“Committing Suicide is Also Radical.” ~ Arun Shourie on Currency Demonetization
Yesterday I saw on NDTV an interesting interview by Arun Shourie. He said the government had not anticipated the distress that would be caused by doing "away with 85% of Indian currency." The government’s sudden decision on 8-November to ban Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes has led to chaos in the country. Tens of millions of Indians are spending hours in queues outside banks and ATMs everyday. The transport industry, according to media reports, has come to a standstill. Farmers are suffering. The markets are shutting down as people are not willing to spend on anything except fo... more »
All Democracies Are Marching Like The Fascists
*As We Go Marching* * John T. Flynn* In *As We Go Marching*, John T. Flynn defines fascism as “a system of social organization in which the political state is a dictatorship supported by a political elite and in which the economic society is an autarchial capitalism, enclosed and planned, in which the government assumes responsibility for creating adequate purchasing power through the instrumentality of national debt and in which militarism is adopted as a great economic project for creating work as well as a great romantic project in the service of the imperialist state.” Flynn g... more »
Did Churchill Admire Mussolini?
Winston Churchill; Benito MussoliniWinston Churchill is regarded as the conservative leader who rallied the British people during the Second World War, led the fight against nazism and fascism, and won. But was he always against the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini? In *As We Go Marching*, John T. Flynn provides an interesting perspective on the way Churchill viewed Mussolini’s strong-arm political methods. The few quotes from Churchill’s letters and articles that Flynn has cited create the impression that Churchill was an admirer of Mussolini. In January 1927, Churchill wrote to... more »
It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad World Of Currency Demonetization
I feel betrayed. I feel angry. The government that I had to an extent been supporting thus far because I regarded them as pro-liberty and free-markets (compared to the extremely socialist political groups in the country) has suddenly taken the shocking step of demonetizing a major part of the currency—the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes. But Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 are the currency notes that are most popular with the consumers and businesses. Most transactions happen with currency notes of these denominations. Suddenly the money in your wallet is no longer legal tender—these are worthles... more »
Why Did Ayn Rand Reject Conservatism?
*Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical* *Chris Matthew Sciabarra* Ayn Rand has rejected the ideas of both the conservatives and the leftists. In *Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical* (chapter: “The Predatory State”), Chris Matthew Sciabarra notes that “Rand’s fundamental antipathy toward racism was a contributing factor to her rejection of political conservatism. She observed that many conservatives claimed to be defenders of freedom and capitalism even though they advocated racism at the same time.” Rand’s antipathy towards conservatism extended equally to its representatives in the political p... more »
Is Plato’s the Republic a Work of Politics or Ethics?
*Ancient Philosophy* *Julia Annas* *Oxford* Plato’s the *Republic* is often assumed to be a work of political theory because it describes his vision of an ideal state. But in *Ancient Philosophy*, Julia Annas points out that Plato’s thrust in the *Republic* is on ethics. The description of an ideal state takes up only a small part of the *Republic*, and it is far too brief and sketchy to serve as a ‘blueprint’ for political action. It does not give the work its framework. Plato developed a basic model of an ideal state only because he wanted to depict it as a parallel to the moral... more »
The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand
*The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand* *Douglas J. Den Uyl and Douglas B. Rasmussen* *University of Illinois Press * *The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand* by Douglas J. Den Uyl and Douglas B. Rasmussen was published in 1984, and is regarded as the “first scholarly study” of Ayn Rand’s ideas. The book is divided into three parts: Part 1 is Metaphysics and Epistemology; Part 2 is Ethics; Part 3 is Politics. The three parts of the book indicate that the authors have tried to cover all aspect of Rand’s philosophy, except for her aesthetic philosophy. The dedication page has a quote fro... more »
The Progressive Way — Total Liberty For The State
The fascists believe that the state must have total freedom. The only kind of liberty that they are serious about is the liberty of the ruling elite. Here's a quote from Benito Mussolini: "Fascism is for liberty. It is for the only kind of liberty that is serious—the liberty of the State.” (Source: *The Ominous Parallels* by Leonard Peikoff; Chapter: "The Totalitarian Universe") Progressivism is a milder form of fascism, so it is not surprising that the progressives have contempt for the constitution. They think that the laws are meant to regulate the activities of the common cit... more »
Brave New Village: Hillary Clinton and the Meaning of Liberal Fascism
*Liberal Fascism* *Jonah Goldberg* Progressivism and fascism are essentially the same because they are forms of statism. In *Liberal Fascism* Jonah Goldberg notes that “liberalism — the refurbished edifice of American Progressivism — is in fact a descendant and manifestation of fascism.” He says that fascism has been there in America for nearly a century. In the introductory chapter, “Everything You Know about Fascism Is Wrong,” Goldberg refutes the concept that fascism is “right-wing.” He points out that the ideas of the progressives are much closer to those espoused by the fasci... more »
Nietzsche’s “God is Dead” Proclamation and The Irrational Man
*Rational Man: A Modern Interpretation of Aristotelian Ethics* *Henry B. Veatch* “God is Dead” is Nietzsche’s widely quoted proclamation. According to Henry B. Veatch, Friedrich Nietzsche’s proclamation is not an allusion to the death of the religious God. Nietzsche is making a much broader point— he is asserting that in the universe there is no room for an objectively grounded moral order to exist. In other words, Nietzsche holds that there is no basis or justification for moral principles in reality—God is dead stands for the idea that morality is dead. *Rational Man* by Henry B... more »
Life is a Tale; Life is Hard Choices
*Hard Choices* *Hillary Clinton* In *Hard Choices* Hillary Clinton reminds the readers that she has made a number of hard choices in her illustrious career as a public servant. Here's an excerpt: *"When I chose to leave a career as a young lawyer in Washington to move to Arkansas to marry Bill and start a family, my friends asked, “Are you out of your mind?” I heard similar questions when I took on health care reform as First Lady, ran for office myself, and accepted President Barack Obama’s offer to represent our country as Secretary of State."* Mrs. Clinton forcefully asserts th... more »
The Smearing of The Alt-Right by The Leftists
The term “alt-right” is everywhere. It stands for “alternative right,” but what is the “right” whose alternative the “alt-right” movement is supposed to represent? The leftist intellectuals claim that “alt-right” denotes the people on the extreme right who reject mainstream conservatism in favor of forms of conservatism that embrace implicit or explicit racism or white supremacy. But if the issue is “racism” and “white supremacy,” then why not call these people “racist” and “white supremacist”? Why do we need to invent the new term of “alt-right”? It isn't clear at all what the te... more »
When Fyodor Dostoevsky Faced The Firing Squad!
*December 22, 1849, Saint Petersburg*: Fyodor Dostoevsky was tied, blindfolded, and led out with several other prisoners to the Semyonov Square in Saint Petersburg, where their last rites were read. The firing squad raised their guns and took aim. But at the last moment a messenger arrived with a message from the Tsar Nicolas I—the prisoners had been granted a reprieve. It is believed that the Tsar never intended to have these prisoners shot. His regime used the methods of mock executions and last second reprieves to teach the political dissidents a lesson, and foster in them the f... more »
Human Action by Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig von Mises’s *Human Action* is one of the most interesting books on economics. In it Mises has presented his entire economic theory, along with conducting a rational investigation of human decision-making. I had purchased Ludwig von Mises’s *Human Action* in 2009. The book is divided into 7-parts. In Part 5, “Social Cooperation Without a Market,” Mises has analyzed the problem of socialism. Here’s an excerpt from Part 5: *No socialist author ever gave a thought to the possibility that the abstract entity which he wants to vest with unlimited power--whether it is called huma... more »
Montesquieu on the Rise and Fall of The Roman Empire
Montesquieu*Considerations on The Causes of The Grandeur and Decline of The Roman Empire* *Montesquieu * “Conquests are easily made, because we achieve them with our whole force; they are retained with difficulty, because we defend them with only a part of our forces,” says Montesquieu in context Hannibal's failure in defending his territory against Rome. Montesquieu points out that whenever Hannibal could keep his army together, he defeated the Romans. But when he was obliged to put his garrisons into the cities to defend allies, to besiege strongholds, or to prevent their being... more »
Rational Man by Henry B. Veatch
Today I received from Amazon a copy of Henry B. Veatch’s *Rational Man: A Modern Interpretation of Aristotelian Ethics*. The book’s preface is by Douglas B. Rasmussen. Rasmussen says that Veatch’s arguments in *Rational Man* “sought to establish three claims: (1) that ethical knowledge is possible; (2) that ethical knowledge is grounded in human nature; and (3) that the purpose of ethics is to show the individual human being how to “self-perfect,” which was Veatch’s way of writing about eudaemonia in Aristotelian moral theory.” In his foreword to the book, Veatch says that he is gi... more »
Agatha Christie's Ultimate Mystery: The 11-Missing Days
In a plot twist worthy of her own novels, the famous novelist Agatha Christie, the creator of fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple, disappeared for 11-days in 1926. At 9.30 PM, Friday 3 December 1926, Agatha Christie climbed into her Morris Cowley and drove off into the night. She would not be seen again for eleven days. Christie was already a very popular author and her disappearance led to the entire country buzzing with all kinds of theories about what could have happened to her. The government of the day put pressure on the police to make faster progress. One o... more »
David Kelley’s View of the Measurement Omission Theory
*A Theory of Abstraction* *Dr. David Kelley* In my article on David Kelley’s *The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand* I write that Kelley does not seem to be completely convinced about Ayn Rand’s theory of measurement omission for concept formation. I drew such an inference because in this book Kelley seems to suggest that it is possible that in future we may acquire evidence against the theory. “As an inductive hypothesis about the functioning of a natural object—the human mind— the theory of measurement-omission is open to the possibility of revision in the same way that Newton’s theor... more »
On Being and Essence by Thomas Aquinas
“For human nature itself exists in the intellect abstracted from all individuating conditions, whence it is uniformly related to all individuals [of this nature] outside the soul, being equally a similitude of all, and thus leading to the cognition of all, insofar as they are humans. And since it has this sort of relation to all individuals [of this nature], the intellect forms the notion of species and attributes to it and this is why the Commentator remarks in his commentary on Book 1 of On the Soul that it is the intellect that produces universality in things.” ~ Thomas Aquinas ... more »
The Enlightenment versus The Counter-Enlightenment
