Category: The Atlasphere

All things Atlasphere can be found here, columns, podcasts, interesting anecdotes, and more.

"The Atlas Society" Becomes TOC's Official Name

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Today The Objectivist Center announced that it will begin using “The Atlas Society” as its official name:

As you know we’ve had an Atlas Society since 1999. That name and the special part of our website were meant to appeal to those who read Ayn Rand novels and are taken — as so many of us are — by the excitement, romance and vision of a benevolent society of productive individuals. Rand’s books sell hundreds of thousands of copies a year. Thus there is a potentially huge audience for our organization. And now that an Atlas Shrugged movie is seriously in the works, that audience is likely to grow.

Indeed it is.
Keep reading for more information about The Objectivist Center Atlas Society’s decision.

Will the Internet Help Do Away with Entrenched Two-party Politics?

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

From an excellent article at Newsweek by Jonathan Alter, updating us all on the age in which we live and why it’s going to prove significant during the next presidential election:

Bob Schieffer of CBS News made a good point on “The Charlie Rose Show” last week. He said that successful presidents have all skillfully exploited the dominant medium of their times. The Founders were eloquent writers in the age of pamphleteering. Franklin D. Roosevelt restored hope in 1933 by mastering radio. And John F. Kennedy was the first president elected because of his understanding of television.
Will 2008 bring the first Internet president? Last time, Howard Dean and later John Kerry showed that the whole idea of “early money” is now obsolete in presidential politics. The Internet lets candidates who catch fire raise millions in small donations practically overnight. That’s why all the talk of Hillary Clinton’s “war chest” making her the front runner for 2008 is the most hackneyed punditry around.

[…] To begin busting up the dumb system we have for selecting presidents, a bipartisan group will open shop this week at Unity08.com. This Internet-based third party is spearheaded by three veterans of the antique 1976 campaign: Democrats Hamilton Jordan and Gerald Rafshoon helped get Jimmy Carter elected; Republican Doug Bailey did media for Gerald Ford before launching the political TIP SHEET Hotline. They are joined by the independent former governor of Maine, Angus King, and a collection of idealistic young people who are also tired of a nominating process that pulls the major party candidates to the extremes. Their hope: to get even a fraction of the 50 million who voted for the next American Idol to nominate a third-party candidate for president online and use this new army to get him or her on the ballot in all 50 states. The idea is to go viralâ??or die. “The worst thing that could happen would be for a bunch of old white guys like us to run this,” Jordan says.

[…] But funny things happen in election years. With an issue as eye-glazing as the deficit, a wacky, jug-eared Texan named Ross Perot received 19 percent of the vote in 1992 and 7 percent in 1996. He did it with “Larry King Live” and an 800 number. In a country where more than 40 percent of voters now self-identify as independents, it’s no longer a question of whether the Internet will revolutionize American politics, but when.

This is a very exciting possibility for those of us who are perennially frustrated by the current two-party dynamics in the United States.
See the full article for more.
UPDATE (6/1/06) – Peggy Noonan has a timely article in the WSJ on a related topic, namely, the continued crisis of two-party politics, and the increasing likelihood that only a third-party candidate could deliver the kinds of reform that American needs in order to stay safe, free, and fiscally responsible.
UPDATE (6/2/06) – And today, more on this topic from Instapundit.

Spring 2006 Journal of Ayn Rand Studies

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The Spring 2006 issues of the Journal of Ayn Rand Studies has been published. From the announcement on Chris Sciabarra’s site:

It gives me great pleasure to announce the publication of the Spring 2006 issue of The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies. The issue features a dialogue on Ayn Rand’s ethics, with contributions from Tibor R. Machan, Frank Bubb, Eric Mack, Douglas B. Rasmussen, Robert H. Bass, Chris Cathcart, and Robert L. Campbell. In addition, there are articles covering topics in epistemology (Merlin Jetton) and literature (Kurt Keefner and Peter Saint-Andre). Other contributors include Sheldon Richman on Thomas Szasz and Ayn Rand; Max Hocutt on postmodernism; Steven Yates on capitalism and commerce; and David M. Brown on the new Ayn Rand Q&A book.
The issue opens with my own tribute to R. W. Bradford, without whom The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies would never have been founded. This Spring 2006 issue is dedicated to the memory of Bradford, Joan Kennedy Taylor, and Chris Tame. A PDF of my tribute piece is available here.
For subscription information, see here.

Lecture on Passing Judgement Available Online

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Tara Smith’s lecture “Passing Judgement: Ayn Rand’s View of Justice” is available online on the Registered User Page of the Ayn Rand Institute (the registration and the video are free). The lecture was delivered on May 9th in Irvine, CA. Tara Smith is a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas and the author of the recently published Moral Rights & Political Freedom.
From the lecture summary:

In “Passing Judgment: Ayn Rand’s View of Justice,” Dr. Tara Smith will explore Ayn Rand’s unique conception of justice. After explaining why it is in one’s self-interest to be a just person, Dr. Smith will explore several related topics, including: the emphatic need to judge other people; how today’s pervasive egalitarianism is completely anti-justice; and when, if ever, forgiveness and mercy are justified. 

