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Article by Tomislav Krsmanovic, a great champion of liberty in Serbia

I'm thrilled to share this article by Tomislav Krsmanovic, a great champion of liberty in Serbia, publisher of The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible in 10 Balkan languages and recipient of the 1999 Liberty International Bruce Evoy Memorial Award




How I contributed to the publication of

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible

into many Balkan languages.

(1992-2024)

By Tomislav Krsmanovic


Liberty International (LI) was thrilled to announce the exclusive premiere of the animated series of  “The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible,” based on the world bestseller book by Prof. Ken Schoolland, Vice President for International Relations at LI. This book has since been translated into over 58 languages, reprinted in over 90 editions, and has been read by millions worldwide. This series, designed to both entertain and educate, makes complex economic and social principles accessible to audiences of all ages.

I'm responding to the invitation of LI to embark on a whimsical journey with Jonathan Gullible. The new recent LI project makes me proud as one of the participants in publication and promotion.

My cooperation with Liberty International began with my participation at the Annual  International Society for Individual Liberty (ISIL) Conference held in July, 1992, in Poprad, Czechoslovakia. (ISIL was later renamed Liberty International.) Yugoslavia at the time was in armed conflict over the secession of some republics. My conclusion at the time was that the then Yugoslavia was not ready to adapt quickly to sudden and accelerating changes inside the country nor with the outside world. They did not realize that a scientific and technological revolution was coming which would make humanity step into the so-called new era of globalization, the era of computer science.

In Poprad a fascinating event happened in my life. I came to know libertarians and their vision for a free world. This made a profound change in my life. I recognized the fascinating ISIL suggestive message. А free, peaceful, and prosperous world that respects individual rights and liberties within open and competitive economic systems based on private property, voluntary exchange, and free trade. This coincided with the major world developments following the fall of the Berlin Wall and soon after the Soviet Union. Also, China was becoming somewhat liberalized.

In 1992, ISIL moved their conference into Eastern Europe and began offering scholarships to students and young activists from the region. Thanks to these scholarships, over 500 individuals participated and many have gone on to start or expand think tanks, become academics, journalists, entrepreneurs, or politicians. 

A recipient of the ISIL 2006 Prague conference scholarship was a young Polish activist, Jacek Spendel, who is now President of Liberty International.

Following the collapse of communism in Europe, ISIL found an important role in a quickly changing world, distributing liberty movement writings and books to fledgling think tanks and sponsoring international conferences in several of these countries. To accomplish this mission ISIL’s purpose was to bring liberty to every corner of the world by fostering a global network through conferences and book publishing in order to educate and instill within their constituents the spirit, motivation, and camaraderie to become change agents in their own countries.

I was surprised, and proud, when ISIL named me in 1992 at Poprad to be their representative in Serbia, the Republic of the then-dissolved Yugoslavia. After the conference in Poprad, as ISIL representative in Serbia, I decided to suggest that libertarian authors have their books translated into Balkan languages .

In Poprad I received a copy of The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (AJG) and realized that it is actually a fantastic textbook, where the ideas and the essence of free/libertarian business is explained to youth in a very original, effective way.

 

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible tells the story of a boy who becomes shipwrecked on an unfamiliar island after being swept out to sea in a storm. Having previously lived in a relatively free society, in this new strange land he experiences culture shock as he learns of bewildering laws and traditions of the island's inhabitants. The story highlights the absurdities of the laws, the controls imposed on people’s lives, and the economic drawbacks of these laws.

​     The laws highlighted are recognizable as common to many countries throughout the world. As the story unfolds, the part individuals in society play in political decision-making and personal responsibility is introduced for discussion.


My plan was to publish The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible by Ken Schoolland, and Healing Our World by Dr. Mary Ruwart, first in the Serbian language, to promote through the media and public events. And I planned to sell copies in order to provide partially self-financing from the earnings.

I made a project plan, found qualified translators and printers, and thought about distributing and promoting the books. In my mind, I had quality, low cost, and speedy service. The project was becoming more and more ambitious so I was convinced that the authors would be satisfied and that I would публисх books into other Balkan languages as well.

I published The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible year after year in the following languages: Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Slovenian, Montenegrin, Bosniak, Republic of Srpska (Serbian), Albanian partially, Romany, and finally Ruthenian in 2016. Thousands of copies of books were printed.

AJG was presented in the media in Belgrade, placed in libraries throughout Serbia, the Republic of Srpska, Montenegro and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, even some in Kosovo, Croatia, and Slovenia in bookstores, schools, even sold on the street or digitally. I've also been trying to make contacts in Albania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Turqui.

            Significant support was provided by the notable American libertarian Stephen Browne, who spent several months in Belgrade in 1997 where he taught English and promoted the book. He wrote a book called Word Pictures in Belgrade, a successful way to master the English language.

Beginning in 1980, Ken Schoolland, a professor of economics at Hawaii Pacific University, produced a series of audience-friendly radio commentaries which were compiled as a satirical, free market book: The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey.  In 1990, Hubert Jongen sponsored the Dutch translation, and it was off to the races. 

