New to PI

Ten Reasons to Switch Your Political Affiliation to Prometheus

 

1. Libertarians of the world, unite. Who is a libertarian? Anyone who believes that basic freedom means social liberalism and free-market ideals, and anyone who believes that anything less is hypocrisy. We come from all perspectives. We're capitalists who believe in personal freedoms; we're social activists who realize the benefits of economic prosperity; we're idealists who believe in the individual; we're historians who distrust absolute power; we're economists who distrust regulation; we're believers in the Bill of Rights; we're believers in the American Revolution. You may already be a libertarian, or you are just interested in an alternative view. Either way, you'll enjoy what we have to offer.

2. Learn something. The basis of effective knowledge is the ability to apply it to real-world situations. We've always thought the best teachers are those who teach you the value of knowledge, not just the knowledge. What good is history if it can't serve as a compass for modern politics? What good is philosophy if it can't help us find the truth? What good are facts if they only serve to confirm your viewpoint? What good is knowledge if you don't use it? At the Prometheus Institute, we draw important lessons from history, philosophy, sociology, psychology, science, law, and popular society.

3. Learn everything. Check out our political commentary, where we discuss everything you see on the news with unique perspectives and observations you won't hear anywhere else. Apathetic? Check out The Apathetic Guide to Politics, a profane yet important introduction to Politics as we know it. Whether you are an expert on the theories of John Stuart Mill or just watch Jon Stewart, you'll find your home here.

4. Be stylish. It's undisputed that Prometheus commentary is the most stylish on the web. It is a direct reflection of the style of the staff itself. We're not academics - we're active in society. We're not inhibited - we've inhaled. We're intellectuals who are entertaining. We consider our political views a natural extension of our lifestyle, and style a natural aspect of our being. Not only do we refuse to bore you, but we expect to be trendsetters. Part of the quintessential American political stance is respect for the quintessential American lifestyle, and we hope to represent both.

5. Be respected. Don't let yourself be insulted by the partisan hacks who tell you there are only two political positions in the world. Don't be fooled into thinking reading Sean Hannity, watching Bill O'Reilly, or listening to Al Franken is the best you can get. We're not involved with vindicating your views with pointless gossip about your political opponents. We deliver more. We want to make you think. But most of all, we respect your intelligence.

6. Please your eyes and your mind. There's more to writing than the words, and we realize this. Look at our magazine. Three dimensional art graces the pages, and every article layout is painstakingly placed for ultimate aesthetic pleasure. Look at our website. You see beautiful graphics, and the refreshing realization you don't have to spend your time staring at excruciatingly boring or ugly pages. We agonize over every pixel, content only when the visual experience matches the intellectual experience to every degree. It's all part of our effort to give you, the reader, the best experience on the web.

7. Who says youth is wasted on the young? Everyone who works for us is in his twenties. We have the youthful charisma and optimism to interest the public, but we also possess the intellectual capacity to make the old fogies in the political establishment shake at the knees. Politics needs a new generation to take over, and we represent that generation. And don't forget the most important advantage to our youth: You know we'll be around for a while.

8. Take the fight to the establishment. We don't just write and expect people to find us. We publish rebuttals, and email the ensuing destruction to the victim. We watch the cable news shows and tell them what they're missing. We publish advertisements in all media. Additionally, our other activities cover all political sectors, from Education to Social Security and from music and philosophy.

9. A revolution in political organizations. How do you represent your politics? As of now, your only options are to identify with one of the two major parties, read a few books, or participate in pointless activities like protesting. We give you more. We give you merchandise to represent your views with myriad styles and subjects. We give you books and magazines that you can be proud to admit to reading. We give you membership options to get involved. You can keep your independence at the same time that you have an organizational ally.

10. Never be complacent. We're perfectionists to the core, and we'll be unsatisfied with our work until the day the world ends. Our innovation never ceases. While every other opinion outlet is happy to maintain its established activities, we never are. Our creativity is in constant motion, and we are always putting our energies into new activities, publications, justifications and positions. We're flowing, innovating, expanding, and modifying everything we do. We'll never settle. Because of this, you can rest assured that you will be reading the absolute best this country can produce.

