About
Content
Store
Forum

Rebirth of Reason
War
People
Archives
Objectivism

Post to this threadMark all messages in this thread as readMark all messages in this thread as unreadPage 0Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Forward one pageLast Page


Post 0

Monday, September 6, 2004 - 7:02amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit

An important article, Lindsay. And thanks for the compliment, even though I'm not "heroic of physique.

Barbara

Post 1

Monday, September 6, 2004 - 7:02amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
your sentiments are good, and uplifting... but i detect a hint of fustration that the pace is not faster... you have to remember that, essentially, we are in a pioneer stage yet...the advance guard, so to speak...

while reason is our primary means of survival, it has to be learned - and, as i've said elsewhere - appreciated  for its importance... this last is what needs to be emphasized, the integratedness of using it as a life-long enhancement to one's wellbeing, not as something to be used 'when necessary' [which is, generally, how it is approached by most others]... and this could only come to being when there is total separation from religion of any stripe, any aspect of the fantasy of the supernatural... 

for myself, i tend to take the 'long view', namely that there is a predisposition to go a certain direction in development, tho the speed  varies...this means that, say, in another 50 years or so, do expect to see much more of your NEM around, indeeed, in a profound number - as this will grow exponentially, what with technological developments like the internet and other means of 'getting the message out' ...  and we, the ones at the early stage, can take pride at having pushed it along to fruitation...


Sanction: 4, No Sanction: 0
Sanction: 4, No Sanction: 0
Post 2

Monday, September 6, 2004 - 7:56amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
You overwhelm me, friend.  "Thank you" seems inadequate... but thank you, indeed.

Sanction: 4, No Sanction: 0
Sanction: 4, No Sanction: 0
Post 3

Monday, September 6, 2004 - 7:56amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
[annoying double post deleted] :)
(Edited by sciabarra on 9/06, 7:57am)


Sanction: 3, No Sanction: 0
Sanction: 3, No Sanction: 0
Post 4

Monday, September 6, 2004 - 8:32amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Robert- I agree with you. I frequently remind people that we are only a few thousand years out of the cave.
Lindsay- I excellent article became brilliant once I saw I was on the list. Those of us who toil voluntarily in your hallowed vineyards are always mindful that they are your vineyards, indeed. And what wine we shall all produce!

It is my belief that the the American Revolution was the first time in history that the nem's really took over and that that absolute number one nem in history to date was George Washington. Ayn Rand gave the American Revolution its philosophical base. It is our job to take this combined magnificent achievement and be sure that the ideas it represents prevail.
The first 13 billion years or so were run by nature. We'll be taking over now. Our greatest era of danger will have been the 20th and 21st centuries. How we handle our technological advances in the next 100 years will determine if mankind survives. The nems are our only hope.
The reason I choose this vineyard and this group of grape stompers is that we all understand that just as important as a great wine is a great party where you can savor it.

Post 5

Monday, September 6, 2004 - 3:41pmSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Wonderful article, Lindsay. Genuinely inspiring. The only difficulty is...I prefer to live with the kind of people and in the kind of world that you describe now
 
For those who have little hope, I think it's worth noting that the history of mankind collectively -- like the history of each man individually -- is "two steps forward, one step back; two steps forward..." Humans have semi-consistently ascended for at least 40,000 years.
 
My own reading of history tells me that the last Enlightenment period peaked -- and started to decline -- around 1785. America had a new labor union movement in the 1780s and 1790s, England had the Romantic poets Wordsworth and Coleridge in the same period, and the French Revolution, after a while, turned to an early version of communism(!).
 
But I think everything bottomed out in 1985 with the Gorbachev-Reagan-Thatcher era. Gorbachev in particular gave us "universal values" (after his rather lame "glasnost" and "perestroika"). I read this to be nothing less than "Western liberal" or "Enlightenment" values -- the best, highest, clearest, and cleanest of Greek, Roman, European, and American values during their respective classical periods.
 
The evidence for the dawn of a new Age of Reason, Second Renaissance, Third Greece, etc. is practically everywhere. The evil ideologies of socialism and islam are in retreat; gross anti-social behavior like war and crime is fading; and Objecivism is finally being taken seriously by the intelligentsia and in the Groves of Academe. There's definitely a new hope in the world! 


Sanction: 1, No Sanction: 0
Post 6

Monday, September 6, 2004 - 5:26pmSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Correct me if I'm wrong, folks, but I think this article is among the most moving things that Linz has ever written. He's a modern-day Ingersoll in his use of the greatest language I know. And thanks for the wonderful compliment, Linz - I'll do my best to live up to your confidence in me. I'm deeply honoured to be praised in the same breath as people such as Barbara, Chris S, James, Cam, Peter, and the Lewises. Bloody hell!

