All things Atlasphere can be found here, columns, podcasts, interesting anecdotes, and more.
Interesting quote from Forbes‘s three-second interview with the terrific blogger Glenn Reynolds:
To me, money is… nice, but optional. If you do what’s important to you, the money will generally follow, in adequate, if not spectacular, quantities. It’s not worth giving up what’s important to you to make more.
Somehow I can imagine Howard Roark agreeing.
The Baltimore Sun published today an interview with Andrew Bernstein, the author of The Capitalist Manifesto. Bernstein was introduced by the interviewer as follows:
The philosophy professor – author of The Capitalist Manifesto: The Historic, Economic and Philosophic Case for Laissez-Faire, published in September – defends and celebrates capitalism as “the system of freedom.” He is an Objectivist, a follower of the individualistic philosophy created by Ayn Rand, best known for the novels Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.
The interview was concluded with a direct question about Rand and Objectivism:
Q: You say your book is grounded in Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. What is Objectivism?
A: She’s given us for the first time in history a philosophy that stresses reason, the rights of a human being to pursue their own happiness, freedom – these are the ideas that the United States was founded on, but Ayn Rand provided the philosophic foundation and validation.
The interview made a reference to Bernstein’s upcoming speech about Capitalism in Columbia, Maryland on February 18, which was announced on this meta-blog.
Atlasphere member Peter List has started a new web site called Capitalism Gear which sells clothing and other items promoting freedom, and capitalism, and Ayn Rand. Check it out if you’re interested.
Front Range Objectivism will be holding a weekend conference in Denver, Colorado from March 4-5. The topic is “Law, Individual Rights, and the Judician System.”
Scheduled speakers at the the conference include Amy Peikoff and Dana Berliner, among others.
Thanks to Diana Hsieh for the heads-up.
The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies — the first and only peer-reviewed academic journal devoted exclusively to the study of Ayn Rand’s ideas — was just picked up by three of the most prestigious indices in the scholarly community.
This means that their articles will be regularly available to scholars worldwide who conduct searches for topics related to those within the Journal. It’s a major step towards achieving scholarly credibility in academic circles.
Congratulations to Chris Sciabarra and the other editors of the Journal on this huge achievement.
Wheeling Jesuit University is a recent recipient of a grant from BB&T for the teaching of free-market economics. According to the University’s announcement, the grant will “enhance the universityâ??s business curriculum â?? especially the teaching of free-market capitalism.”
According to the director of the MBA program at WJU, Prof. Ed Younkins, the program will include a Conceptual Foundations of Business course focusing on Capitalism, in which Atlas Shrugged will be a required reading, and a course in the philosophies of economics that will include Objectivism, and will use Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand by Leonard Peikoff as one of the texts. A resource center for Capitalism will also be established at the Universityâ??s library, and will include the works of Ayn Rand and other writers in the field.
BB&T provided grants for the teaching of Capitalism at several universities, as we noted before here and here.
The Washington Post has a long retrospective on Greenspan’s tenure as Fed Chairman, titled “Chairman Moved a Nation.” I didn’t read it all, but it appears to be favorable and does include Greenspan’s participation in Ayn Rand’s inner circle in the 1960s.
Cinematical has published a new interview with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who is now getting into film production and taking steps to reform the way films are distributed.
From the interview:
Today, Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh will premiere his new film, a small-town murder mystery called Bubble, in theaters. And on television. And it will arrive on DVD in just a few days. By releasing Bubble on their own, without the blessing of the studio dons, entrepreneur Mark Cuban and his partner Todd Wagner have taken the first step towards rattling Hollywood’s creaky distribution and exhibition foundation.
And later in the interview:
Ryan: I read somewhere that you are fond of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. The last film adaptation of that book was in 1949. Is it time for an updating? Who, off the top of your head, would you cast as Howard Roark and Dominique Francon?
MC: I don’t know who owns the rights, but I would love to see it re-done. I would have to think about who. No one says it has to be anyone we have heard of.
