July 2009 | Small Business News
SBH Celebrates Jonathan Gullible's 20th Birthday
By Ken Schoolland, Hawaii Pacific University
Sam Slom, President of Smart Business Hawaii (Small Business Hawaii), launched an economics education program twenty years ago that has been changing the world. Begun as a dramatic radio series in Hawaii, The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey, has now been published in 58 editions in 43 languages, including serialization in numerous periodicals such as the Keizai Seminar Magazine (Japan), The Boss (Nepal), SEDEM Weekly (Bulgaria), Neo Typos (Greece), and The Hong Kong Economic Journal.
Additional thousands of copies have been downloaded from the internet, either from HawaiiReporter.com or Jonathan-Gullible.com. Next is the International Policy Network (IPN) project for distribution of 100,000 CD’s to less developed countries. Plays based on the book have been written for stage in Kenya, Nigeria, and Slovenia. An animated version of the epilogue, known as “The Philosophy of Liberty,” is now available in 35 languages and has been hugely popular with hundreds of thousands of viewers on the internet.
This project has not only been supported by the SBH Entrepreneurial Education Foundation, but by more than two dozen international public policy institutes and endorsed by such economics luminaries as Milton Friedman, Walter Williams, Mark Skousen, and Fred Foldvary. Along the way it has won several awards for economics education, most notably from the Foundation for Economic Education and the Freedom’s Foundation at Valley Forge.
And, not once but twice, book distributors in Hawaii informed us that they would not carry the book in the islands.
What are some of the latest developments?
Arabic
The publishing house Dar Al Ahlia in Jordan, just released Jamal Attayib, the Arabic name for Jonathan Gullible (JG).
This is the culmination of a very long effort, begun with translation sponsorship by Nicholas Dykes in England, publication through Nouh El Harmouzi, Haitham al- Zubbaidi, and Tom Palmer of the Cato Institute.
Sindhi & Urdu
Dr. Khalil Ahmad [below center] has announced two new editions of JG, published by the Alternate Solutions Institute in Lahore, Pakistan.
Bulgarian
Kalin Manolov reported great news about the second Bulgarian edition of JG. Says Kalin, “The great news is that Overgas, a private company which provides resources for the construction and operation of gas distribution networks - www.overgas.bg , supported the publication and will give the book as a present to their pupils. They support 14 classes in various Bulgarian schools. Other good news: the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science will buy books for 30 high ranking Bulgarian secondary schools in the towns of Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Bourgas.”
Nigerian Play
Dr Samuel Ayedime Kafewo wrote this from Nigeria, “This is to inform you that the assessments of the MA students of the play ‘A Letter from Jonathan Gullible’ will be staged and assessed by both internal and external Examiners at the Drama Village of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Kaduna-State Nigeria. After this, it will then be open to public for three days for public viewing June 12-14. The recorded assessment will be sent as soon as possible.”
Japanese
Thanks to Hiroshi Yoshida, JG continues to be a serialized comic strip on the website of Japanese for Tax Reform. [Below, left to right, Masaru Uchiyama (Mr.you) JTR President, Maruko Maruyama JTR Cartoonist, Ken, Hiroshi Yoshida IPSA, Jyunichi Miyakawa Editor].
100,000 JG Distribution
Linda Whetstone, Chairman of The International Policy Network (IPN), reports, “In order to fill the known demand for the CD made apparent by the first edition IPN is about to produce 100,000 of the second edition of this CD which should be available by the end of June 2009. The goal of the CD is to enable many more opinion leaders in less developed countries to have access to the compelling intellectual foundations of the free society.”
Poland
Kris Haladus [below left] has long promoted the new book and audio edition of JG in Poland so why not do some hot marketing? For one thing, Kris has developed a whole line of JG T-Shirts from the latest color illustrations in the Polish edition of the book.
Ken Schoolland is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, a member of the Board of Scholars for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, and a charter member of the Board of Directors of the Small Business Hawaii Entrepreneurial Education Foundation.
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