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Are you a Liberal?

May 9th, 2009 by

It would be presumptuous for a few people sitting on the Freedom Team to claims to be the custodian of freedom or liberalism. Thus, there is no ‘perfect’ liberalism just as there is no perfectly liberal society. However, it is hoped that members of FTI will take a particular view of freedom that is best classified, in the political philosophy sense, as ‘classical liberalism’. It is a classical view of liberty because it does not support various social democratic (welfare state) variations on the liberal theme formed in 20th century America and Europe.

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Please read this before applying to join FTI

May 8th, 2009 by

STEP 1 of the joining process

Dear potential member of FTI,

Thank you very much for coming by. We are looking for people like you who are committed to the long-term success of India as a prosperous liberal democracy. Since FTI aims to guarantee India the best possible leaders for the 2014 elections and beyond, we have a staged process of entry to the team. This page will point you to reading material for you to go through before undertaking Step 2 of the joining process. Reading and understanding this is important. Joining FTI is a life-long commitment to the cause of India, and you should make such a commitment only after due deliberation.

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FTI Inquiries Questions Suggestions

April 18th, 2009 by

Dear Visitor

This blog aims to address your inquiries and questions, and is also a place for you to provide suggestions for improvement of FTI.

Discussions on Shantanu's blog :

At the formation of FTI, many questions and answers were discussed on Shantanu's blog (here). The complete discussion as at 19 April 2009 is now available for download as a Word document here:

FAQ

In addition, we have attempted to answer questions at the FTI FAQ.

All this is clearly work in progress, and many of these answers can change as better answers are found. However, this is a beginning.

In any event, if the material referred to above doesn't address your questions, please do not hesitate to ask questions or otherwise provide comment.

Please do note that FTI blogs are moderated (very lightly, though: ie. only for decency and appropriateness, not for ideas).

With regards

Freedom Team

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Who can join the Freedom Team of India

April 17th, 2009 by

Step 1: Please read this document (and associated documents) first.

Step 2: After that, confirm your agreement with each of the requirements/conditions in the table below. Having done that, you will be taken to a simple application form for the submission. After your form is received by the Team, a Team member will get in touch with you. Please lodge your application only once. It may take some time for our members to respond to the application, given we are all volunteers, but we take care to get in touch with everyone as soon as we can. If you don’t hear within 14 days please write to sabhlok at yahoo dot com.

AGE LIMIT: From 31 August, 2009, a new requirement has been imposed –  that to apply for FTI membership the applicant must be above the age of 21. Please ensure you meet the age requirement on the date of submitting your application.

Q. Do you agree with EACH of these? If not, then:
1 Goal of maximizing freedom.Do you agree that everyone’s freedom must be maximized in a society so long as they are accountable? In particular, do you agree with these core beliefs? FTI advocates a classical liberal political philosophy and broadly supports the differences outlined by Samuel Freeman between the classical liberal view and the libertarian position.

You may want to read at least three of these four  readings (and others of this sort) to clarify and reconsider your views, and return to this page.
2 Must want to contest Parliamentary elections. Are you in-principle interested in contesting parliamentary elections, subject to a competent national Team being assembled, and resources raised? Note that your interest does not necessarily mean you will get to contest elections. Please prepare yourself to contest elections in the coming years, and then return.
3 Ability to work in a team. Are you willing to work as a team member and share the organizational responsibility? Please prepare to work in a team and to take on the organizational responsibilities, and then return.
4 Leadership aspiration. Are you prepared to work towards becoming a level 4 or 5 leader (cf. Jim Collins)? Please commit to leadership development and then return.
5 Leadership grooming.Are you willing to undergo (in principle) a training program of about 3 months sometime in the future (not yet determined; the cost will be met/subsidized)? This training program will act as a foundation course for the policy alignment and the leadership development. Please return when you are
willing to participate in such a program.
6 Willingness to declare the assets. Higher levels of disclosure are needed on the Freedom Team than in a normal setting. Are you willing to disclose your source of wealth and your family’s assets publicly at a later stage? Please prepare for disclosure of your assets at the appropriate time, and return.
7 Personal integrity. Do you comply with, and are willing to continue to comply with the highest standards of personal integrity? See explanation here. Please meet these criteria, and then return.
8

Communication skills. Have at least a Bachelor’s degree and working knowledge of English as well as one Indian language (alternative demonstrations of such working knowledge would be acceptable)?

Please finish your Bachelor’s degree and gain working knowledge of at least one Indian language and return. OR Demonstrate the working knowledge and understanding of the language skills for undergoing the Level-5 Leadership training. Demonstrate your working knowledge  Demonstrate your working knowOR OR de 

9 Active communication using FTI Forum. Have you gone through the Forum Guide and details of how we communicate? Do you agree to communicate actively and contribute to FTI goals using these methods? [Only in very exceptional cases do FTI members communicate over phone. Once you join it is incumbent on you to keep abreast of what is going on in FTI. It is your responsibility to read and understand these documents before joining. While FTI members will help you in the initial stages you are expected to have done your homework before applying to join FTI.
Do you agree with all the conditions above?
Yes

No

If you don’t agree to these conditions (and even if you do), or have some thoughts on them, the Freedom Team would appreciate your comments on how these conditions can be improved for not missing out the genuine Leaders of high intellect and integrity.

 

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Current activities of the Freedom Team

February 11th, 2009 by

Dear Visitor,

This blog provides a flavor of the activities underway on FTI. This post will be updated periodically.

  • Intense discussions are underway on policy and strategy at the FTI Google Group and FTI’s internal blogs. It is intended that these policies and strategies will be put out for public comment in the coming months.
  • Fortnightly one hour meetings take place over Skype in which a good number of members participate. These meetings are minuted for the benefit of other FTI members
  • Website development is an ongoing process, including updating, reviewing and expanding the website.
  • Preparing and updating documents like the FTI brochure keeps us busy. We are hoping to release a Draft policy and strategy kit by end-2009. We will seek public comment on each of these drafts.
  • It is expected that after draft policies are released, we will start developing detailed policy blueprints during 2010.
  • Some of us contribute to the periodic FTI magazine.
  • Internal processes and documents need a lot of effort, as well. These include things like a Trust deed to register FTI as a not-for-profit organization, membership rules, accounts maintenance processes, membership database, processes to confirm integrity of members, etc.

This is a broad general outline of the activities underway. Every member on FTI volunteers and specializes in relevant parts of this overall development. We hope to incrementally release more and more information for the public.

If you have questions, please call or write to our members listed here.

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