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जुलाई 28, 2011
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> Fall 2011 issue > Summer 2011 issue > Spring 2011 issue > Winter 2010 issue
Summer 2011 -- A mysterious woman walks in on a man sitting behind a desk in a solitary private office. Is this the kick-off of a new detective story? Not really. Instead, it is a light journey into the meaning of life. Competent novels that represent the value system of Objectivism are pretty rare on the vine. The Philosophical Practioner is one, and it is one that is both a pleasure to read and thought-provoking, too.
by Sherrie Gossett Summer 2011 issue -- If, as Ayn Rand wrote, “Civilization is the process of setting man free from men” then some are still awakening, wide-eyed, to that newfound freedom. For “Learning Liberty,” writer Sarah Perry and photographer Danny Fulgencio trekked to Armenia to document the transforming work of the Liberty English Camps in a country once dominated by the Soviet Union. Part of that communist legacy is an all-too-prevalent mindset of dependency and waiting to be taken care of. But those attending the camp voiced a different view: “If we spread this idea [of liberty], we will have a better Armenia than we have now” said camp participant Manane Petrosyan. “If you want to be successful in life, it depends on you,” added Givi Kupatadze.
Update: We have cancelled live streaming due to AT&T connectivity problems at the hotel. Live streaming of the Free Minds / Atlas Society Summer Seminar will start tomorrow morning, Thursday, July 7, at 9:00 am PST / Noon ET. Streaming will begin at the same time this Friday.
December 17, 2003 -- Saddam Hussein now will stand trial for his crimes. The lessons of the trial could be as critical as Saddam’s capture. All trials reflect fundamental underlying principles. In Western societies they seek to settle disputes or to right wrongs, with advocates for the parties involved and impartial judges and jurors who make their decisions based on objective laws. The goal is justice. In dictatorships, “show trials” keep the physical trappings of a civilized system – a courtroom, a bench, a judge – but their goals are to terrorize the victim on trial and the population through the arbitrary use of power and to degrade them by forcing them to pretend that the proceedings have legitimacy.
March 8, 2006 -- The moral premises shared by any group tells you whether it's a society seeking mutual benefits for members based on respect and voluntary exchanges or a criminal gang. The message from the 200 politicians from 16 countries in the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union -- a message that screams like Islamic mobs protesting the Danish cartoons of Mohammad -- is that their organization, the governments they represent and the cultures on which they are based still remain beyond the bounds of civilized principles. Those politicians have called on “Arab and Muslim governments to spare no effort to pressure the UN to issue a resolution banning the slandering of religions.” They want legal action against those who violate such a ban.
October 27, 2004 -- John Kerry's demagogy might serve a purpose other than driving voters to George Bush. In a debate Kerry raised the specter that a second Bush administration might re-institute the military draft. Bush answered clearly and in no uncertain terms that this was not going to happen. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has echoed this pronouncement, adding that the military doesn't need a draft and that a volunteer army is more effective.
May 9, 2006 -- What do Britain's astronomer royal Martin Rees and Australian environmentalist David Leary of MacquarieUniversity have in common? Both are concerned that someone might be making profits on outer and inner space frontiers where there are no government regulators or bureaucrats to be found.
October 3, 2003 -- A group of Southern Methodist University students recently taught a lesson in practical philosophy better than those they are likely to receive in their classes, and the recipients of the lesson are hopping mad. To demonstrate the moral absurdity of the kind of affirmative action principles practiced by many colleges and universities, the SMU students applied the principle to a bake sale. The price of a cookie for a white male was 1 dollar; for a female, 75 cents; for a Hispanic, 50 cents; and for a black, 25 cents.
April 10, 2004 -- The Greeks had a myth about the great goddess Demeter who brought bountiful harvests. Her daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades, god of the underworld, and taken to the realm of the dead. As Demeter despaired, the crops failed and the Earth died. Hades finally agreed to let Persephone return to the land of the living for part of the year and each year her return brought the spring, a time of rebirth and renewal.
March 19, 2004 -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry hit a small bump in what he hopes will be his road to the White House. He recently said on the American Urban Radio Network that, "President Clinton was often known as the first black president. I wouldn't be upset if I could earn the right to be the second." But rather than receiving praise from the people to whom he was pandering, he was criticized, with some black leaders demanding an apology.
