 Trade is Mutually Beneficial
by G. Stolyarov II
Mr. Stolyarov discusses the benefits conferred by trade to all parties involved. Trade is superior to the alternative systems of coercion and sacrifice in that—under trade—everybody wins and nobody loses. Trade is fundamental to the capitalist system and encourages productivity, prudence, and virtue. Furthermore, trade in itself is productive. (Read more...)
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You are a Troublemaker
by JJ Tuan
There is a common but disturbing mentality which equivocates between a troublemaker and someone who points out existing trouble. The former is he who caused the trouble to begin with, whereas the latter is simply a messenger of the bad news. The confusion of the two is usually introduced by the troublemaker in an eff... (Read more...)
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Communism and Moral Ambiguity
by Michael F Dickey
It’s always good to be vigilantly skeptical of any kind of dichotomous us vs. them thinking. The vast majority of it is baseless and arbitrary. But just because right and wrong / good and evil / and us vs. them has been hijacked by every ethnicity, nationality, special interest group, and collectivist ideal, does not mean that the concepts of right and wrong and us vs. them are invalid. There are certain fundamentals of human standards by which every culture and individual action must be judged against, and that is the respect of life and individuality. Non judgment is the height of moral relativism and means anything goes, whether it is simply a disingenuous white lie or an attempted genocide (Read more...)
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Working on the Fringes: How to Create Effective Political, Cultural, and Intellectual Change
by G. Stolyarov II
Mr. Stolyarov advocates an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary approach to changing the political and cultural status quo; he suggests that friends of liberty and reason try to focus on the fringe issues which few people in the mainstream notice, rather than on contentious core issues where any forward movement will be thwarted by dominant orthodoxies and counter-orthodoxies. (Read more...)
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Table of Contents for The Vision-Driven Life
by Luke Setzer
Imagine a fully rational alternative to Rick Warren's religious screed The Purpose-Driven® Life. Visualize a book that takes its overall structure from the ethics of Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Envision using the suggested reading list of the Ayn Rand Institute -- 25 items -- as a subject of study for each chapter of such a book. See each chapter broken into seven days of brief insights, gems of advice, and thought-provoking assignments drawing on Ayn Rand and many other sage authors from a wide range of fields. Picture in your mind's eye how the conscientious completion of such a book would yield a life blueprint and how such a blueprint could chart a course for your life. (Read more...)
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From Vision through Values to Mission
by Luke Setzer
My previous articles about developing a global Objectivist club network have focused on "learning lessons" from various proven companies and clubs ranging from BB&T to Toastmasters. Given those lessons learned, what would an overall blueprint for the proposed Objectivist network resemble? To answer that question requires identifying the actual components of a good blueprint followed by an outline of the particulars that concretize those abstract components for this network. (Read more...)
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Two Paths to Freedom
by Brandon W. Holmes
Of the economists who defend the free market, there are two main schools. One is the Austrian school and the other is the Chicago school. These schools use very different methodology and comprise two distinct paths to liberty and freedom. (Read more...)
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Spotting a Rationalization
by Joseph Rowlands
Recently I've had a couple opportunities to suggest that someone is rationalizing. I hesitate to make those kind of statements since they make assumptions about the motives of a person. When analyzing an argument, those motivations are irrelevant. The argument stands or falls on its own merit, not on who's making it... (Read more...)
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Polls Reveal Massive Ignorance and Some Hope
by Michael E. Marotta
The limitations of intellectual activism today are perhaps best understood from this poll by the National Association of Scholars: "Today's College Students Barely More Knowledgeable than High School Students of 50 Years Ago, Poll Shows." We may never defeat mysticism, altruism, and collectivism, but we can find other rational, egocentric individualists.
(Read more...)
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Wealth is Produced
by G. Stolyarov II
Special interest groups often attempt to expropriate others, justifying their actions by claiming “their share of the economic pie.” They are able to get away with violating genuinely productive individuals’ property rights by exploiting a widespread fallacy. This fallacy is the zero-sum view of wealth, perpetrated since at least the days of regulated Mercantilist economies. Its advocates view the amount of wealth in the world as static: what one man gains, another must lose. The “economic pie” was always there, and it was always the same size. Mr. Stolyarov refutes this view and argues that wealth can and must be created; its creation requires private property and free markets. (Read more...)
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Unquestionable Irrationality
by Joseph Rowlands
Ayn Rand warned her readers to distinguish between the metaphysical and the man-made. The metaphysically given are facts of reality outside of our control. You can't get angry with gravity for existing. You can't get angry at the sun for shining. The man-made, on the other hand, is chosen and doesn't have to be tha... (Read more...)