The original book was expanded with the UK Commentary Edition with Janette Eldridge to include many subtle nuances to the principles explored. To assist readers and educators to more easily understand the meaning of the story, a commentary edition features relevant commentary and background information to accompany each chapter. These commentaries were meant to provide only the gist of each issue so books and websites are recommended for further research which makes it particularly useful for projects and debates.​The UK Commentary is available for purchase or as a free download. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/49a1a6_3cd6c8fda2dd457092f01bb0f6a0e898.pdf

One case of effective use of AJG was in Hong Kong. When Hong Kong was being transferred from British to Chinese authority in 1997, people in Hong Kong worried that many economic freedoms would be lost. Thus Joy Shan Lam Kung, editor of The Hong Kong Economic Journal, serialized the book as a way of sending a veiled message to a sophisticated audience. Joy Shan Lam Kung commented, “Your book appeared in the third section as we sometimes carry an educational series on economics and management. The paper was founded by my father in 1973 and he still has a daily column on politics and economics. It has the highest credibility ranking of all media in HK and has the most educated as well as affluent readership. I guess I could give you a lot of reasons why we chose your book to translate but it all boils down to the owner thought it was a wonderful book! In case it is of interest, our freelance writers from all seven HK universities are able to cite their publications in our magazine and newspaper as academic publications."

​            Satire has always been used among intellectuals throughout the world to send messages. The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey originated as a series of economic and political commentaries for KHVH, an all-news radio station catering to the business and professional community in Hawaii. Response to Professor Ken Schoolland’s  weekly economics commentaries was at zero until he tried satire along the lines of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. The response was electrifying. https://www.jonathangullible.com/

The book has won awards from several organizations including the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and endorsements from freedom luminaries Milton Friedman, Walter Williams, Steve Forbes,  John Stossel, and Mark Skousen. There is an online flash animation based on the book in 48 languages, and stage productions in Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Brazil, and several African countries.

During this time I participated in the following Annual ISIL Conventions: 1992 in Poprad, Slovakia, 1995 in Athens, Greece, 1997 in Rome, Italy, in 1998 in Berlin Germany, March 1999 at the ISIL Regional Meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. I was invited to meetings in Tallinn, Estonia in 1993 and in Merida, Mexico in 1994, but I was unable to come up with the sanctions imposed on Yugoslavia at that time. On my trip to Tallinn in 1993, I was returned from Lviv, Ukraine on the Moscow-Belgrade train.

At the Regional Meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark from 19-21 March 1999, I was honored with an exceptional acknowledgment - the international THE BRUCE EVOY MEMORIAL AWARD for 1999. This very important recognition is given to individuals from all over the world who are deserving of achievements in the field of advancement of democracy.

This award was given to me by ISIL-San Francisco as a recognition of the long-standing engagement in the struggle for democracy and the promotion of human rights, and for contributing to the publication of books by libertarian authors in the Balkan languages.

The Balkans is the birthplace of European Judeo-Hellenic values. Since the democratic changes in October 2000, Serbia has been on the European path and its main foreign policy goal is membership in the European Union. The main reason why Serbia has not harmonized its policy in accordance with EU requirements to a greater extent is the unresolved issue of the status of Kosovo and Metohija, as well as some international relations, the judiciary, and corruption.

Serbia is moving towards democracy. I think that the sown seeds of  libertarianism in various segments give visible fruits here. I note, in spite of all, there is notable growth of the liberty movement in this area in recent years.

Libertarian thinker Ayn Rand prophetically predicted in the 1970s today’s world balkanization. Local non-formal criminalized segments encourage quarrels in order to get votes, and to get rich, connected underground of all nationalities in one goal-robbery, she said. The corrupt segments of the informal mafia have been transferred from the era of Slobodan Milosevic and to the bureaucratic state from the former Yugoslavia.

The relations between the former Yugoslavia and today’s Serbia, which emerged from it, with America, were damaged after the conflict between the former leader of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic with America and NATO in 1999.

The awareness that it is important for the interests of Serbia to once again achieve traditionally close relations with the USA, which have lasted since the 19th century, is increasingly present. Serbia has been a traditional friend of America for decades, forever. After the breakup between Tito and Stalin in 1948, communist Yugoslavia rapidly turned to Western influences. In the 1950s, a true euphoria of westernization arose. American movies, actors, music, lifestyle, and youth entertainment abound. In 2022, Serbia began to reap the fruits of a noticeable improvement in traditional Serbian-American relations.This can also be seen in Kosovo, where the Americans calmed tensions and contained possible armed conflicts. The improvement can also be seen in the very significant volume and type of investments in the economy of Serbia from the USA.

With my age, memories, and experience, I wonder: Does history repeat itself? I am amazed. I remember the 1950s when I was a pupil, and it was referred to everywhere nearly the same as today: North Korea, China, (Formosa) Taiwan, Iran, Russia, Balkans. Professor Ken Schoolland emphasizes in the foreword of his book AJG that what is today is created from what was yesterday, and tomorrow is created from what was today and yesterday.

With a note that this book is placed in 60% of Serbian libraries, as well as some libertarian pamphlets and the world bestseller, Dr. Mary Ruwart’s Healing Our World

My vision is libertarian. A kind of spiritual revival is being registered in the Balkans. Tentative calls for reconciliation can still be heard. I am convinced that this evolution will gain momentum. If there was reconciliation, tensions would disappear. It seems to me that would be a good strategy.

Trade and peaceful cooperation – that’s the reality. My vision is: the philosophy of liberty sees the world free of governmental overpower yet full of individual responsibility, the world freer and more open.






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