flowering of some freedoms in that Communist country, and I watched that. I cheered the Czechs on. And when the Soviets invaded in August, I was infuriated by it. Days later, I discovered there was a group going to have a demonstration in Pittsburgh about thirty miles away [from my home] to protest the Soviet invasion.