FAQ, Vol 1, Num 1

All right, here begins our FAQ series. As grad students and/or prospective grad students, we're all too aware of our limitations. So while you get to ask the questions, we won't presume to answer them. We'll leave that to the experts.

Q: Why are you guys having a theme party? And while we're at it, why the repressive, freedom-hating theme of May Day? Isn't communism the opposite of freedom?

A: If you are organizing a party, it is not enough to tell people that they can come and do whatever they want. People go to parties where they know there are already interesting things happening. They don't usually come and make things interesting for you, whatever freedom you give them.

--Ha-Joon Chang, Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (Toronto: Raincoast Books, 2008), p. 100.