*The Ominous Parallels* *Dr. Leonard Peikoff* *Meridian* *The Ominous Parallels* is a forceful book on the topic of the conflict between the ideas of the Enlightenment and the counter-Enlightenment. The Enlightenment ideas have challenged the age-old foundations of statism and led to reason, freedom, and production replacing faith, force, and poverty in the Western countries. But the tragedy is that the Enlightenment ideas were not adequately defended, and this has paved way for the resurgence of counter-Enlightenment ideas in the form of Platonism and Kantian theories which inspir... more »
Patanjali’s Epistemology and Metaphysics
Patanjali has made extensive commentary on metaphysics (in the *Yoga-Sutras*), and on epistemology (in the *Mahabhashya*). His ideas are founded on the Sankhya system, which is overwhelmingly atheistic. But Patanjali was a theist. He incorporated mysticism into the Sankhya system to develop a Yoga system of divine order of the universe. Some accounts suggest that Patanjali may have lived in the 4th century BCE, but there are other accounts that place him between the 4th and 6th century BCE. *The Metaphysics of the Yoga-Sutras* Like the Sankhya system, Patanjali’s yoga system propo... more »
Utilitarianism and Libertarianism
John Stuart MillMany libertarians try to use the theory of Utilitarianism to defend the idea of free-markets and property rights. They believe that free-markets and property rights are good because they promote prosperity in the society. Utilitarianism has been described by John Stuart Mill as the *Happiness Theory*. In *Utilitarianism* Mill says that the theory is an outcome of the principle that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness." But what if the government promotes the happiness of one secti... more »
The Intellectual Guerrilla Warfare of George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw is now mostly remembered as the writer of plays like *Pygmalion*, *Arms and the Man*, *The Devil's Disciple*, *Caesar and Cleopatra*, *Major Barbara*, *Heartbreak House*, and *Saint Joan*. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. But Shaw was a lifelong socialist, and a founding member of the Fabian Society—he was a supporter of the Soviet Union, and a devotee of the Soviet tyrant Josef Stalin—he was an admirer of Hitler and Mussolini—a proponent of eugenics, he advocated the extermination of certain races. In 1931 Shaw went to the Soviet Union on an ... more »
The Steel Romanticism of The Nazi Socialists
In Leonard Peikoff’s *The Ominous Parallels *there is a good discussion of the anti-reason epistemology from which the Nazis derived their politics. Here’s an excerpt: On their own, the Nazis could not have begun to achieve what the intellectuals accomplished for them. On their own, the Nazis could not supply the thinking needed to undercut a country, not even the thinking that told men not to think. They could not supply the philosophy, not even the philosophy that told men to despise philosophy. All of this had to be originated, formulated, and spread by intellectuals—ultimately,... more »
Can Socrates Flourish Without Philosophizing?
*The Perfectionist Turn* *Douglas J. Den Uyl and **Douglas B. Rasmussen* *Edinburgh University Press * “Could Socrates not obtain well-being or human flourishing by taking up some other activity with pleasurable and satisfying dimensions, even if they are not philosophical activities?” ask Douglas J. Den Uyl and Douglas B. Rasmussen in *The Perfectionist Turn’s* eponymous 5th chapter. The context for the question is the scenario that the authors want the readers to consider: Socrates is in jail. Condemned to death by an Athenian court, he has been given hemlock. But he does not die.... more »
Journalistic Hall-of-Shame: Walter Duranty’s Pulitzer for Hiding Stalin’s Crimes
Walter Duranty; Starved peasants in Kharkiv, 1933Walter Duranty moved to the Soviet Union in 1921 and till 1934 he was The New York Times correspondent in Moscow. An ardent communist, he used to gush like a schoolgirl over the most prolific murderer in recent history—Josef Stalin. He became one of the leading journalists of his day after Stalin gave him an exclusive interview in 1929. In his articles for The New York Times, Duranty claimed that Stalin was the “greatest living statesman.” The entire focus of his journalism was on concealing Stalin’s crimes and painting a rosy pictur... more »
Mao Zedong and Pol Pot
Mao Zedong and Pol PotWhen Marxist Pol Pot was a student in France during the late 1940s and early 1950s, he came under the influence of the French egalitarians who believed that a government must use its power to create a classless society. But the French egalitarians are not the only ones to be blamed for showing Pol Pot the path for becoming the brutal tyrant of Cambodia. He could not have risen to power in Cambodia without the political and military assistance from China’s dictator Mao Zedong. In the early 1950s there were the first signs of a turf war between Stalin’s Russia ... more »
The Ominous Parallels by Leonard Peikoff
I had read Leonard Peikoff's *The Ominous Parallels* few years ago, but I misplaced the book. So now that I wanted to revisit some chapters in the book, I had to buy another copy. Too bad the book isn't available on Kindle because I would have preferred a digital edition. Here’s a quote from Ayn Rand’s introduction to the book: "It is a tragic irony of our time that the two worst, bloodiest tribes in history, the Nazis of Germany and the Communists of Soviet Russia, both of whom are motivated by brute powerlust and a crudely materialistic greed for the unearned, show respect for th... more »
Mises Versus Marx—On Dialectical Materialism
The Marxist metaphysical doctrine of Dialectical Materialism is an idealist tripe. At the root of this theory there lies Hegelian spiritualism which can never be compromised with Marxist materialism. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were misleading their followers when they claimed that they had transformed and improved Hegelian dialectics and transplanted it to Marxism. In Ludwig von Mises’s *Theory and History* an entire chapter (Chapter 7) is devoted to the analysis of Dialectical Materialism. Mises feels that it was nonsensical to uproot dialectics from its idealistic ground and t... more »
Is There a Connection Between Ayn Rand and Karl Marx?
*Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical* *Chris Matthew Sciabarra* Any attempt draw a connection between Ayn Rand, the philosopher of liberty, and Karl Marx, a statist thinker, is like an intellectual sacrilege. But in *Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical*, Chris Matthew Sciabarra proposes that while Rand was a student in Russia, she was influenced by a number of philosophers, including Marx. The discussion in the book is primarily aimed at developing a connection between some of the philosophical ideas that were driving the intellectual environment in Russia of the 1920s, and the philosophy that... more »
How H. G. Wells Distorted The Idea of Liberalism!
The famous socialist intellectual H. G. Wells used to urge students at Oxford to be “liberal fascists” and “enlightened Nazis.” But a fascist cannot be a liberal (if we go by the classical definition of liberalism), and a Nazi cannot be enlightened. Wells distorted the meaning of liberalism and enlightenment by linking these concepts with fascism and Nazism. Today Wells is remembered mainly for his science fiction, but in his lifetime he was a leading preacher of totalitarian ideas. In 1914 he wrote about the need for a “re-mapped and pacified Europe.” When the First World War end... more »
Equal is Unfair: The Commentary on the Egalitarianism of Thomas Piketty
*Equal is Unfair* *Don Watkins and Yaron Brook* In the last 60-years, the sword of egalitarianism has cut down the lives of millions in many third world countries, but the egalitarian idealists avoid falling on the sword of their own ideology as they operate out of the safe spaces in Western countries. In my earlier article on *Equal is Unfair*, I look at the book mainly from the angle of its discussion on how the egalitarian insistence on equality led to Cambodia's Khmer Rouge nightmare in which one-fourth of the country’s population was slaughtered in just four-years. But the fo... more »
The Charvaka Doctrine of Materialism
The Charvaka School, which arose in India in the 600 B.C.E or earlier than that, preached materialism, atheism, empiricism, and scepticism. It is believed that Brhaspati Laukya, also known as Brahmanspati, was the original founder of the School. It is because of him that the School is also known as the *Lokayata*. Brhaspati Laukya was the author of the *Barhaspatya-sutras*. As this work is no longer extant, it is difficult to have a clear picture of the Brhaspati Laukya’s thoughts. To learn about the Charvaka philosophy we have to rely exclusively on the presentations made by the S... more »
On David Kelley’s Idea of The Legacy of Ayn Rand
*The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand* *David Kelley* Through the lens of David Kelley’s polemical work, *The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand*, a few critical issues in Objectivism get revealed. The book proposes ideas that seem to contradict some of the shibboleths of Objectivism. These shibboleths have very little to do with the fundamental tenets of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, but most Objectivists accept them as incontestable facts. The foremost shibboleth that Kelley takes an aim at is the idea of Immanuel Kant being a monster. Kelley says that he has met Objectivists “who casually denou... more »
Philosophy and Carnage in Ancient Greece
*Wars of the Ancient Greeks* *Victor Davis Hanson* When we think of ancient Greece, we remember the philosophers like Plato and Aristotle. But the Greeks were also great military strategists. In the *Wars of the Ancient Greeks*, historian Victor Davis Hanson says, “The phenomenal record of Greek military prowess is unquestioned. After Xerxes’ failed invasion of 480, Greece remained free from foreign invasion until the Roman conquest three centuries later — and the triumphant legions of Rome owed much of their battle success to the hallowed Greek approach to warfare. No non-western ... more »
Creating Christ: How Roman Emperors Invented Christianity
*Creating Christ: How Roman Emperors Invented Christianity * *James S. Valliant * *C. W. Fahy* The story of Christ, it seems, is now coming out of the closet. In *Creating Christ*, James S. Valliant and C. W. Fahy present new evidence to show that the Roman emperors have played a critical role in the development of Christianity. The Romans and the Jews were the two dominant cultures in the 1st-Century CE. The Romans were the conquerers, but the Jews, not ready to accept defeat, had launched an apocalyptic rebellion. Valliant and Fahy argue that the “Roman government, in direct resp... more »
Niall Ferguson on the Decline of British Empire and the Rise of a New Empire
*Empire: The Rise And Demise of The British World Order And The Lessons For Global Power* *Niall Ferguson* Was the British Empire brutal and destructive or was it a good thing? Niall Ferguson persuasively argues that the empire enhanced global welfare by facilitating the spread of parliamentary institutions, growth in literacy, and the recognition of the virtues of the minimal state, and rule of law. In other words, the empire was a good thing. He contends that today’s globalization is the result of the integration of the world that the British Empire achieved before 1914. He says... more »
The Nyaya Theory of Epistemology
Aksapada Gautama was the author of the *Nyaya-Sutras* which is the foundational text for the Nyaya School of logical reasoning. It is generally believed that he lived in the 2nd-century or the 3rd-Century BC. The word “Nyaya” stands for “formal reasoning,” while “Sutras” stand for “aphorisms,” and therefore the title of the treatise “*Nyaya-Sutras*” may be translated as “The aphorisms for formal reasoning.” The Nyaya School has made contributions in epistemology, theology, and metaphysics. In this article I focus on the key tenets of the Nyaya theory of epistemology which was quite... more »
The No Man’s Land of Bertrand Russell’s Philosophy
Bertrand Russell believed that philosophy is the no man’s land which exists between theology and science. In the introduction to his 900-page opus, *The History of Western Philosophy*, he writes: “Philosophy, as I shall understand the word, is something intermediate between theology and science. Like theology, it consists of speculations on matters as to which definite knowledge has, so far, been unascertainable; but like science, it appeals to human reason rather than to authority, whether that of tradition or that of revelation. All definite knowledge--so I should contend-- belo... more »
Nathaniel Branden on “How Ayn Rand Affected His Self-Esteem”
