Writing for TCS Daily, Brian Doherty offers an insightful analysis of the history of antagonism between libertarians and conservatives in his article “Paul Krugman’s Illuminating Smear: How the Right and Libertarians Diverged.”
Category: The Atlasphere
All things Atlasphere can be found here, columns, podcasts, interesting anecdotes, and more.
Atlas Shrugged Cameos in Aspen Mayoral Race
From an article in yesterday’s Denver Post:
Aspen mayors, as former office-holders attest, hobnob with world leaders and celebrities. They turn up on CNN and at parties hosted by The Donald as well as tackling pressing problems such as undoing Aspen’s worsening traffic congestion and helping struggling businesses.
“You meet someone, and they are very impressed you are the mayor of Aspen,” said Helen Klanderud, who will be vacating the post after three terms. […]
The cast of candidates willing to jump into this political cauldron includes a bicycle-riding, left-leaning environmentalist attorney who has survived three recall attempts as an outspoken and sometimes abrasive Pitkin County commissioner; a developer who favors sports cars and high-dollar cowboy boots and quotes Ayn Rand; a former tennis pro who goes by one name and is courting the young vote; and a platinum-blond former TV news anchor whose website features sexy portraits and an admission that she may resemble the late Anna Nicole Smith – but only in looks. […]
Developer candidate Tim Semrau, 53, in designer jeans with coiffed hair, set Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” on the table in front of him, along with a sheaf of position papers and cast himself as a developer, yes, but one who has done many affordable-housing projects.
See the full article for more.
Any politician willing to set a copy of Atlas Shrugged on the table deserves a second look.
'Objectivity' Journal Archive
From Atlasphere member Stephen Boydston:Â
I am happy to announce Objectivity Archive at www.objectivity-archive.com. This site is an archive and library of Objectivity, now freely open to all readers and researchers.
Objectivity is a journal of metaphysics, epistemology, and theory of value informed by modern science. It consists of two volumes, each with six issues. It was a hardcopy journal, for subscribers, published from 1990 to 1998. Its authors were both professional academics and independent scholars.
In addition to the complete, exactly replicated text of Objectivity, the Archive site offers additional helpful features such as ABSTRACTS for all the main essays and a SUBJECT INDEX and NAME INDEX for the entire 1770 pages of the journal.
Happiness Research and Public Policy
Atlasphere member Will Wilkinson recently published a new paper for the Cato Institute titled “In Pursuit of Happiness Research: Is It Reliable? What Does It Imply for Policy?”
From the abstract:
â??Happiness researchâ? studies the correlates of subjective well-being, generally through survey methods. A number of psychologists and social scientists have drawn upon this work recently to argue that the American model of relatively limited government and a dynamic market economy corrodes happiness, whereas Western European and Scandinavian-style social democracies promote it.
This paper argues that happiness research in fact poses no threat to the relatively libertarian ideals embodied in the U.S. socioeconomic system. Happiness research is seriously hampered by confusion and disagreement about the definition of its subject as well as the limitations inherent in current measurement techniques.
In its present state happiness research cannot be relied on as an authoritative source for empirical information about happiness, which, in any case, is not a simple empirical phenomenon but a cultural and historical moving target.
Yet, even if we accept the data of happiness research at face value, few of the alleged redistributive policy implications actually follow from the evidence. The data show that neither higher rates of government redistribution nor lower levels of income inequality make us happier, whereas high levels of economic freedom and high average incomes are among the strongest correlates of subjective well-being.
Even if we table the damning charges of questionable science and bad moral philosophy, the American model still comes off a glowing success in terms of happiness.
As Will writes, “It is not a short paper, nor is it written at a USA Today level of difficulty. So reserve a cool hour for some serious intellectual contemplation. Itâ??s worth it, I hope.”
Ismail Ax: VA Tech Shooting Was Islamic Terror
Writing for TCS Daily, Jerry Bowyer argues convincingly in his article “Ismail Ax: Shooter Was Another ‘Son of Sacrifice’” that Cho Sueng Hui’s slaughter of 32 people at Virginia tech was another instance of Islamic-justified (if not -inspired) terrorism.