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Objectivist Newbie Guide
by Joseph Rowlands
There are many ways someone can pursue activism in Objectivism. I've typically focused my own activist efforts on in-reach programs for Objectivists. I think there's often a preconception that real activism must be outwards oriented, like introducing the ideas to new people. In-reach programs are sometimes thought o... (Read more...)
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On American Inventor, from an Inventor
by Michael F Dickey
Being an inventor I feel I must comment on the show on ABC yesterday “American Inventor” This ‘reality’ show follows nearly the exact same formula as American Idol does, and was produced by the same team. I have mixed feelings on this show, I knew once I heard about it they would focus on the many stupid inventions al... (Read more...)
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One Downside of non-Western Fundamentalism: Evidence from Earthquake Data
by Ed Thompson
This short summary is meant to compare the death tolls from similar (or less)-magnitude earth quakes – and to take note of the differential lives lost in various regions holding different world-views. (Read more...)
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Learning Lessons from Toastmasters
by Luke Setzer
Nothing in reality prevents the conception, incubation, birth and growth of a global Objectivist club network into a towering giant. The Toastmasters International club network offers an ideal colossus to emulate. Its enormous success shows that one man can indeed start a global phenomenon. Its sweeping yet grounded vision, mission, values and strategic plan illustrate the role of reason in creating global culture change. Its rigorous procedures for selecting members, officers and contest winners exemplify objectivity in action. Its training systems arise from decades of experience. In short, it offers many lessons for how a good Objectivist club system should do business. (Read more...)
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Success! (A little anyway)
by Mitchell McLeod Willcox
I've had a little bit of success with activism at my university. The subject was smoking bans and the result was hopefully some opened minds. (Read more...)
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Learning Lessons from Beachbody
by Luke Setzer
An Objectivist club network Web site needs a testimonials page as motivating as that of Beachbody. The writers of such testimonials need to spell vividly their states of flourishing before and after embracing Objectivism. They must make clear to all newcomers the vast increase in quality of life that Objectivism delivers. (Read more...)
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Thursday
February 23, 2006 |
The Equivocation of Chickens
by Dean Michael Gores
Recently I've been focusing on the falacy of equivocation and cases where two people are using different definitions for the same word. In this article I show how to identify the problems in day to day logic and communication. (Read more...)
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Unilateral Moral Disarmament
by Robert James Bidinotto
Awakening on the morning of September 11, 2001, we Americans were proud, happy, and confident. (Read more...)
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Learning Lessons from the Fellowship of Reason
by Luke Setzer
Before I became involved with SOLO and now RoR as a way to place my local Objectivist club under a wider umbrella, I briefly explored the idea of opening a local chapter of the Fellowship of Reason® (FOR) for that purpose. Unfortunately, I learned that FOR had a substantially different vision, so I abandoned the effort. I also did not renew my membership with them when dues time came. Their new Executive Board sent a survey to all current and former members to learn lessons about what they could do to improve FOR. I offer my responses to their survey here. I have changed names to protect privacy. (Read more...)
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Roles and Rational Egoism
by Luke Setzer
Chapter 12 from the forthcoming book The Vision-Driven Life™: Becoming the Self You Might Be and Ought To Be examines how one can best form relationships using the virtue of Justice. It shows how one must master the role of Island in order to have the greatest freedom to form the most flourishing relationships possible. It ends with an exercise to identify current roles and their emotional payoffs. (Read more...)
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Principles of Activism 5: Unique Advantages
by Joseph Rowlands
What kinds of activism should we focus on? That can be a tough question with no easy answer. The problem is that there are so many things you can do to promote Objectivist ideas. We could promote life-affirming art, less taxation, financial responsibility, or countless other ideas. Any of these ideas move us closer... (Read more...)
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Learning Lessons from McDonald's
by Luke Setzer
Among the New Intellectuals of the business world, Ray Kroc stands as an example of the most grandiose, world-dominating possibilities available. If Objectivists want to change the world, they would do well to study his methods at franchising McDonald's across the globe. This especially holds true when considering how best to franchise a global Objectivist club network. (Read more...)
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Principles of Activism 4: Non-sacrificial activism
by Joseph Rowlands
A question that has come up often in the past is whether activism is even compatible with a morality based on self-interest. Isn't activism a kind of sacrifice? Aren't you throwing away your happiness to try to improve the lives of others? If someone dedicated his life to "the cause", wouldn't he be betraying the ve... (Read more...)
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Objectivist Clubs and Holidays
by Luke Setzer
A global Objectivist club network must take full advantage of the holiday phenomenon to serve the four basic human needs effectively. (Read more...)
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