*The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem* *Nathaniel Branden* In *The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem*, Nathaniel Branden has twice discussed his association with the novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand. He has analyzed his relationship with her purely from the point of view of psychotherapy. His intention, it seems, is to show how his self-esteem was affected because of his failures to acknowledge reality and communicate his views clearly to Ayn Rand. In my view, the references to Ayn Rand in the book are an unnecessary distraction. For making a case for his ideas on self-esteem, he did not have... more »
Sophie’s [Nihilist] World
*Sophie’s World* *Jostein Gaarder* When *Sophie’s World* was published in the 1990s it was hyped in the media as a beginner’s guide to philosophy, and millions of philosophy-starved readers picked it up. The book became a runaway bestseller. Alas, the book does not offer any practical tips on how to go about a philosophical quest. It is nothing more than a cookie-cutter tract on some kind of pseudo-religion—it dishes out a nihilist view of the universe. It projects the idea that the reality is a figment of imagination, and the person who is imagining the reality is also an imaginat... more »
On Kapila’s Sankhya System of Philosophy
King Anshuman and KapilaKapila, the most deified sage in Hindu tradition, is the originator of Sankhya School of philosophy which has a strong atheistic element in it. The Sankhya system has extensive commentary on epistemology, but its main focus is on metaphysics—it proposes metaphysical dualism in a strictly atheistic sense. Literally Sankhya means “to count,” and this name has been used because the Sankhya philosophy is designed to enumerate the important principles of the entire universe. The system has also been called Samkhya which means buddhi (mind)—this definition indic... more »
Atheism: The Case Against God by George H. Smith
*Atheism: The Case Against God* *George H. Smith * *Prometheus Books * In the introduction to *Atheism: The Case Against God*, George H. Smith remarks that what he is offering in his book is essentially a “minority viewpoint.” But in his sobering thesis he builds a solid case against some popularly accepted theistic ideas, and therein lies much of the book’s value. While it may not be possible to persuade those who are deeply religious, anyone else, even those who have mixed feelings on god, cannot come away from this book without reexamining their basic convictions on not just god... more »
Hutus Versus Tutsis - The 100 Days of Massacre
Military vehicles bring water for Rwandan refugees at Camp Kimbumba, Zaire, in August 1994Between April and June 1994, in a space of only 100 days, more than 800,000 people were massacred in Rwanda. The scale of the killings was unprecedented, even for a violence-prone country like Rwanda. It is believed that around 200,000 Hutu extremists participated in the campaign of slaughter—they were targeting the members of the minority Tutsi community, as well as the Hutu moderates. Around 2,000,000 Rwandans fled the country during and immediately after the genocide. The genocide was trig... more »
Panini—The Science of Language
A birch bark manuscript of Panini's grammar Hardly anything that can be deemed historically accurate is known about Panini. It is not clear in what century he lived, but most traditional accounts place him in the 4th or 5th century BC. Before Panini, Sanskrit, like all other spoken languages, was in a fluid state. With his work, the *Astadhyayi*, Panini provided Sanskrit with its first formal system of grammar and definitions. He developed the rules for Sanskrit on the basis of how the language was being spoken during his time. Almost every subsequent Sanskrit author has adhered to... more »
The Nihilist Definition of Racism
There exists a symbiotic relationship between egalitarianism and racism. The intellectuals are obsessed with racism because they want to achieve the egalitarian goal of an equal society by taxing the racist foes and redistributing the wealth among the victims of racism. Ayn Rand has given an accurate definition of racism: “It is the notion of ascribing moral, social or political significance to a man’s genetic lineage—the notion that a man’s intellectual and characterological traits are produced and transmitted by his internal body chemistry.” (Racism, *The Virtue of Selfishness*)... more »
Unity in Epistemology and Ethics by Leonard Peikoff
*Unity in Epistemology and Ethics* *Course by Leonard Peikoff * *ARI Campus* *Unity in Epistemology and Ethics*, a course which Leonard Peikoff originally gave in 1996, has both metaphysical and epistemological components. The course discusses the significance and implications of the principle that all knowledge is interconnected. As this is one universe, metaphysically everything in interconnected. Epistemologically all knowledge is interconnected. The 7-hour course is divided into four lessons: Lesson 1: Knowledge as a Unity Lesson 2: How to Unite History and Philosophy Lesson 3... more »
The Monster And His Motorcycle Diaries
*The Motorcycle Diaries* *Ernesto Che Guevara * *The Motorcycle Diarie*s is not a “coming-of-age” story as it has been described by a number of commentators. When Che Guevara took off on a motorcycle journey across South America he was not a teenager; he was 23-years-old and therefore already “of age.” In my view, this book has nothing to do with coming-of-age issues, rather it is a “hippie discovers communism” kind of story. The Che Guevara that we meet in *The Motorcycle Diaries* is a hippie who drifts from place to place without any coherent plan. He is alienated from society. ... more »
Book Review: Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
*Economics in One Lesson* *Henry Hazlitt * “*The whole argument of this book may be summed up in the statement that in studying the effects of any given economic proposal we must trace not merely the immediate results but the results in the long run, not merely the primary consequences but the secondary consequences, and not merely the effects on some special group but the effects on everyone.*” Says Henry Hazlitt in the chapter, “How the Price System Works,” of his classic *Economics in One Lesson*. Although it was published in 1946, the book is not out of date; in it you can fi... more »
The False Propaganda Against Nuclear Radiation
After the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant around 300,000 people living within 25-miles of the reactor building were permanently evacuated because of the healthcare related concerns from nuclear radiation. But the wild animals did not leave with the people, and they began to thrive like never before. Their population exploded. Chernobyl is now Europe’s largest wildlife sanctuary, a home to large numbers of animals, birds, and plants. These creatures show no sign of mutations; they are normal and healthy. Also, the Chernobyl accident has not led to the rise in instances... more »
Objectivism Through Induction by Leonard Peikoff
*Objectivism Through Induction* *Course by Leonard Peikoff* *Ayn Rand Campus* If you are looking for a really effective source of knowledge on induction, then you can’t go past the course *Objectivism Through Induction* by Leonard Peikoff. Available on the Ayn Rand Campus website, the course offers a comprehensive introduction to the basic principles of induction. It explains how to use induction for reaching and validating key ideas in egoism, justice, causality, the metaphysical meaning of sex, and the status of the arbitrary. Originally given by Leonard Peikoff 1997, the course ... more »
On Isabel Paterson’s Theory of Knowledge
Isabel Paterson’s *The* *God of The Machine *offers an insightful interpretation of history, one that outlines the vital role that philosophy plays in the affairs of mankind. In almost every page of the book, you find striking ideas on defense of liberty, refutation of collectivist theories, and the connection that exists between philosophy, political movements, and technological innovations. However, Paterson has scattered a multitude of ideas throughout the book, often as isolated strands of thought. Many of her ideas seem to be inadequately explored as she has not clarified the... more »
The Amazing Absurdities in Al Gore’s Nobel Lecture
Al Gore Displaying his Nobel Peace Prize“Last September 21, as the Northern Hemisphere tilted away from the sun, scientists reported with unprecedented distress that the North Polar ice cap is "falling off a cliff." One study estimated that it could be completely gone during summer in less than 22 years. Another new study, to be presented by U.S. Navy researchers later this week, warns it could happen in as little as 7 years.” “Seven years from now.” Al Gore spoke these words on 10 December 2007 in his lecture at the Nobel Prize ceremony at Oslo. Going by his theory, the North Pole... more »
Execution By Hunger: The Hidden Holocaust
*Execution By Hunger: The Hidden Holocaust* *Miron Dolot* *W W Norton & Company* Holodomor literally means “execution by hunger.” It is the name given to the devastating famine that Josef Stalin’s communist regime unleashed on Ukraine in 1932 and 1933. The Holodomor is perhaps the only instance in history of a purely man-made famine being carried out in such a cold-blooded manner that seven million lives (about 20% of Ukraine’s population) were wiped out. Miron Dolot’s *Execution by Hunger* provides an authentic and rather graphic account of the devastation caused by the Holodomor.... more »
Execution By Hunger: The Hidden Holocaust
Execution By Hunger: The Hidden Holocaust Miron Dolot W W Norton & Company Holodomor literally means “execution by hunger.” It is the name given to the devastating famine that Josef Stalin’s communist regime unleashed on Ukraine in 1932 and 1933. The Holodomor is perhaps the only instance in history of a purely man-made famine being carried out in such a cold-blooded manner that more than six million lives (about 20% of Ukraine’s population) were wiped out. Miron Dolot’s Execution by Hunger provides an authentic and rather graphic account of the devastation caused by the Holodomor. ... more »
Saul Alinsky And Labor Unions—A Love-Hate Relationship
In “Saul Alinsky Hated Capitalism, But He Also Hated The Liberals,” I point out that Alinsky had a relentlessly pessimistic view of capitalism. He was contemptuous of the liberals because he believed that they were too moderate, and they lacked the will to use coercive and violent methods for fundamentally transforming the capitalist system. But he had similar contempt for the leaders of the labor unions. He believed that the labor unions were not doing enough to damage the system. They were too democratic, and often unwilling to promote socialist causes and political movements. In... more »
Book Review: Objective Communication by Leonard Peikoff
*Objective Communication: Writing, Speaking And Arguing* *Created from a course by Dr. Leonard Peikoff * *Edited by Barry Wood * Why is Objectivism called *Objectivism*? According to Leonard Peikoff, “The reason Objectivism is called “Objectivism” is that that concept—objectivity—is central to every branch of philosophy.” He says this in his commentary to a mock debate which is included in the chapter, “Analysis of Student Arguments,” in *Objective Communication*. He further explains: “*In metaphysics, it [objectivity] stands for the idea that here is a reality that exists indepe... more »
The Autodidact: Sartre’s Caricature of a Modern Intellectual
In my earlier article on Sartre’s *Nausea*, I discuss the novel’s protagonist, Antoine Roquentin, and I draw a comparison between him and the protagonist of Ayn Rand’s *The Fountainhead*, Howard Roark. Roquentin and Roark are poles apart philosophically—the former is an exponent of existentialism and is filled with doubts about the nature of reality, while the latter upholds Ayn Rand’s ideas of primacy of existence and is an individualist. But in my view, Roquentin is not the most important character in *Nausea*. That distinction goes to the character, the Autodidact. In the novel ... more »
Ban on Child Labor Is Disastrous For Street Children
According to some reports, there are more than 400,000 street children in India. An analysis of the crime records from 2011 reveals that, in India, 1,408 street children were killed and 1,408 others were raped in 2010. In that year, in the capital city alone 29 children were murdered and 304 were raped. But these figures represent only a small fraction of the crimes committed against street children. Vast majority of the crimes against street children never get reported. The world over, as per the estimates of the United Nations, there are up to 150 million street children. Almost... more »
How Israel Became A Water Surplus Nation?
