On Street Music... And The Button

Just the other day, a proud and well-meaning friend raised strong objections to my having a “Donate” button on my blog. She said it seemed like I was begging for charity, hat in hand.

As a proud man myself, I confessed that I did not see things as she did. My blog was more in the nature of “street music” – and street musicians are not beggars. They express themselves freely in a public place, entertain the people, and accept whatever people “donate” – and most people don’t.

To buttress my stand, I made my friend listen to a YouTube track from Playing For Change, a new group that features street musicians from all over the world. In this track, titled “Blues Across America,” a blind black blues singer from New York begins by talking of the “self-worth” that street musicians possess. After hearing the intro and listening to the song, I think my friend got my point.

Over the last year or so, many, many people have been kind enough to donate money to Antidote. This money has been very carefully spent – not on ganja-charas, but on BOOKS. These books are vital to my knowledge base.

Allow me to list some of the precious volumes I have been able to purchase – and I would not have been able to purchase these had it not been for my donors. I paid $70 (including shipping) recently for Jörg Guido Hülsmann’s biography of Ludwig von Mises – and I am currently enjoying this great book to the hilt, and learning a lot besides.

I bought the original 2-volume set of Philip Mason’s Men Who Ruled India, 1953 edition, and these are the pride of my modest library.

I bought George Roche’s biography of Frédéric Bastiat – second-hand, for it is now out of print, and it was a great read; very inspiring too.

I bought the only history of the institution of Lord Mayor of London, a very instructive history for one who champions urban local self-government in India.

I bought a whole lot of great books from the Mises Institute – Hoppe, Böhm-Bawerk, Doug French on bubbles, etc.

For all of these, I am most grateful to my donors, and I hope they are also pleased to see how I have used their kindness.