Category: The Atlasphere

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

Defending Free Speech at Louisiana State

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

A second-year law student at Louisiana State University has published a searing analysis of the way freedom of speech is being handled in modern academia. He begins:

Higher-education institutions are no longer havens for free intellectual discussion and open debate. Since public universities have lost nearly every court battle over clearly identified speech codes, administrators have developed stealthier ways to regulate unwanted speech. These covert speech codes are hidden in university handbooks under seemingly harmless provisions such as e-mail guidelines, diversity statements and harassment policies. Even though these policies arenâ??t identified as â??speech codes,â? university administrators are still able to use them to repress unpopular opinions, censor parodies, hinder political speech and restrict academic freedom.

Included in his analysis is the treatment the NYU Objectivist club received from administrators during their recent attempts to foster discussion of the Mohammad cartoons.
See the full article for more.

Interview with Whole Foods' John Mackey

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

We’ve mentioned before that Whole Foods CEO John Mackey is a fan of Ayn Rand’s novels. Today I stumbled across an interview with Mackey (actually, because the interviewer had linked to our blog) from last year.
In the interview, Mackey discusses his enjoyment of Ayn Rand’s writings, his experiences with libertarians, and why he no longer considers himself a libertarian, per se.
Here’s one relevant excerpt, regarding his (qualified) appreciation for Rand, and his own philosophy of business:

SUNNI: It sounds to me like you aren’t a libertarian of a Randian persuasion — wholly profit-driven and focused on the self; is that accurate?
JOHN: That is correct. I was very inspired by Ayn Rand’s novels like millions of other people have been. However, I don’t agree with some of her philosophies. For example: I don’t think selfishness is a virtue and I don’t believe that business primarily exists to make a profit. Profit is of course essential to any business to fulfill its mission and to be successful and to flourish and I will defend the goodness and appropriateness of profits for business with great passion. However, profit is not the primary purpose of business. Renee and I didn’t begin Whole Foods Market to maximize profits for our shareholders. We began it for three main reasons: we thought it would be fun to create a business; we needed to earn a living; and we wanted to contribute to the well-being of other people.
As the business grew we created our mission statement back in 1985 and have tried to fulfill it ever since. That mission very clearly articulates that we have collective — there’s that word again — responsibilities to all the various constituencies who are voluntarily cooperating with the company. In order of priority these constituencies or stakeholders are: customers; team members; investors; vendors; community; and environment.
We measure our success on how well we meet the needs and desires of all of these various stakeholders. All must flourish or we aren’t succeeding as a business.

You don’t have to agree with everything he says to see that he’s a colorful example of a businessman who’s willing to at least think for himself. He has a pretty good track record of opposing unions, for example:

JOHN: I’ve written a 17-page pamphlet (a chapter in my upcoming book) called Beyond Unions. In it I outline my philosophy towards unions. I can’t do complete justice to all my ideas briefly. Let me just make a few points.
The right to collective bargaining (unionization) is an important legal right. It is important that employees, when they wish to, should have the legal right to form unions. In countries where unions are outlawed we see massive totalitarian exploitation of workers. Solidarity in Poland was a very important force to liberating that country from communism.
No employee should be forced to join a union against their will. Unfortunately in many states in our country, such as California, once a union is voted in by a majority of the employees, employees no longer have free choice in this matter. This closed shop means they must join the union and pay dues to the union whether they wish to or not. If they don’t join then they are fired. I believe open shops should be legal in all states and no employee should be forced against their will, as a condition of employment, to join a union.

See the full interview for more.

United 93, from Director of Bourne Supremacy

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Based upon the preview, United 93 looks like it will be an extremely good movie.
The movie was made by Paul Greengrass, the director of The Bourne Supremacy — which was also quite good.
From an interview with Greengrass:

Like everybody, the events surrounding Flight 93 and the events of 9/11 had a massive effect on me. And it became pretty clear to me, after that, that I would always want to make a film about terrorism that would encompass and explore the events of 9/11.
But then it’s about whether it’s the right time and it’s about whether the families of those people aboard the airplane want you to tell that story.
What we found, when we went to see each one of those fmailies, was that they all want this film to be made.

Arrives in theaters April 28, 2006.
UPDATE: Some people are already starting to complain that it’s “too soon” for a movie like this. Hello?

Bidinotto on the Cowardice at Borders Bookstores

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Robert Bidinotto has published an article called “High Noon” at Borders which provides an interesting perspective on Borders Bookstores’ recent public relations fiasco.
He is particularly interested in the media’s excuses for not standing up to bullies:

These people proclaim that standing up to Islamists isn’t their responsibility — that it’s the job of the U.S. military or FBI. Yet many of these same media representatives have made careers out of denouncing and opposing the U.S. military and the FBI. They oh-so-bravely expose and denounce military abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanomo; they very-very-courageously take editorial stands against Bushitler and the CIA, NSA, and Patriot Act, in defense of Our Threatened Civil Liberties; they ever-so-valiantly demand the sacred Constitutional right to publish photos of returning coffins of U.S. troops or degrading images of abused Iraqi prisoners.