The Sorek facility features 16in membrane elements installed in vertical pressure vesselsEvery second rural woman in India had walked an average 173 kilometres to fetch potable water in 2012. Seventy percent of the planet is covered with water and yet countries like India are facing severe water crisis. According to a new analysis, over 4 billion people in the world live with severe water scarcity for at least one month every year. A report from United Nations, “Water for a Sustainable World,” paints a rather dismal picture, claiming that unless there is a significant global policy... more »
Saul Alinsky Hated Capitalism, But He Also Hated The Liberals
Saul Alinsky believed that reason has nothing to do with practical politics, principles are meaningless, and the only value worth achieving is the destruction of capitalism. He hated the liberals because he thought that they were moderate leftists and they did not hate capitalism as much as he did. In his book, *Reveille for Radicals*, published in 1946, he gives a comprehensive account of the reasons behind his hatred of the liberals. He refused to call himself a liberal, preferring the term “radical” for himself and his acolytes. He saw clear lines of distinction between his ide... more »
Jean-Paul Sartre: The Intellectual Henchman of Tyrants
Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre & Che Guevara (Havana, March 1960)The intellectuals never tire of talking about freedom, world peace and human rights, but they are hand-in-glove with the worst mass murdering regimes. When you read about their ideas and their extravagant endorsements of the tyrants, you can’t help but ponder how people who are widely regarded as brilliant intellectuals can be so stupid. Jean-Paul Sartre in particular is a case-study of the type of intellectual who is a life-long supporter of tyranny. He promoted the farce called existentialism. He was a commu... more »
The Infernal World of Saul Alinsky: Reveille for Radicals
*Reveille for Radicals* *Saul Alinsky* *Vintage* In “The Nihilism of Saul Alinsky,” I discuss the coercive and violent methods that Soul Alinsky has described in his book *Rules for Radicals* for bringing capitalist society to a standstill. Alinsky was a nihilist, and nihilism, being a rejection of philosophy, precludes the development of any political ideas. That is why we don’t find any philosophy, any political ideas in *Rules for Radicals*; the sole purpose of the book is to describe the methods for destroying the system. But the question remains: Why does Alinsky reject philos... more »
Did Hayek cause a rift between Ayn Rand and Mises?
Ayn Rand; Ludwig von MisesThe interviews about Ayn Rand in *100 Voices: An Oral History of Ayn Rand* by Scott McConnell are useful for drawing an impression of how she was in real life. One thing that comes to light from a few of these interviews is that Ayn Rand never compromised on basic principles. She consistently and logically lived by her philosophy. Friedrich Hayek was an important economist (a Nobel Prize winner)—most people believe that he was a defender of liberty. But Ayn Rand had strong disagreements with Hayek; she regarded him as a statist. According to Harry Binswan... more »
The Nihilism of Saul Alinsky: Rules for Radicals
*Rules for Radicals* *Saul Alinsky* *Vintage* “What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away,” Saul Alinsky declares in the opening of the second chapter, “The Purpose,” in *Rules for Radicals*. It is noteworthy that in the 224-page book, Alinsky has not explained why we must take power away from the “haves” and hand it over to the “have-nots.” What makes the *have-nots* eligible ... more »
Can A Government Funded SABRE Fly The Space Plane?
The SABRE EngineThere’s good and bad news on the space plane front. The good news is that investment has finally begun to flow into Reaction Engines Ltd., the UK based company that is working to develop the Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE) which can be used to fly a space plane. But the bad news is that the source of the funding is the government. BBC reports that "the £60m UK government investment in the "revolutionary" Sabre rocket engine concept has finally started to flow." Investments from the government seldom payoff because such funds usually come with burden... more »
Book Review: Nietzsche And The Nazis
*Nietzsche And The Nazis* *Stephen R. C. Hicks* *Ockham’s Razor Publishing * In *Nietzsche And The Nazis*, Stephen Hicks meticulously exposes some of the common misconceptions about the Nazis. He rejects the idea that the Nazis were a group of deranged people who lucked or manipulated their way into political power. Millions of voters in a democracy can be wrong, but all of them cannot be deluded. It was through democratic and constitutional means that the Nazis developed from a fringe political movement into the party that enjoyed total power to transform the nature of German poli... more »
Ayn Rand On ‘The Butcher Of The Ukraine’
Nestor Lakoba, Nikita Khrushchev, Lavrenti Beria & Aghasi Khanjian during opening of the Moscow Metro in 1935 In “Khrushchev’s Secret Speech on Stalin’s Crimes,” I discuss Nikita Khrushchev’s speech of February 25, 1956, in which he denounced Josef Stalin as a brutal despot. His speech was nothing less than a sensational, count-by-count indictment of the dictator’s crimes. But the question remains: What was Khrushchev’s role in Stalin’s mass terror campaigns against the Communist Party members and the general population? Before addressing this question, I want to point out that A... more »
Khrushchev’s Secret Speech On Stalin’s Crimes
Nikita Khrushchev and Joseph Stalin, January 1936*February 25, 1956*: Nikita Khrushchev shook the foundations of the Soviet Union with his four-hour-long, angry speech denouncing Josef Stalin as a vicious despot who had ruled by terror for 30-years. He delivered the speech at a secret session of the Soviet Communist Party’s 20th congress, where the audience was senior officials who had some knowledge of Stalin’s crimes, but now for the first time they could see the detailed picture. Ostensibly, Khrushchev’s intention was to draw the Communist Party towards Leninism by destroying t... more »
Olli: The 3D-Printed Bus Powered by AI
Manufactured through 3D-printing, Olli is a self-driving electric minibus, developed by Local Motors. Currently Olli is conducting trial runs in Washington, DC. But you won’t get the chance to ride one, because the laws don’t allow driverless buses to ferry passengers. If and when the government makes driverless buses legal, you will be able to summon Olli with an Uber-like app. Olli’s self-driving system has been developed by Local Motors with several software and tech partners. The vehicle can see further ahead and react more quickly than a human driver, because it uses overlappi... more »
Khmer Rouge: The Marxists Who Sacrificed Millions To Establish An Agrarian Utopia
L to R: Mao Zedong, Pol Pot and Ieng SaryThe Khmer Rouge (1975—1979), led by Marxist Pol Pot, killed two million people in Cambodia—one-fourth of the total population. Aiming to establish a classless agrarian utopia where there was complete rejection of capitalism, the Khmer Rouge destroyed all the cities, all the industries, hospitals and schools, and every speck of modernity in Cambodia. All this in just four years! The entire upper class of Cambodian society was wiped out. When Pol Pot acquired power in 1975, after the bloody civil war, he declared that Cambodia would make a fr... more »
The Last Man to Die
Who will be the last man to die a natural death? You will be tempted to reject the question outright, because it appears to be based on the premise that people will stop aging and their lives will get extended indefinitely. But Bill Maris, the CEO of Google Ventures, is hoping to extend our lifespan five-fold. In an interaction with Bloomberg, Maris said: “If you ask me today, is it possible to live to be 500? The answer is yes.” If life can be extended to 500, then mankind may become a race of immortals, because by the time we are 500, or even before that, the medical technology ... more »
Book Review — Trump: The Art of The Deal
*Trump: The Art of The Deal * *By Donald J. Trump with Tony Schwartz* *Ballantine Books* You read *The Art of The Deal* almost surprised at how little effort Trump puts into any deal that he strikes. In the book, he does some blunt talk; he calls his detractors “phonies and hypocrites” and even “life’s losers,” but he doesn’t elucidate his strategy for making successful deals. The book doesn't live up to its billing. But he did make those magnificent buildings, so he must have a strategy—he must have the vision for real-estate development. He doesn't talk about all that in the book... more »
Stephen Hawking is Wrong—Robots Don’t Steal Jobs
Two Belgian hospitals have awarded Pepper, a humanoid robot, the job of informing, guiding and entertaining their visitors. Manufactured by a Tokyo-based private company, SoftBank, and assembled in France by the robotics firm Aldebaran, Pepper is four-feet tall, and it has a tablet mounted on its chest. Its speed of 3 km/h (1.8 mph) makes it suitable for guiding the slower hospital patients to the correct floor and room. Pepper interacts with humans by using the cameras and the microphones fitted in its head and the touch sensors in its head and hands. It can communicate, naturally... more »
Stephen Hawking is Wrong—Robots Don’t Steal Jobs
Two Belgian hospitals have awarded Pepper, a humanoid robot, the job of informing, guiding and entertaining their visitors. Manufactured by a Tokyo-based private company, SoftBank, and assembled in France by the robotics firm Aldebaran, Pepper is four-feet tall, and it has a tablet mounted on its chest. Its speed of 3 km/h (1.8 mph) makes it suitable for guiding the slower hospital patients to the correct floor and room. Pepper interacts with humans by using the cameras and the microphones fitted in its head and the touch sensors in its head and hands. It can communicate, naturally... more »
The Irrational Fear of AI
Apparently Bill Gates is worried that the science fiction scenarios we have seen in dystopian movies like *Terminator* and *The Matrix* could come to pass if mankind doesn’t find a way of dealing with super-intelligent computer systems. In a Q&A session on Reddit, Gates said: “I am in the camp that is concerned about super-intelligence. First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super-intelligent. That should be positive if we manage it well. A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern.” Elon Musk fears that artificial intellige... more »
Google Co-founder Larry Page Sees A Future of Flying Cars
Self-flying cars may seem the stuff of science-fiction movies and video games, but Google co-founder Larry Page wants to see them take flight. An extensive report in Bloomberg points out that Page has invested $100 million in a startup called Zee.Aero. He has also put money into another startup called Kitty Hawk. Both the startups are focused on developing self-flying cars. First founded in 2010, Zee.Aero is working on a small, all-electric plane that could take off and land vertically. The company currently employs around 150 people. Bloomberg reports: “In the six years since its ... more »