January 17, 2004 -- Our reactions to President George W. Bush’s plan to return to the Moon and eventually go on to Mars might start with a reference to Ayn Rand ’s essay on “Apollo 11.” In it she related her thoughts about the launch and landing of the first manned mission to the lunar surface. She described the experience of visiting the Kennedy Space Center to witness the take-off of the huge Saturn V rocket, of seeing it ride a trail of flames into the sky and hearing and feeling the roar of its engines.
June 3, 2003 -- In her novel Anthem, Ayn Rand portrays a primitive, degenerate collectivist society in which all forms of innovation are viewed with suspicion. It took 50 years for the masters of this world to approve that radical invention: the candle. The spiritual brothers of those tyrants have accomplished almost the same feat here in Washington.
May 19, 2004 -- One should wait to see a film before reviewing it but one certainly can comment on the director's stated motivations and the audience response without knowing every camera angle or line of dialogue. Indicative of the sorry state of Old Europe's ethical infrastructure is "The Edukators," directed by Austrian-born Hans Weingartner. It is reported that in this movie three "idealistic" youths break into the homes of the rich not to steal their property but to rearrange the furniture and leave notes saying, "You have too much money." We're used to the leftist Europeans and their American cousins peddling class conflict. But the reception received by this film underscores the nature of their moral meltdown.
outburst that compared that facility to the Soviet gulag. In a diverse and open society there will be serious voices criticizing various government policies and there will be nutcases standing on the corner, ranting and raving that everyone is out to get them and to kill us all and so on incoherently. We engage in reasoned discussion with the former because we assume that our exchanges of words are attempts to discover the truth. We perhaps look with pity on the latter if we think their tirades come from mental illness or with undisguised contempt if they're neo-Nazis, human-hating environmental extremists, followers of Lyndon LaRouche or other such self-made deluded creeps.
Sidebar article to "The Credit Crisis and Moral Hazards " Fall 2008 issue -- Here are some things that you can do to protect yourself and, incidentally, your business: See if you can learn whether your brokers and banks are in financial trouble. A number of sites on the internet identify and discuss troubled banks. Stay on top of the news about your brokers and banks. If you learn that one is in serious financial trouble, reduce your exposure to that bank right away. Understand that banks and brokers have different kinds of insurance to cover your accounts. Ask each of them about how your accounts are insured. Get their written material on the topic, and don’t rely upon verbal assurances. Be sure that you do not exceed FDIC / SIPC / NCUA and other insurance limits for your accounts. Many brokers carry additional insurance; learn about yours.
November 26, 2003 -- Trying to promote freedom and reason in Washington, D.C. can be a bit depressing. Following the goings-on here in the capital through television, newspapers and the Internet can also be a downer. Thus we all have all the more reason to welcome the Thanksgiving holiday, which focuses our thoughts on the good things in life.
Sidebar article to The Credit Crisis and Moral Hazards Fall 2008 issue -- Starting with a mortgage, here is just one example of the shadow-banking system—a train of very widespread practices and credit derivatives. 1. Banks made loans to individuals who had no hope of repaying them from their own income. But it didn’t matter, because the loans were secured by mortgages on real-estate properties that were presumed to be increasing in value. The loans were made with affordable, low payments for a couple of years, after which the payments would reset to higher amounts. At that time, it was expected that the individual would refinance his mortgage based on higher property values and restart with another loan that had low payments. 2. Banks packaged these loans as assets, to secure bonds and similar financial instruments. The package included some good mortgage loans and some bad ones. Based on the percentage of expected defaults in the mix, the bonds could be rated AAA by private rating agencies, such as Moody’s, Standard & Poors, and Fitch, whose fees were paid by the same banks whose bonds they were rating.
October 13, 2005 -- As many major public policy matters are being debated in Washington -- a Supreme Court nomination, runaway federal spending -- seemingly small erosions of our independence and, thus, our freedom continue with very little attention.
August 12, 2003 -- A Minnesota court has just placed the interests of two species of birds and one of fish over considerations of shipping and flood control, which benefit human beings. Judge Paul Magnuson has ruled that to comply with the Endangered Species Act and to protect the habitats of those creatures the Army Corps of Engineers must lower the level of the Missouri River.