 
What's Your Political Affiliation?
Click below to learn more about where the Prometheus Institute stands in relation to your political party. You might be surprised by the results!
Are you a Democrat?
You're a Democrat because you believe in the fundamental freedoms of religion, speech, and press in America, as well as the freedom to simply live your life the way you want to live it, so long as it doesn't impinge on someone else's rights.

You'll find that this organization also champions these beliefs, supporting a woman's right to choose, the freedom to protest, a sensible immigration policy, gay marriage and the Second Amendment. To this organization, there may be no better (or any more American) cause than that of preserving the rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution of the United States.

Democrats are also well aware that America was founded, not to exclude any particular group or credo, but rather to allow diversity to flourish freely in all of its splendorous forms. To this end, we are pro-market economically, but also believe that big corporations are soulless and will continue to destroy the environment, Al Gore be damned. So we've created a true, market-based carbon tax which will not only significantly reduce CO2 emission but will also be agreeable to the frazzled American economy.


An important part of the Democratic platform which seems to have been lost in recent years is the country's stance on peace and positive foreign (trade) relations. When given the reigns of both houses of congress this past year, Democratic politicians betrayed their voters and decided to "stay the course" in America's grand folly into Iraq.

While peace used to be one of the most redeeming and compassionate aspects to the Dems, it's clear that this ideal is no longer widely held by the politicians in Washington.


Check out our issues and policy ideas and see what this organization has to offer. You might agree with us more than you think. You might even be a libertarian!

Are you a Republican?
You're a Republican because you believe that, generally, the government is a necessary evil and that its main function is to keep afloat the twin pillars which have made this country so great over the past several hundred years - open-markets and individual freedom.

You'll be happy to find that this organization champions many of the ideals that the Republican party used to represent, like a non-interventionist foreign policy, individual liberties, reduction (and privatization) of wasteful or redundant government agencies and services, free-trade, a sensible immigration solution, a privatized Social Security policy, a flatter tax and term-limits.


Recently, the Republican party has metamorphosed into a loose conglomeration of groups whose only commonality is there agenda to thwart the natural process of social change and the return to a fantasy era their gays were nonexistent and creationism was taught in public schools. The curious paring of these quasi-religious, anti-freedom and pro-big government groups have greatly affected the legitimacy of the Republican party, even in the eyes of many who still affiliate themselves as Republicans.

What is clear for certain, however, is that the party of the small government, the party who once crusaded vehemently for the rights of the individual is no more. As William Buckley so eloquently stated, "Bush, is not a conservative."

Despite the infiltration of the uber-religious, yet strangely authoritarian leaning right, for many the economic irresponsibility of the left was so indigestible that voting Republican was almost automatic and voting Democrat was almost unspeakable. This is a new era though, and Republicans are just as, if not even more fiscally asinine than their peers on the other side of the Capital Building. It's time all Americans look in the mirror and ask themselves if we are heading on the right path.

Check out our issues and policy ideas and see what this organization has to offer. You might agree with us more than you think. Hey, you might even be a libertarian and you didn't even know it!
Why Prometheus?

Prometheus is an ancient Greek god, famous for using trickery to steal fire from Zeus and give it to the people of the world for their own use, and for giving man knowledge of arts such as writing, mathematics, agriculture, medicine and science. The name Prometheus literally means "forethought", and Prometheus is also noted for his foreknowledge of Zeus's eventual downfall and overthrow.

Because ideas are literally the "fire" to create effective change in modern society, the Prometheus Institute takes ideas from the elites in academia and government, and delivers these ideas to the people for their own use.

Today, the adjective "promethean" is defined as "daring and skillfully inventive," "inspiring" or "boldly creative" - perfect characterizations of the Prometheus Institute.

What is libertarian?