Is The Rice Theory of Socialism Valid?
Does rice lead to interdependence and socialism? Can wheat inspire the rise of individualism and capitalism? A controversial study, “*Large-Scale Psychological Differences Within China Explained by Rice Versus Wheat Agriculture*,” published by the journal *Science*, proposes that people in countries where rice is the staple crop are less self-centred, and are likely to see themselves as being interwoven with other members of the society. In China, the study claims, the wheat-rice divide runs deep. The wheat-eating people living in the northern China are taller and more individuali... more »
Charles Darwin on Aristotle
As biology came to the fore, it was realized that Aristotle was the greatest biologist until the eighteenth century. Darwin made the enthusiast remark, “Linnaeus and Cuvier have been my two gods; but they were mere schoolboys compared to Aristotle.” ~ J H Randall (Source: Aristotle by J H Randall; Chapter: Understanding Natural Processes)
Critique of Amartya Sen’s Theory of Justice, by Douglas J. Den Uyl and Douglas B. Rasmussen
Douglas J. Den Uyl and Douglas B. Rasmussen have written a critique of Amartya Sen’s book *The Idea of Justice*. The critique, "*Why Justice? Which Justice? Impartiality or Objectivity?"* has been published in The Independent Review. Den Uyl and Rasmussen begin by pointing out that while Amartya Sen is known as an economist, he writes mostly on political and social philosophy. They state: *And although it may be news to some that a Nobel Laureate in economics is dealing with a basic issue of philosophy, it is no surprise to those who have followed the vast array of articles and boo... more »
Ayn Rand on Welfare-Statists
"It is true that the welfare-statists are not socialists, that they never advocated or intended the socialization of private property, that they want to “preserve” private property—with government control of its use and disposal. But that is the fundamental characteristic of fascism." (Source: 'Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal' by Ayn Rand: Chapter: The New Fascism: Rule by Consensus)
On The Egalitarian Ideas in Amartya Sen’s Nobel Lecture
Amartya Sen is not a real economist; he is a social welfare warrior. The Nobel Prize that he won in 1998 was, as per the press release from The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, for “his contributions to welfare economics.” It is noteworthy that Sen’s Nobel Prize was not for “economics,” it was for “welfare economics,” which is a polite name for “public economics,” which, in turn, is a polite name for the so-called “trickle-down economics.” The Nobel Lecture that Sen gave at the Nobel Award Ceremony, titled ‘*The Possibility of Choice*,’ was mostly focused on Kenneth Arrow’s so-c... more »
Book Review — Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault
*Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault* Stephen Hicks Ockham's Razor The age in which we live, as understood by the leading intellectuals, is not the modern, it is the postmodern. The age of modernity is the age of *reason*, and the postmodern intellectuals, being historically and philosophically opposed to modernity, speak about targeting the *arrogance of reason*. They want to attack the idea that we can comprehend *reality* only by applying *reason*. What is the historical origin of the ideas which allow the intellectuals to attack reason,... more »
On The Intellectual Belief in Phallic Concept of Political Power
Discobolos*“[Postmodernists believe that] science betrays its elitism, sexism, and destructiveness… by having chosen the phallic symbol ‘i’ to represent the square root of negative one—by asserting its desire to‚ “conquer” nature and‚ “penetrate” her secrets—and, having done so, by having its technology consummate the rape by building bigger and longer missiles to blow things up.”* ~ This quote is from “*Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault*,” by Stephen Hicks Many intellectuals want us to believe that “I” is a phallic symbol and a projecti... more »
On The Intellectual Belief in Phallic Concept of Political Power
Discobolos*“[Postmodernists believe that] science betrays its elitism, sexism, and destructiveness… by having chosen the phallic symbol ‘i’ to represent the square root of negative one—by asserting its desire to‚ “conquer” nature and‚ “penetrate” her secrets—and, having done so, by having its technology consummate the rape by building bigger and longer missiles to blow things up.”* ~ This quote is from “*Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault*,” by Stephen Hicks Many intellectuals believe that “I” is a phallic symbol and a projection of stren... more »
Book Review: A Companion to Ayn Rand
*A Companion to Ayn Rand* *Edited by Allan Gotthelf and Gregory Salmieri* *Wiley-Blackwell* Ayn Rand’s novels are full of nuance. There, in the entertaining and intense landscape of her fiction, her philosophical ideas are superbly communicated through a cast of characters who are larger than life and yet so lifelike. But Rand tends to introduce important ideas in the most unexpected places. A first-time reader, or even a repeat reader, faces the risk of missing many of her ideas and perspectives. Scholarly studies of Rand’s works can play a critical role in facilitating a deeper u... more »
On The Uncivil Totalitarian Ideas Of ‘The Civil Society’
Children of Road WorkersArundhati Roy, a Civil Society socialite, has written an article in which the phrase ‘Gandhians with guns’ is used in context of the Naxalites. She uses the term ‘Gandhians’ for them despite the fact that thousands of Indians have lost their lives in Naxalite related violence during the last 20 years. The Naxalites are responsible not only for the wanton destruction of life and property, but also for hindering development activity in the areas that they control. The Civil Society pulpit, from which the likes of Arundhati Roy pontificate, is like an Orwellian... more »
On Postmodernist Bullying: If You Don’t Like Kafka, You Are a Philistine
Google doodle on July 3, 2013“*One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked.*” ~ These are the opening lines of Franz Kafka’s *The* *Metamorphosis*. On July 3, 2013,... more »
Book Review: 'Intellectuals and Society' by Thomas Sowell
*Intellectuals and Society* By Thomas Sowell Basic Books When things go wrong, politicians face flak, even though the intellectuals exercise a much deeper influence on national and international affairs. In *Intellectuals and Society*, Sowell describes the different forms of the symbiotic relationship that exists between the intellectuals and the politicians. The intellectuals and politicians work together because their goals are closely aligned; they aim to increase the size of the government and take the decision-making powers away from private individuals and organizations. The ... more »
The Ascent of Howard Roark and the Decline of Antoine Roquentin
“Who is Howard Roark?” “Who is Antoine Roquentin?” The first question will be easier for most people. Ayn Rand’s *The Fountainhead* continues to enjoy a massive worldwide following. The novel’s protagonist, Howard Roark, is discovered by thousands of new readers every day; old readers continue to be inspired by Roark and many keep returning to the book for new insights. But there was a time when Antoine Roquentin was more popular than Howard Roark. In 1938, Roquentin made his debut as the protagonist in Jean-Paul Sartre’s book, *Nausea*, and he quickly acquired the reputation of b... more »
The West’s Most Unwanted Export Hits India—Greenpeace
The Narendra Modi government has frozen the bank accounts of Greenpeace India and banned the organization from raising foreign funds. It is hard not to sympathize with the government’s action when you are aware of the anti-development activities in which this environmentalist group has been involved. The only unfortunate thing in this case is that the Modi government has chosen to act on the basis of a routine bureaucratic report, which alleges that Greenpeace India has violated the rules of foreign funding and has withheld information on transactions. Charging Greenpeace for financ... more »
The West’s Most Unwanted Export Hits India—Greenpeace
The Narendra Modi government has frozen the bank accounts of Greenpeace India and banned the organization from raising foreign funds. It is hard not to sympathize with the government’s action when you are aware of the anti-development activities in which this environmentalist group has been involved. The only unfortunate thing in this case is that the Modi government has chosen to act on the basis of a routine bureaucratic report, which alleges that Greenpeace India has violated the rules of foreign funding and has withheld information on transactions. Charging Greenpeace for finan... more »
Odd-even mandate won’t clean Delhi’s air, it is a recipe for poverty & havoc
The ultimate test of a new mandate from a socialist government is whether a large number of people are obeying it—the actual outcomes of the mandate don't seem to matter. Such an inference may sound unbelievable, but Delhi’s political class is hailing the odd-even mandate as a major success, solely because majority of Delhiites are obeying it. A day after the mandate was imposed, on the day for odd-number-plate cars, the Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, said: "I am truly overwhelmed. There are very few even numbered cars on the roads.” When the fine of breaking the odd-even m... more »
On Objectivist Theory of History
Historical materialism, Marx’s theory of history, is the key reason for the rapid advance of communism. This theory preaches that the series of class struggles and upheavals will inevitably lead to the establishment of a communist state. In the 20th century people in many countries became convinced of Marx’s idea that the final victory of communism is inevitable. Brainwashed by the belief that it is futile to refute or fight the communist ideology, they could do nothing to prevent the communist takeover of their society. The story of the rise of communism in the 20th century establ... more »
Book Review - Equal is Unfair by Don Watkins and Yaron Brook
*Equal is Unfair* *By Don Watkins and Yaron Brook* *St. Martin's Press* As most people accept the ethics of altruism, they are condemned to see virtue in ‘equality’ and lack of virtue in ‘selfishness’. In her book, The Virtue of Selfishness, Ayn Rand rejected the morality of altruism, which is inherent in most philosophic systems and all religions, and established that selfishness is not the synonym for evil, it is a virtue. Like ‘selfishness’, ‘equality’ too is a misunderstood concept—most people believe that we can’t have a fair society when there is income inequality. The belief... more »