But don't forget yourself, Linz. I still stand by every word I wrote about you here: http://freeradical.co.nz/content/43/43mcgovern.html


Post 7

Monday, September 6, 2004 - 6:36pmSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Did someone mention grapes and vineyards?  ;)

This was beautifully written, Linz.  My soul has found a new level of radiance in this palace of joie de vivre called SOLO -- for the very reasons you listed.

As for its vineyards, James, I'll fight you for the first case of wine.  :D

Jennifer


Post 8

Monday, September 6, 2004 - 10:25pmSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
This article is pure SOLO. Thank you for the mention, among such esteemed company.

James - I love the vineyard metaphor!


Post 9

Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 1:12amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Cameron wrote, "This article is pure SOLO"
 
I couldn't agree more.
Cass


Post 10

Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 9:28amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit

(Edited by Marcus Bachler on 9/07, 9:30am)


Sanction: 3, No Sanction: 0
Sanction: 3, No Sanction: 0
Post 11

Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 9:29amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Just remember that nem-men have big nembers!!! Unless of course you're a wo-nem with a nice pair of mams!!!! :-)


Post 12

Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 2:09pmSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Marcus, it looks like you may have blown a brain vessel writing that one.  ;)

J


Post 13

Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 4:14pmSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Fantastic article, Linz. One of those things that inspires me to put in the hard yards. Thank you.


Post 14

Wednesday, September 8, 2004 - 6:09pmSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Is this the right place in which to put in a plug for James Kilbourne's 'Let's Fly SOLO's NEMs to LA' fund?

Donate now! :-)


Sanction: 4, No Sanction: 0
Sanction: 4, No Sanction: 0
Post 15

Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 12:13amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Wonderful piece Linz! And thank you. :-) :-)

Chris

Post 16

Friday, October 8, 2004 - 5:31amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Lindsay, As a new student of Objectivism I would like to say that this is one of the most inspirational articles I have found on this site.

Post 17

Friday, October 8, 2004 - 9:31pmSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Jeffrey - Thank you. I hope you find your new subject rewarding & fulfilling. Please keep me posted!

Linz

Post 18

Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - 5:07amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit

I think you're right, we've had our age of enlightenment. But like the Renaissance men, it is not enough to help us really evolve. Enlightenment has been sporadic at best and incompetent most often. We've always taken the rough road to travel. Then again, I'm a pessimist who observes things literally and can't help but wonder where "she" exists in a "he."
 
Why indeed, trouble yourself? It's far easier to insinuate "feminine" as a political correct joke and use English grammar as an excuse that allows "him" to speak for her. This way men can perceive the world revolving around men, period; while they continue to assume women will follow. I can't help but wonder, why not allow her to speak for humanity, instead? After all, she's the one who made it possible for "he" to exist. "He" can't even create. Men either don't realize or forget a profound reality; females are the only life forms that carry the seed (despite documented Biblical mendacities). If we continue to acknowledge women through men, ignoring their relevance and profound significance we will never evolve. Only through women will men find their salvation.

Another impediment to human progress involves our refusal to embrace God as an entity of beauty and grace beyond anything our simple minds can perceive. Instead many (far more literal than even I) worship a god with the emotional intelligence of an adolescent male having a wet dream. In Genesis (King Jame's interpretation --- not to be confused with the first of five books in the Torah) God is nothing more than a despot denying his creations knowledge while preferring them nude. He accuses Adam and Eve of disobedience even though he created them (giving them the right to deny responsibility for disobedience, I should think. I also suspect it would be awful hard to understand the meaning of "obey" after he benighted them). Because of this god, women today are still not educated. Because of this god, Galileo (you mentioned) was brought before the Roman Catholic Inquisition in Rome (a church that used God to torture people and suppress knowledge) and was forced to renounce his writings supporting the Copernican theory. But he wasn't any more special than the millions of others murdered because of jealous, revengeful, demonic gods. With gods like these, who needs devils?
 
Unfortunately the Christians have always believed in their own Antichrist. As a Christian, I'm taking Jesus, God, and women back from those who stole their potential. Enlightenment cannot be manifested without their inspiration. --- The next time I see a pregnant man or a man who truly acknowledges women as awesome, wonderful, unique individuals he can evolve along with us... I'm still waiting to see who comes first...  
 



Post 19

Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - 8:05amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Another impediment to human progress involves our refusal to embrace God as an entity of beauty and grace beyond anything our simple minds can perceive.
Actually, it is quite the opposite.  Embracing God as an entity at all is what has hampered progress in nearly every area of human development, save that of the carnival barker's cry that altruism is the highest good.  Look where that has gotten us.

As I posted in a recent quote, "Live for God or live for yourself.  You can't have it both ways.  It is one or the other."

It is not "this God" or "that God."  It is "God" or "Man."


Post to this threadPage 0Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Forward one pageLast Page


User ID Password or create a free account.