And:

Thanks to these traitors to the First Amendment, America is fast becoming Will Kane’s Hadleyville. They more and more resemble the cringing, “civilized” town fathers in that corrupt fictional crossroads: prostrate in spineless supplication before the town bullies, projecting shameful resentment against the Will Kanes whose bravery shows them up for the cowards that they are.

See the full article for more (including an ending that’s fit for Hollywood).

Muslims Call for a Ban of Voltaire Play

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

While the world’s attention is focused on the Danish Cartoons, Muslims in France have been calling for a ban of a play by Voltaire that satirizes the Prophet Muhammad.
The play, “Fanaticism, or Mahomet the Prophet,” uses the founder of Islam to lampoon all forms of religious frenzy and intolerance.
Voltaire’s historical role in establishing the right for free speech is clear:

Editors in France, Germany and elsewhere have explained their decision to reprint the drawings by pointing to principles enshrined in a statement often attributed to Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Read the entire report here.
(Credit goes to TIA Daily for publishing this item.)

Terrorist Appeasement at Borders Bookstores

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

From an open letter to Borders executives:

I have been a loyal Borders customer — now a Borders Rewards customer — for quite a few years. I spend many hundreds of dollars annually in your store.
However, I have just learned that Borders and its affiliated Waldenbooks have banned the next issue of a publication, Free Inquiry, from your magazine shelves, because that publication is reprinting the controversial Danish cartoons of Muhammad on inside pages. The reason given by Borders is alleged fear of violence from radical Muslims, and desire to “protect” customers and employees.

Keep reading…

Eric Barnhill's Classical Piano Improvisations

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Diana Hsieh points us to Atlasphere member Eric Barnhill‘s new music improvisation blog.
Diana’s right — Eric’s playing is just terrific. His improvisational pieces sound more interesting and varied and melodic than many songwriters’ carefully composed pieces (which, if you’ve read Blink, won’t come as a total surprise).
Stop by for a listen. A good one to start with is the very Rachmaninoff-sounding Exuberant.

NYU Suppresses Objectivist Club's Free Speech

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Press release from the Ayn Rand Institute:

Freedom of Speech needs your help. New York University is censoring the display of the Danish cartoons at this evening’s panel discussion on free speech that NYU’s Objectivist club has organized. We urge you to contact NYU’s administration and let them know what you think about their display of cowardice and censorship. Hopefully, with your help, NYU’s administration will reverse its disgraceful decision to clamp down on our right to free speech and let the event go ahead as originally planned.
Contact:
John Sexton, president of NYU: john.sexton@nyu.edu Bob Butler, director of student activities at NYU: bob.butler@nyu.edu
NYU’s Surrender Underscores Need to Display Danish Cartoons
Irvine, CA–“In a seemingly mundane decision, New York University has sacrificed the principle underlying the survival of civilization–free speech,” said Dr. Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute. NYU is refusing to protect a student group’s right to display the Danish cartoons of Mohammad at a panel discussion on free speech on March 29.
The group’s event was to be open to the public, but at the last minute NYU retreated. Under the pretense of maintaining campus security, the administration contradicted its own stated policy on free speech by requiring that, if the cartoons are displayed, the event be limited only to “members of the NYU community.” The student group now must turn away more than 150 members of the public who had planned to attend the panel.
“The university’s shameful appeasement of Muslim and anti-free-speech groups–which have vowed to protest the event–underscores the urgent need to display the cartoons in defense of freedom of speech,” said Dr. Brook.
“Free speech protects the rational mind: it is the freedom to think, to reach conclusions and express one’s views without fear of coercion of any kind. And it must include the right to express unpopular and offensive views, including outright criticism of religion. NYU–which like other universities grants tenure to protect intellectual freedom–ought to recognize the crucial importance of this principle and defend it.
“If intimidation and threats are allowed to compel writers, cartoonists, thinkers and institutions of learning into self-censorship, the right to free speech is lost. If Muslims are allowed to pressure critics of Islam into silence, critics of religion will be next. And then everyone else.”
Panel Discussion on the Danish Cartoons
Panelists: Peter Schwartz, former chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ayn Rand Institute and author of The Foreign Policy of Self-Interest: A Moral Ideal for America; Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education; Andrew Bostom, author of The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims; and Jonathan Leaf, New York Press editor who resigned over his paper’s decision not to publish the Danish cartoons.
Moderator: Dr. Harry Binswanger, professor of philosophy and member of the Board of Directors of the Ayn Rand Institute.
What is planned: (1) A display of the controversial Danish cartoons depicting Mohammad. (2) A panel discussion and Q & A on the meaning of the worldwide reaction to the cartoons.
Where: New York University, 60 Washington Square South at NYU Kimmel Center, Eisner and Lubin Auditorium (4th Floor), NY, NY 10012
When: March 29, 2006, 7 to 10 PM

For more on the situation, see NoodleFood, which is covering the fallout closely.

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