Aristotle: The Philosophical Atlas of Atlas Shrugged
In the final prophetic speech that John Galt makes in Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, to explain the philosophical reasons for which the producers have gone on strike leaving the world in a crisis, he offers an interesting allusion to Aristotle: *“Centuries ago, the man who was—no matter what his errors—the greatest of your philosophers, has stated the formula defining the concept of existence and the rule of all knowledge: A is A. A thing is itself. You have never grasped the meaning of his statement. I am here to complete it: Existence is Identity, Consciousness is Identificatio... more »
Binswanger on Kant's anti-Copernican revolution
Immanuel Kant’s work was an anti-Copernican revolution. That’s true in many senses. First, Kant’s system was a revolt against Aristotelianism, throwing things back to the primitive subjectivism with which man starts. Second, his system, like the Ptolemaic approach in astronomy, deals only with “appearances,” shunning the investigation of causes. (Ptolemy was simply unequipped to deal with the causes; Kant claims they are unknowable.) It is Ayn Rand who made a Copernican revolution. That revolution is expressed in three of her aphorisms: 1. Man is the measure [of all things] - episte... more »
Ayn Rand’s Copernican Revolution in Philosophy
Immanuel Kant, in his Critique of Pure Reason, has claimed that his theory of knowledge had the potential for dramatically transforming our worldview in the same way in which Copernicus' revolutionary hypothesis had led to a revolution in cosmology. After the publication of the Critique in the 1780s, there was a rise in Kant’s influence and it become a standard practice to regard his theory of knowledge as a Copernican revolution. Was Kant justified in self-evaluating his work by using the analogy of Copernicus’ hypothesis? The essence of Kant’s theory is that the sensible world an... more »
Ayn Rand’s ‘We The Living’ & Landmesser’s Tragedy in Nazi Germany
What kind of terror and control do people face in a totalitarian state? We The Living by Ayn Rand offers a sharp and poignant answer—the novel’s prose reflects the conditions of a totalitarian state with such accuracy that you are able to live it rather than read it. Set in Soviet Union, the plot takes a wide view of the destructive effect that collectivism has on society. It is insightful of the hopeless, hostile and helpless life in every totalitarian state, not just the Soviet Union. Recently I came across few reports on August Landmesser, and the thought entered my mind that t... more »
The Case Against Originalism
Accurate interpretation of the law, by the courts, is of critical importance for ensuring that there is rule of law. The primary method of interpretation is the literal method under which the courts interpret the law in a literal and ordinary sense; however, the interpretation of law is seldom a simple and easy task. The literal definition, if it can be reached, may not be fully valid—this is because definitions are contextual, as Ayn Rand has explained (“Definitions,” Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, by Ayn Rand). The problem gets compounded because a number of laws, for ... more »
Book Review: 'How We Know' by Harry Binswanger
Title: How We Know - Epistemology On An Objectivist Foundation Author: Harry Binswanger Publisher: TOF Publications Pages: 414 Harry Binswanger establishes the importance of ‘How We Know’ at the very onset, in the opening lines of the preface, when he points out that the subject on which the book is focussed, what he refers to as “the one precious value: knowledge”, is essentially the fundamental force by virtue of which mankind managed to emerge from the Stone Age way of life, which entailed endless toil and early death, and had consumed almost 395,000 years out of the 400,000 yea... more »
Book Review: Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System
There is tremendous value in Tara Smith’s ‘Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System’ and the book is recommended to those who are sufficiently interested in developing a clear perspective on the issue of judicial review and gaining understanding of the complexities that must be dealt with for reforming the legal system, so that there is improvement in the overall system of governance, and legal power is not misused and individual rights don’t suffer. The book begins with an explanation of the foundational concept of ‘objectivity’: “Objectivity is a particular discipline for d... more »
Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche
Thus Spoke Zarathustra enjoys special place in philosophy and literature; perhaps that also has something to do with the literary style that Nietzsche uses. He prefers to speak in the form of many short parables, which are open to a variety of interpretations. One of the most well-known and morally troubling figures in Nietzsche’s literature - the Übermensch or the superman - makes a substantial appearance in this work and this leads to the controversial question, if Nietzsche considered rise of any Übermensch as being ideal for the future of civilisation? There is no clear consens... more »
Saint Thomas Aquinas & Aristotle
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)The works of Thomas Aquinas can be broadly classified into three categories. In the first category there are his commentaries on the Old and New Testaments, the Sentences of Peter Lombard, and the writings of Aristotle. In the second category there are the disputed questions, and his accounts of his teaching as a master in the disputations. Finally, in the third category there are the two masterpieces that he was responsible for as a theologian - the Summa contra gentiles and the Summa theologiae. Even though his primary and official profession was that of... more »
Johannes Gutenberg
(1398 – 1468)The Renaissance inventor, Johannes Gutenberg, invented the printing press, which has ever since played a major role in rapid transmission of texts. Before the printing press came into being, books were written and copied by hand and were very expensive. Only few could afford to own books before the printing press became a reality. Gutenberg’s invention made it possible, for the first time , for cheaply priced books to be printed in large quantities. Born in the German city of Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg was the youngest son of a wealthy merchant Friele Gensfleisch zur L... more »
Ptolemy & his Almagest
Ptolemy - (AD 100 - AD 170)Ptolemy placed lot of faith in mathematics for solving problems of the physical world. His most important work, known as the Almagest, is of 13 books. However, Almagest is not the original name of the work. Ptolemy himself called it The Mathematical Collection (Mathēmatikē Syntaxis). He selected this title because he believed that the motions of the heavenly bodies could be best understood and explained in mathematical terms. The name currently in use, Almagest, is derived from the name that the Arab translators gave to the work, which was Al-majisti. One... more »
Bertrand Russell & his Mystical Mathematics
Bertrand Russell (1872 –1970) is thought to have played a role in the development of logicism, which states that even though mathematics has logically sound foundations, in its entirety it is nothing but logic. This point of view got stated at length in his book, Principles of Mathematics, which was published in 1903. This book proposed that the foundations of mathematics could be derived from a few simple axioms that made no use of specifically mathematical concepts, such as number and square root, but were confined to purely logical notions, such as proposition and class. Through ... more »
Spinoza & the rise of modern pseudo-secularist thought
(1632 –1677)Spinoza’s philosophy is contained in two major books that he wrote - the Theologico-Political Treatise and the Ethics. The rest of his works comprises of those that are incomplete, or those that dwell on ideas that have been expressed more accurately in the two above mentioned books. Along with books, he also left behind a voluminous amount of correspondence, which is considered to be useful in throwing further light into his thoughts. The Theologico-Political Treatise largely contains Spinoza’s ideas about religion. From the beginning itself, the book takes a stance of... more »
Immanuel Kant & The Rise of Marxism
(1724–1804)In 18th century Europe, the empiricists used to believe that knowledge could be acquired by senses alone, whereas the rationalists maintained that reason alone is capable of providing us knowledge. Immanuel Kant refuted the fundamental ideas of the two schools of thought – empiricism and rationalism – and he came up with an entirely new line of thinking that although our knowledge is derived from experience, it is possible for us to have knowledge of objects in advance of experience. He revolutionised modern philosophy by promulgating the concept of a priori knowledge. A... more »
Saint Thomas Aquinas
*(1225–1274)* The scholar of medieval period, Saint Thomas Aquinas tried to integrate Aristotelian philosophy with Christian theology. He believed that there was a way of bridging the divide between reason and faith, and making reason operate within the boundaries of faith. Before him reason was thought to be incompatible with the Church, but Aquinas said that the understanding of God’s revelations was not possible unless human beings could have rational thought. While the philosopher relies solely on reason, the theologian takes faith as his starting point and from there he reaches... more »
Ayn Rand was against the libertarian movement
In her time *Ayn Rand* was opposed to libertarianism, which she considered to be a greater threat to freedom and capitalism than both liberalism and conservativism. Here are *some quotes from Ayn Rand* on the issue of libertarianism: *"Above all, do not join the wrong ideological groups or movements, in order to “do something.” By “ideological” (in this context), I mean groups or movements proclaiming some vaguely generalized, undefined (and, usually, contradictory) political goals. (E.g., the Conservative Party, which subordinates reason to faith, and substitutes theocracy for cap... more »
Ayn Rand - views on Anarchism
*Ayn Rand has spoken consistently against anarchism in her philosophical and literary works. Here are some of Rand's quotes on anarchism:* "Anarchy, as a political concept, is a naive floating abstraction: . . . a society without an organized government would be at the mercy of the first criminal who came along and who would precipitate it into the chaos of gang warfare. But the possibility of human immorality is not the only objection to anarchy: even a society whose every member were fully rational and faultlessly moral, could not function in a state of anarchy; it is the need of ... more »
Libertarians vs. Objectivists: Why Objective Law is Necessary