Libertarian generally refers to policies that support the free market, social freedom and limited government. Libertarians are sometimes also called "classical liberals", "European liberals", or in America, "socially liberal and fiscally conservative." David Boaz, a libertarian commentator, calls them "small-government, leave-me-alone voters who don't like big-spending Democrats or religious-right Republicans."

Voters with libertarian views or leanings comprise an estimated 15-20% of the American voting population. They are the largest and fastest growing independent voting bloc, and generally are comprised of educated yet relatively younger voters. These voters usually register as independent, but they have been occasionally courted by politicians from both parties.

Moderate libertarian views have strong support from American voters, but strangely, few moderate libertarian organizations exist, outside of the Cato Institute and a few others; many other prominent libertarians hold radical, crypto-anarchic viewpoints. By contrast, the Prometheus Institute is concerned only with practical, effective reform for implementation in American public policy. Radical, unworkable abstract ideas are of no value in helping to forward public policy to benefit the true legal freedoms of the people.

The Prometheus Institute is a nonprofit charity organized under IRS code 501(c)(3) to help reduce the burden of government on the people; it encourages all practical and intelligent views based on the general libertarian principles of limited government, free markets, and the enduring belief in the value of human freedom.
What is a think tank?

Think tanks are nonpartisan organizations that develop and promote new ideas, insights and research in order to influence federal legislation, national public policy, and other aspects of the law.

Think tanks have been enormously influential in shaping and leading political debate, legislative activity and public opinion in the last half-century. Recently, various pro-market think tanks have helped to guide the political consensus away from socialism and central planning by devising effective policies promoting limited government, market competition and deregulation. Think tanks of all ideologies have developed and continue to produce ideas to influence politics in America and the world; their insights and solutions help chart the course of political and social progress.

Yet to profoundly influence the process of law in a 21st century democracy is hardly a simple process. Public preferences, including myriad groups, factions, lobbyists, influential communities, opinion polls and other political factors combine to influence any given decision by legislators and judges. Many current think tanks do little to attract widespread public interest with nuanced quantitative reasoning and outreach concentrated on the political elite. Many of scholars' prolix, esoteric and vapid works, while regularly brilliant, are never read by the policymakers and intellectuals they are supposed to influence, let alone the American political mainstream. Today, scholars and other intelligent advocates sell far fewer books and attract much less public interest than partisan mud-slingers who peddle nescience in a charismatic package. Lacking intelligent ideas capable of attracting public support, American policy has unfortunately grown more polarized and irrational.
What distinguishes PI from other think tanks?
Unique among all think tanks, the Prometheus Institute also advocates its ideas directly to the people of the United States and the world, competitively and creatively marketing publications, research and outreach.

History teaches that effective political progress depends fundamentally on public support for the ideas that the new public policies seek to forward, not simply helpful quantitative data in a policy study, the egoistic passions of a single political faction, or a strategic lobbying effort. Recognizing this, the Institute reaches out beyond the elite, in order to bridge the current chasm between intelligent, well-researched political argument and effective political advocacy. The Institute defends its ideas with both quantitative data as well as normative arguments and insights; democratic policy is driven by values and national direction, not merely by numbers and statistics.

Whether popular, controversial, creative, aesthetic or scholarly, the Institute's work is crafted to gain attention, raise awareness, and drive the political debate. The Institute's work fronts the pages of the most popular news sites on the web, where its ideas inspire discussion among those audiences who elude other think tanks, newspapers and even cable news. The Institute publishes diverse viewpoints, even those contrary to its editorial position, and also features debates on important issues among the Institute's staff and writers. The Institute advocates ideas through several media other think tanks have ignored, including satire, parody, and even print and clothing design. The Institute even discusses nonpolitical subjects, to help attract audiences who may initially reject certain political positions or labels alone.

The Institute sees no reason for the unreasonable delay in implementing quality solutions to today's political and social problems. The Institute believes good ideas should be immediately democratized, not idly shelved in the dusty archives of academia, hoping vainly for reactionary septuagenarians to finally give their imprimatur to them in some subsequent decade.

It's time for something new.