You know how some people are completely original and totally not creatively, logically, or morally inspired by anyone. Of course you don’t! As bo burnam so eloquently put, “art is a lie, nothing is real.” We all take some form of inspiration from others. This can be, the creative direction or an artist you like, the moral grounds of an activist you know, or even the work ethic of one of your teachers.

Today I would like to share with you some of my role model’s. Hello I’m Robbie and welcome to my ted talk.

Now I know that you all want to hear all the wonderful people who helped me develop into the stunning person I am today but I first want to explain why I’m doing this. As with everything I do, it’s for a better grade. Since this is for grades I do have to check a few boxes. Specifically I need to mention how all of these role models share the mission statement I live by and how they affect my end goal. Though this may seem like more work I actually hit my stride using this information. If I hadn’t had to show these two ideas, I may have ended up picking generic role models like “insert any family member/movie star.” With the end goal and mission statement in mind I was able to curate my choices into some interesting picks.

Before I show you my choices, let me first state my mission statement and my end goal.

My end goal is to “help people live their best lives.” I know this sounds cheesy but it’s true. I find I am the happiest when the people around me are happy. Therefore, if I would like to be happy, I need to work to ensure that the people around me have the opportunity to be happy, and what’s a more sustainable way of being happy then living life to its fullest. This actually leads into my mission statement “The pursuit of liberty is the pursuit of happiness.” Essentially what this is saying that you as an individual know how to function as yourself better then anyone else. So long as you aren’t impacting others ability to live how they’d like, who’s to stop you from living they way you think is best.

Now that I have shown you why I chose the people I chose, let me introduce them!

Let’s start with the most famous of the group, Lil Peep.

Lil Peep, if you didn’t know, was a very influential artist in the rap scene. He helped to pioneer a new sound in music known as emo rap. As I started to make my own music, I found myself emulating some of the production and lyrical styles he used. Most importantly though, I began to emulate his feeling towards music. This being the idea of being free to say exactly what you want to say, don’t censor yourself because others.

If Lil Peep represents freedom of content, then Hobo Johnson represents freedom of form.

Hobo Johnson, also known as Frank, is a relatively unknown musician is the front man for his band Hobo Johnson and the Lovemakers. The reason I picked Frank isn’t necessarily for the content of his music, though the metaphors throughout are very impactful. I chose Frank because of the way he presents his music. Rather then going for the big budget standardized song format most popular music has today, he makes music the way he wants.

The next influence on my life I’d like to mention is Whisky, also known as Whisky and rebellion.

Whisky was a heavily influential advocate for libertarianism. His main platforms where Instagram and Facebook though he did make some appearances live at protests and demonstrations. The reason I chose him as a role model is because he was the first person to introduce me to the ideology known as libertarianism.

The final three role models I have are Rezzy, Anglo, and Rebel (their full tags are below).

I linked these three together for the same reason. Much like Whisky, these three are very influential faces in the librarian community. Unlike Whisky who retired earlier this year, these three have worked to continue his legacy of event planning and advocating. These three have shown me that individualism is very important to liberty, but so is voluntary cooperation.

These five people have been very influential to my life and I am happy I got to share them with you all. Without the guidance and insight I have gathered from them I would not be the person I am today. That’s why I am encouraging anyone who reads this to take a moment and thank anyone who’s had a hand in shaping who you are.