*This essay by Amber Pawlik provides an overview of what has exactly gone wrong with modern libertarian movement* The Libertarian Party accepts two political ideologies: anarcho-capitalists and capitalists. The Libertarian Party accepts any person who supports the non-aggression principle which is, "someone may not initiate the use of force," which is the support for private property rights. The difference between anarcho-capitalists and capitalists is in how they think private property should be protected. Anarcho-capitalists believe the individual should defend his own property. ... more »
The Only Path To Tomorrow by Ayn Rand
The greatest threat to mankind and civilization is the spread of the totalitarian philosophy. Its best ally is not the devotion of its followers but the confusion of its enemies. To fight it, we must understand it. Totalitarianism is collectivism. Collectivism means the subjugation of the individual to a group — whether to a race, class or state does not matter. Collectivism holds that man must be chained to collective action and collective thought for the sake of what is called ``the common good.´´ Throughout history, no tyrant ever rose to power except on the claim of representing... more »
Advanced microchips for a better tomorrow
Recently IBM announced that it will spend $3 billion over the next five years for inventing microchips with smaller and more tightly packed electronics. Such investment, IBM believes, is necessary to sustain computing progress, as the silicon based microchip, which is essential part of smartphones, laptops and just about every piece of electronics, is about to reach a technological dead-end. Since 1965, the Information Technology industry has been operating around Gordon Moore’s Law, which says that the number of transistors in a chip will double approximately every two years. Moore... more »
Man’s Rights by Ayn Rand
If one wishes to advocate a free society — that is, capitalism — one must realize that its indispensable foundation is the principle of individual rights. If one wishes to uphold individual rights, one must realize that capitalism is the only system that can uphold and protect them. And if one wishes to gauge the relationship of freedom to the goals of today’s intellectuals, one may gauge it by the fact that the concept of individual rights is evaded, distorted, perverted and seldom discussed, most conspicuously seldom by the so-called “conservatives.” “Rights” are a moral concept —... more »
No, Virginia, There Is No Moral Right to Throttle Uber
Uber car ride service has a problem. The problem is not that the company lacks customers eager to use its services or investors eager to finance it: Uber now operates in 70 cities, and recently it raised $1.2 billion from investors. Uber’s problem is that various state and local governments are seeking to throttle it. Read more at The Objectivist Standard...
Lifelike Androids are Improving People’s Lives Today
Although androids often get a bad rap in science-fiction movies and video games, real-life androids are already improving people’s lives—and making “careers” of it. Tokyo’s National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation has actually “hired” two lifelike androids: Kodomoroid will read the latest news from the Internet, and Otonaroid will converse with visitors about science and technology. The androids were designed by Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University, whose previous work includes a lifelike clone of himself. Read more at The Objectivist Standard...
James Clerk Maxwell
(1831 – 1879)James Clerk Maxwell’s reputation as a great scientist in history rests on the work that he has done in the field of electromagnetism. He is ranked alongside Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein for the fundamental nature of his contributions to science. He formulated the theory stating that electric and magnetic fields travel through space in the form of waves, and at the constant speed of light. Thus he argued that light too was a form of electromagnetic radiation. The coming of many modern devices and systems such as radio, television, radar, microwaves and thermal i... more »
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519
Portrait of Leonardo by Melzi At the time of his birth, Leonardo da Vinci’s parents were unmarried. His father, Ser Piero da Vinci was a young lawyer and his mother, Caterina, is generally believed to have been a peasant girl, who shortly thereafter married an artisan. It is believed that Leonardo did not use his father’s name in the middle of his own name, because of his illegitimate status. His name “Leonardo da Vinci” means “Leonardo, from Vinci;” Vinci being the name of the place in Italy where he was born. Not much is known about his childhood, but it is well established that... more »
The Fallacy of The Stolen Concept
The distinguishing characteristic of twentieth-century philosophy is a resurgence or irrationalism—a revolt against reason. Students in colleges today are assailed with pronouncements to the effect that factual certainty is impossible, that the contents of man’s mind need bear no necessary relationship to the facts of reality, that the concept of “facts of reality” is an old-fashioned superstition, that reality is “mere appearance,” that man can know nothing. It is with such intellectual equipment that their teachers arm them to deal with the problems of life. In the prevalence of t... more »
“Open Mind” and “Closed Mind”
[There is a] dangerous little catch phrase which advises you to keep an “open mind.” This is a very ambiguous term—as demonstrated by a man who once accused a famous politician of having “a wide open mind.” That term is an anti-concept: it is usually taken to mean an objective, unbiased approach to ideas, but it is used as a call for perpetual skepticism, for holding no firm convictions and granting plausibility to anything. A “closed mind” is usually taken to mean the attitude of a man impervious to ideas, arguments, facts and logic, who clings stubbornly to some mixture of unwarra... more »
Letter from Ludwig Mises to Ayn Rand
January 23, 1958 Mrs. Ayn Rand 36 East 36 Street New York, N.Y. Dear Mrs. Rand: I AM NOT A professional critic and I feel no call to judge the merits of a novel. So I do not want to detain you with the information that I enjoyed very much reading Atlas Shrugged and that I am full of admi- ration for your masterful construction of the plot. But “Atlas Shrugged” is not merely a novel. It is also—or may I say: first of all—a cogent analysis of the evils that plague our society, a substantiated rejection of the ideology of our self-styled “intellec- tuals” and a pitiless unmasking of ... more »
How to Judge a Political Candidate? by Ayn Rand
In view of the general confusion on this subject, it is advisable to remind prospective voters of a few basic considerations, as guidelines in deciding what one can properly expect of a political candidate, particularly of a presidential candidate. One cannot expect, nor is it necessary, to agree with a candidate’s total philosophy — only with his political philosophy (and only in terms of essentials). It is not a Philosopher-King that we are electing, but an executive for a specific, delimited job. It is only political consistency that we can demand of him; if he advocates the righ... more »
Rand Debating Kant
*By Per-Olof Samuelsson* James Stevens Valliant (the author of *The Passion of Ayn Rand’s Critics*) recently published an article on Capitalism Magazine, Ayn Rand’s Critics. It is about the sad (and at this point in history, rather boring) fact that those who criticize Ayn Rand do not even bother to try to understand her ideas. Right at the beginning, he writes: Can anyone doubt the truth of writer David Mamet’s recent comments about arguing politics? Defining what he meant by “Brain Dead Liberalism,” he suggested that unless you can state your opponent’s position with such accura... more »
Ayn Rand's letter to her niece
*To Connie Papurt, AR’s niece, a daughter of Frank’s sister, Agnes Papurt * *May 22, 1949* Dear Connie: You are very young, so I don’t know whether you realize the seriousness of your action in writing to me for money. Since I don’t know you at all, I am going to put you to a test. If you really want to borrow $25 from me, I will take a chance on finding out what kind of person you are. You want to borrow the money until your graduation. I will do better than that. I will make it easier for you to repay the debt, but on condition that you understand and accept it as a strict and se... more »
The Contradiction in Anarchism by Robert J. Bidinotto
In his posting [to the Moderated Discussion of the Objectivist Philosophy mail list], T. Franklin Harris, Jr. writes: Anarcho-capitalism is far from a "floating abstraction." It is founded on the principle of non-coercion (the state is seen as inherently coercive) which comes, in turn, from natural rights theory, which, as Rasmussen and Den Uyl note, makes up meta-normative principles necessary for human beings being complete moral agents. In an earlier posting, he said that... ...the main anarcho-capitalist point is that a monopoly on the use of retaliatory force must also includ... more »
The Property Status of Airwaves
*Ayn Rand's essay The Property Status of Airwaves was published in The Objectivist Newsletter in 1964* Any material element or resource which, in order to become of use or value to men, requires the application of human knowledge and effort, should be private property - by the right of those who apply the knowledge and effort. This is particularly true of broadcasting frequencies or waves, because they are produced by human action and do not exist without it. What exists in nature is only the potential and the medium through which those waves must travel. (That medium is not air; in... more »
To All Innocent Fifth Columnists
*To All Fifth Columnists is an open letter written by Ayn Rand around the beginning of 1941, when she was encouraging conservative intellectuals to form a national organization advocating individualism. She desired for the letter be issued by such an organization.* You who read this represent the greatest danger to America. No matter what the outcome of the war in Europe may be, Totalitarianism has already won a complete victory in many American minds and conquered all of our intellectual life. You have helped it to win. Perhaps it is your right to destroy civilization and bring dic... more »
Philosophy: Who Needs It by Ayn Rand
*Ayn Rand's Address To The Graduating Class Of The United States Military Academy at West Point New York — March 6, 1974* Since I am a fiction writer, let us start with a short short story. Suppose that you are an astronaut whose spaceship gets out of control and crashes on an unknown planet. When you regain consciousness and find that you are not hurt badly, the first three questions in your mind would be: Where am I? How can I discover it? What should I do? You see unfamiliar vegetation outside, and there is air to breathe; the sunlight seems paler than you remember it and colder.... more »
The public good be damned, I will have no part of it!
