Nielsio

Hello World. My name is Niels van der Linden. I am 31 years of age and from the Netherlands.

I became a libertarian and anarcho-capitalist in 2005. In 2006, I started studying Austrian economics. In 2007, I started posting videos online; which is also the year I created the V for Voluntary symbol.

By now, I have a large library of valuable materials. The two main topics are: economics (how society works), and psychology (how the inner world works).

To get all that together I have put a lot of time, effort, and sometimes money, into creating videos, and editing those of others; which has often required getting their permission and establishing good relations.

Some of the videos that are doing well:

With that experience, I’ve been able to help other content creators as well, and continue to do so.

Another thing I’ve found the opportunity to do was start an Austrian economics subreddit (a subreddit is a forum within the social news website Reddit.com, where the starter of it becomes the moderator). This happened 6 months ago. I have determined its mission as follows:

The goal with this community is to be a place of respectful discussion, where the users feel free to communicate their thoughts, without fear of hostility.

To this end all users are asked to refrain from personal attacks and down putting statements; and instead to be cordial.

This policy (on which I moderate strictly), together with a set of guidelines that keep it usable, have allowed it to flourish. This does require a regular effort on my part to check all of the content and to keep an eye on the mood of the discussions.

(monthly unique visitors has exceeded 10K since January)

The respectful nature of the subreddit has aided in attracting some prominent Austrian scholars and promoters, and we have successfully held Ask-Me-Anything question and video sessions with John Papola, Robert Murphy, Jeffrey Tucker, and more are coming up.

At the current rate, /austrian_economics will surpass 5,000 subscribers before the end of the year.

I also moderate /vforvoluntary and /libertariancomics, and I co-moderate (after being invited) /economics and /unschool.

From 2007 on, I was able to play poker for my income, which has allowed me to do all the things I’ve mentioned. Because of government intervention in the poker market last year, that has become more difficult. What I would really like to do is become full-time dedicated to the cause of understanding political and personal liberty and spreading those ideas; in cooperation with others. I have generated a little bit of income through advertising and links, but (monthly) donations can make it really workable. The more I receive, the more of my time I will be able to spend on it.

I have created a webpage that contains my current plans and ideas regarding content; which I will keep updating. As before, everything I create will be released for free and with a free license. I will publish the amounts (and not the names) I have received in donations. I have been and remain open to all forms of communication: email, skype and in real life.

I have setup a second Youtube channel, where I will be posting the videos of myself from now on, with the aim of getting Youtube partnered.

A bit more information about myself: In the past 3 years I have spent a total of 13 weeks in the United States, traveling to 5 different states where I stayed with libertarian friends and got to learn about their environment and their life. I am in a committed long-term relationship with a fantastic Austro-libertarian girl, who is into economics and psychology as much as I am.