First it was Johnny Muhammad, now it was Cho Sueng Hui aka Ismail Ax. Precisely how many mass shooters have to turn out to have adopted Muslim names before we get it?
Keep reading…
Don’t hold your breath to see this in the mainstream media.
H/T: Joe Duarte.
Joe Eros – Ayn Rand Influenced Hip-Hop
If you’re into Ayn Rand’s writings and also like rap music … but have always longed for more inspiring lyrics … check out the Rand-influenced hip-hop artist Joe Eros (Atlasphere profile here).
I met Joe on Sunday at an informal Atlasphere get-together in Santa Monica. Great guy, and shares my strong admiration for the newly-assembled We the Living band.
Also at our get-together was Steven Schub of The Fenwicks — surely the best Objectivist “Afro-Celtic Yiddish Ska” band you’ve ever heard. (Despite intense competition!)
Indian Ayn Rand Fan Minal Panchal among Virginia Tech Victims
The article “World Reacts to Tech Shootings” in today’s Guardian mentions briefly that one of the Virginia Tech victims was a fan of Ayn Rand’s work:
India – which lost a lecturer – added a second victim to its toll: Minal Panchal, a 26-year-old master’s student in building sciences, CNN-IBN news said Wednesday. She had been listed as missing before her body was found at Norris Hall.
“She was really passionate about architecture, about buildings and Ayn Rand was one of her favorite authors. She went to the U.S. to study building sciences,” said Chetna Parekh, a friend from Mumbai.
India eNews has a full article about Minal, titled “Minal’s dreams brought her to US varsity — and death” (which too notes her admiration for Ayn Rand’s work).
I can hardly imagine the depths of grief that Ms. Panchal’s family, together with all the families of victims at Virginia Tech, must be experiencing.
Tomorrow we’ll be publishing an excellent op-ed by Jacob Sullum which analyzes the relationship between the Virginia Tech shooting and the so-called “gun-free” policies that make it possible for a lone gunman to kill so many people on a college campus.
UPDATE: Sullum’s article is available here.
Have You Heard of the Peshmerga?
If you are interested in Iraq and haven’t yet read Michael Totten’s recent post on the Peshmerga, the Kurdish army, I recommend it highly. It’s called “An Army, Not a Militia.”
Truly inspiring. …Brought tears to my eyes, actually.
I bet the Kurds would love the movie 300, if they’ve not yet seen it. (I plan to see it soon myself.)
Upgraded Seach Results Functionality
A few of you have written in recent months asking that we improve the way search results are shown at the Atlasphere.
In particular, you mentioned it would be more helpful if the results were divided into a set number of results per page, rather than dumping out all 500+ results on one page if you search for something popular like “chess” or “psychology.”
I finished making this upgrade last night. Now, when you conduct a search, the results are shown 50 per page, and you have a menu for navigating through the results.
Next up: We’ll make it so you can confine your search results to your geographical area — another popular request.
Meantime, take the new functionality for a test drive, if you like, and let us know if you have any additional requests!
UPDATE: Today we also made it so that it’s impossible to view directory profiles that have been suppressed by the user. (Previously, they were simply withheld from being listed in the directory; now they are actually impossible to view, even if you know the correct URL.) The option to suppress one’s directory profile is available only to members with active dating profiles.
Lenders Are Damned If They Lend, and Damned If They Don't
ARI’s David Holcberg has penned a compelling letter to the editor submitted to hundreds of newspapers, radio stations, and web sites:
With 2 million homeowners defaulting on their mortgage payments, we are increasingly hearing denunciations of lenders for having loaned money to people who had no means of paying it back. But these denunciations reveal a disturbing double standard. For years, politicians pressured lenders to not discriminate against those with poor credit history and shaky finances. Now we have the despicable spectacle of politicians accusing lenders of not having discriminated enough and of having made too many risky loans.
Lenders are damned if they lend — and damned if they don’t. Whatever lenders do, politicians seem to always find their practices objectionable, and will take advantage of any excuse to call for more regulations and increased political power over lending. Politicians should leave lenders alone, and instead of damning them, they should acknowledge their crucial role in making home ownership possible for so many people.