Off toTokyo

It’s a little sad preparing to leave Alushta and the Cato.ru Summer School, which has brought together such outstanding students and faculty for very deep study and conversation about property and freedom. (Last night, Kakha Bendukidze joined the seminar from Tbilisi by Skype. We used the AV equipment to project his image on the big screen and he was able to take questions and have a discussion with the students present. The conversation ranged over the roots and the outcome of the Russian invasion of Georgia, economic policy, security of property, and more.) I also had the chance to meet some remarkable figures, notably the truly heroic Vladimir Bukovsky, who both gave a remarkable presentation (which we plan to make available in video in Russian and with subtitles in English, French, Chinese, and other languages) and who has taken part in the various discussions. The opportunity of the students to sit down at lunch with such a giant of liberty (and self-described libertarian) has been invaluable. I regret that I will miss the reading by the poet and essayist of freedom Lev Rubinstein of his poems and essays, some just published by Cato.ru and Novoe Izdatelstvo.