*This is a statement made by Hank Rearden at his trial for an illegal sale of a metal alloy which he had created and which has been placed under government rationing and control.* “I do not want my attitude to be misunderstood. I shall be glad to state it for the record. ... I work for nothing but my own profit—which I make by selling a product they need to men who are willing and able to buy it. I do not produce it for their benefit at the expense of mine, and they do not buy it for my benefit at the expense of theirs; I do not sacrifice my interests to them nor do they sacrifice t... more »
Rediscovery of the word “I”
“I am. I think. I will. ... “What must I say besides? These are the words. This is the answer. “I stand here on the summit of the mountain. I lift my head and I spread my arms. This—my body and spirit—this is the end of the quest. I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning. I wished to find a warrant for being. I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction. ... ~ [from Ayn Rand's novelette Anthem]
Three Enemies of Capitalism
In this second part of a 2-part series, Carrie-Ann Biondi explains and challenges the essential claims of John Rawls’s welfare liberalism, and defends capitalism against the false accusations this enemy lodges against it concerning poverty, needs, and desert. Knowing his intellectual enemies accounts for part of John Galt’s success in stopping “the motor of the world” when he persuades producers to go on strike. He defeats enemies of capitalism not only by making the moral case for capitalism, but also by reclaiming terminology and undermining false premises of his enemies’ views.
The condensed emotional summation of the view of life in Atlas Shrugged
"You ask me about the meaning of the dialogue on page 702 of Atlas Shrugged: "'We never had to take any of it seriously, did we?" she whispered. "'No, we never had to.'" "Let me begin by saying that this is perhaps the most important point in the whole book, because it is the condensed emotional summation, the keynote or leitmotif, of the view of life presented in Atlas Shrugged. "What Dagny expresses here is the conviction that joy, exaltation, beauty, greatness, heroism, all the supreme, uplifting values of man's existence on earth, are the meaning o... more »
Metaphysics in Marble
Metaphysics in Marble (Part I & II) by *Mary Ann Sures* “Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist’s metaphysical value-judgments.” (Ayn Rand, “The Psycho-Epistemology of Art,” The Objectivist Newsletter, April 1965.) Given the definition of art, one often hears the question of how metaphysical abstractions can be conveyed in a visual art such as sculpture. This discussion is a brief historical survey to answer that question: to indicate the means by which sculpture expresses abstractions — and to demonstrate the connection between the dominant philosophy of... more »
This is John Galt Speaking
*John Galt's speech from Ayn Rand's novel - Atlas Shrugged * For twelve years, you have been asking: Who is John Galt? This is John Galt speaking. I am the man who loves his life. I am the man who does not sacrifice his love or his values. I am the man who has deprived you of victims and thus has destroyed your world, and if you wish to know why you are perishing-you who dread knowledge-I am the man who will now tell you.” The chief engineer was the only one able to move; he ran to a television set and struggled frantically with its dials. But the screen remained empty; the speaker ... more »
The Concept of Self-Ownership
*An article by Per-Olof Samuelsson* Self-ownership is often regarded as an axiom, if not *the* basic axiom, of Libertarianism. There are many formulations of it; the oldest one that I know of is by John Locke, who said that … every man has a property in his own person: this no body has any right to but himself. The labour of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his. (*Second Treatise on Government*, Ch. 2, Sect.27.) Quite as often, one hears Objectivists object to this; the common objection is that this make the right to property the basic right, while it is ... more »
Ayn Rand on Immanuel Kant
"On every fundamental issue, Kant’s philosophy is the exact opposite of Objectivism." *~ Ayn Rand in "Brief Summary,” The Objectivist, Sept. 1971* ----------------- The man who . . . closed the door of philosophy to reason, was Immanuel Kant. . . . Kant’s expressly stated purpose was to save the morality of self-abnegation and self-sacrifice. He knew that it could not survive without a mystic base—and what it had to be saved from was reason. Attila’s share of Kant’s universe includes this earth, physical reality, man’s senses, perceptions, reason and science, all of it labeled the... more »
The Customer Isn't King, Nor Should He Be: Why Howard Roark Is Right and Supposed Libertarian Economists Are Wrong
*An essay by Stuart Hayashi* In attempt to wipe away the smear that capitalists are dirty monopolists who exploit their customers, some libertarian economists adopt the other end of that same coin. They say that it is the customers who have all the power, and that vendors are mere subordinates who must always cater to the customers. They therefore take issue with Howard Roark saying, "I don't build in order to have clients. I have clients in order to build." When Roark issues that statement, he is denying that the client -- the customer -- is more important to the transaction th... more »
Howard Roark's Courtroom Speech
*Howard Roark's Courtroom Speech in The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand* “Thousands of years ago, the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burned at the stake he had taught his brothers to light. He was considered an evildoer who had dealt with a demon mankind dreaded. But thereafter men had fire to keep them warm, to cook their food, to light their caves. He had left them a gift they had not conceived and he had lifted dardness off the earth. Centuries later, the first man invented the wheel. He was probably torn on the rack he had taught his brothers to build. He was... more »
Free enterprise will crumble if we fail to make the moral case for capitalism
Free enterprise will crumble if we fail to make the moral case for capitalism by David Sokol THE BIRTH of free enterprise more than 200 years ago fuelled the greatest advances in human prosperity and happiness the world has ever seen. Life before capitalism was, as Thomas Hobbes might have said, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. Today, people in capitalist countries live longer than those in Third World countries and twice as long as their ancestors. Most of today’s poor have access to goods and services that the rich for most of human history could only imagine. Yet while the free ... more »
Textbook of Americanism by Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand wrote this monograph in 1946, and it appeared originally in The Vigil, a publication of The Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals in Beverly Hills, California. The series is incomplete: the twelve questions reprinted here were only the first third of a longer project; the rest remains unwritten. ------------------------------------- *1. What Is the Basic Issue in the World Today?* The basic issue in the world today is between two principles: Individualism and Collectivism. Individualism holds that man has inalienable rights which cannot be taken a... more »
The Assault on Integrity
by *Alan Greenspan*, the Objectivist Newsletter, August 1963; reprinted in Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal, edited by *Ayn Rand* Protection of the consumer against "dishonest and unscrupulous business practices" has become a cardinal ingredient of welfare statism. Left to their own devices, it is alleged, businessmen would attempt to sell unsafe food and drugs, fraudulent securities, and shoddy buildings. Thus, it is argued, the Pure Food and Drug Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the numerous building regulatory agencies are indispensable if the ... more »
A Letter From Ayn Rand to Leonard Read
In this letter to Read, Ayn Rand gives her critique of the intellectuals of the time. She also includes her own mission for FEE! Click here to read the scanned letter on PDF
On Hypotheticals
*An article by Thomas M Miovas Jr* A friend and I were discussing philosophy the other day and we came across the topic of hypotheticals in logical structures. A hypothetical is an If / Then statement projecting what would happen given certain premises. For example, if one is unemployed and looking for a job, one might think, "If I get that job, then I will be able to pay off my car." I think given the nature of human consciousness hypotheticals can be very important because man has a volitional consciousness -- he has free will -- and hypotheticals can be a good way of keeping up o... more »
On the right to self-defense
*An essay by James Stevens Valliant * A person may use physical force upon another person, even deadly force, when and to the extent that he reasonably believes it to be necessary to defend himself or a third person from a physical attack by another. The level of force used may be greater than that used by the attacker, but it must not be disproportionate to the level of force used in the attack. (One may not use a deadly weapon, for example, if merely slapped in the face, but one may use a gun if the attacker is aiming a club at your head.) A person may use force to defend someone ... more »
Murray Rothbard on the Soviet Union
*An article by Per-Olof Samuelsson* My latest blog post, Murray Rothbard on Organized Crime, was shared by a couple of persons on Facebook – and in one comment, I was accused of “cherry picking”, because I chose only one article and took it as representative of Rothbard’s entire view. “Cherry picking” is an inductive fallacy which consists in taking the inductive generalization one wants to reach for granted and then only giving examples that supports this generalization and ignoring or suppressing evidence that points in another direction. Proper induction, of course does not *star... more »
Interesting quotes from Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich Hayek (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992), born in Austria-Hungary as Friedrich August von Hayek and frequently known as F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian, later British, economist and philosopher best known for his defense of classical liberalism. Here are some interesting quotes from Friedrich Hayek: "A society that does not recognise that each individual has values of his own which he is entitled to follow can have no respect for the dignity of the individual and cannot really know freedom." "The effect of the people's agreeing that there must be central planning, without agreein... more »
This would make smokers quit...
[Hat Tip NOT PC]
Ludwig von Mises on Anarchism
*An article by Per-Olof Samuelsson* Anarchists (”free market anarchists” or ”anarcho-capitalists)” are flocking in and around the Ludwig von Mises Institute, both in the US and here in Sweden. So what did Mises himself think about anarchism and anarchists? He covers the subject in a section in The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science, p. 98f, so let me quote: *Government as such is not only not an evil, but the most necessary and beneficial institution, as without it no lasting social cooperation and no civilization would be possible.* And a bit later on: *A shallow-minded scho... more »
Criticism and Personality: A Juncture for Objectivism
*An article by Scott A* There are good reasons to examine the psychology of others, and appropriate contexts in which to do it. However, when doing this, especially publicly, one must be very careful in his treatment of the subject, lest he fall into psychologizing. I open this way because I’m going to offer a psychological formulation that relates to the recent and sadly personal arguments that have been occurring online among Objectivists. For those who don’t know me, I’m a clinical psychologist. However, the formulation is not meant to be a clinical one per se, and I will not be ... more »
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