Ayn Rand Society to Discuss Tara Smith's 2006 Book

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The topic of the Ayn Rand Society this year will be Tara Smith’s new book “Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist.” The ARS meeting will be held in conjunction with the APA Eastern Division meetings in Washington DC, at the Marriott Wardman Hotel, Dec. 27-30, 2006.
Book description:

Ayn Rand is well known for advocating egoism, but the substance of that instruction is rarely understood. Far from representing the rejection of morality, selfishness, in Rand’s view, actually demands the practice of a systematic code of ethics. This book explains the fundamental virtues that Rand considers vital for a person to achieve their objective well-being: rationality, honesty, independence, justice, integrity, productiveness, and pride. Tracing Rand’s account of the value and harmony of human beings’ rational interests, Smith examines what each of these virtues consists of, why it is a virtue, and what it demands of people in practice. Along the way she addresses the status of several conventional virtues within Rand’s theory, considering traits such as kindness, charity, generosity, temperance, courage, forgiveness, and humility. Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics thus offers an in-depth exploration of several specific virtues and an illuminating integration of these with the broader theory of egoism.

"Atlas" Movie Producers to speak at TOC Summer Seminar

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Howard and Karen Baldwin, who are producing the movie of Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, have agreed to speak at The Atlas Society/Objectivist Center Summer Seminar. In consequence of this development, TOC is extending the early registration deadline (which entitles you to an 18% discount) by one week, to May 15th.
The Baldwins, who co-produced the Oscar-winning movie “Ray,” will be at the TOC event on Friday, July 7, and will likely be in the afternoon according to current information. TOC will be rearranging their schedule to accomodate this, so be sure to check for updates at their site.

Summer at Camp Millionaire

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According to MSN Money, Summer Camps that offer pro-business programs are becoming increasingly popular around the U.S. A typical program teaches basic economics, budgeting, how the stock market works and how to run a small business. Educational entrepreneurs are tapping to a growing demand from parents and kids for a way to learn “the facts of life about managing and investing money.” According to a financial planner who runs such a camp:

Being a financial planner, I’ve worked with people for many years. It’s frustrating to me that so many of them don’t have basic knowledge. At their age, it’s hard to change their habits after they have developed problems with credit. I decided that teaching kids when they are young is the only way to go.

Read the article here.

'Keeper of the Flame' Endorsed by Rush Limbaugh

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Leading talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh recently endorsed, on the air, Henry Mark Holzer‘s new book, The Keeper of the Flame: The Supreme Court Jurisprudence of Clarence Thomas.
Holzer was Ayn Rand’s lawyer in the 1960s, and his new book represents an important contribution to the public debate about Thomas’s legacy on the Supreme Court, because it provides objective information about Thomas’s actual decisions, helping counter the innuendo and ad hominem public attacks that Thomas has suffered since his nomination to the high bench.
The Atlasphere recently published an excerpt from the book as a feature column, under the title “Clarence Thomas: The Keeper of the Flame.”
Also, economist Thomas Sowell has penned a glowing review of the book (which we will be publishing soon as an op-ed). This is no doubt how the book came to Limbaugh’s attention.
Limbaugh himself has a (justifiably) mixed reputation among Objectivists, but his public prominence will no doubt help bring this important book to the attention of the many individuals who should be reading it. In the past, Limbaugh has also recommended that his listeners should read Atlas Shrugged.
The audio recording of Rush’s endorsement is available online.
The book itself is available for purchase through Amazon.com.

OCON 2006 in Boston

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As a reminder, the Ayn Rand Institute will be holding its OCON 2006 (Objectivist conference) at Boston’s Seaport Hotel from June 30th to July 8th. The early registration deadline has passed, but student pricing is still available.
From Yaron Brook’s announcement:

[T]he real attraction of the conference is, of course, our lineup of speakers and courses. Attendees are still talking about last summerâ??s offerings, and we are confident that this summerâ??s courses will only add to the Objectivist summer conference legacy. Speakers include Objectivist luminaries such as Harry Binswanger, John Ridpath, Peter Schwartz and Mary Ann Sures, and topics range from ethics to education, art to opera, politics to perception, and from the ancient Greeks to the corruption of 20th-century philosophy. There are nine general session lectures and sixteen optional courses to choose from, as well as a variety of special events and dinners. Attendees may register for the entire nine-day conference, or use our à la carte registration options to choose those parts that best fit your schedule and budget.

See the Objectivist Conferences web site for more information about this conference and instructions for registering.

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