I, for one, would love to see a new movie version of The Fountainhead! The old one had a nice style about it, but it feels rather dated to those of us who enjoy modern production techniques.
See the full interview for more about Cuban’s activities and ambitions as a budding movie producer.
Many admirers of Ayn Rand’s writings are also admirers of the Montessori method of teaching. In that vein, some readers of this site may be interested in a new initiative that would deeply threaten the viability of Montessori schools in California.
It is called the “Reiner Initiative,” and you can learn more about it at stopreiner.org:
Hollywood actor/director Rob Reiner wants to change California’s constitution to create a new $2.4 billion government-run preschool program, funded by a massive tax hike.
In the subscribers-only article “Meathead Is at It Again,” the Wall Street Journal had this to say on the subject:
Celebrities with a social conscience are a growing breed in Hollywood. But it would be nice if they’d stick to whales and landmines and leave our children alone.
Unfortunately, California parents have no such luck.
Movie-director-turned-child-advocate Rob Reiner recently acquired a million signatures to put his Preschool for All initiative on the California ballot next June, his second attempt to launch a “universal” preschool program. The initiative would impose a 1.7% income tax on couples making over $800,000 a year ($400,000 for individuals) to offer three hours of free preschool for all the state’s 4-year-olds.
This soak-the-rich scheme would put $2.3 billion into the state’s coffers that Mr. Reiner might himself control if he unseats Arnold Schwarzenegger as the next governor of California. (The gubernatorial ambitions of Mr. Reiner — who once played Meathead alongside Archie Bunker in “All in the Family” — are an open secret in the Golden State).
The stopreiner.org web site is a good place to start learning more.
If you care about the Montessori method, please take time to bring this to the attention of your friends and colleagues.
BB&T Stands Up For Rights
by David Kelley, Founder and Senior Fellow
The Objectivist Center & Atlas Society
BB&T, a major bank with branches through the Southeast, has taken a stand for private property and individual rights, in reaction to the Supreme Court’s Kelo decision on eminent domain last June. The corporation announced that “it will not lend to commercial developers that plan to build condominiums, shopping malls and other private projects on land taken from private citizens by government entities using eminent domain.”
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Allison explained the policy as a matter of principle:
“The idea that a citizen’s property can be taken by the government solely for private use is extremely misguided, in fact it’s just plain wrong. One of the most basic rights of every citizen is to keep what they own. As an institution dedicated to helping our clients achieve economic success and financial security, we won’t help any entity or company that would undermine that mission and threaten the hard- earned American dream of property ownership.”
W. Kendall Chalk, Senior Executive Vice President, told reporters that the issue arose when the bank recently rejected a loan request for a project relying on eminent domain, but that such cases are unusual; the new policy would have only an “insignificant” effect on BB&T’s loan business. “Still,” he said, “BB&T is sympathetic to concerns about eminent domain expressed by some clients.” The bank wants to show government officials its “opposition to the encroachment on private property rights.” (Reuters)
The financial press speculated about the bank’s motives. Was it a practical judgment that a small loss of business would be outweighed by taking a popular stand (and avoiding the legal risks of eminent domain)? Or was it a matter of principles and values?
Those familiar with Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism will recognize this as a false dichotomy- and so does BB&T. According to an online statement,
“Since we build on the facts of reality and our ability to reason, we are capable of achieving both success and happiness.
“Because we have developed our principles logically, based on reality, we will always act consistently with our principles. Regardless of the short-term benefits, acting inconsistently with our principles is to our long- term detriment. We do not, therefore, believe in compromising our principles in any situation. Principles provide carefully thought-out concepts which will lead to our long-term success and happiness. Violating our principles will always lead to failure. BB&T is an organization of the highest integrity.”
Allison has often spoken publicly about his admiration for Ayn Rand and the influence of Objectivism on the principles by which the business operates. The impact is clear in BB&T’s of statement of corporate philosophy, which is unusually thoughtful, integrated, and clearly explained.
We salute Allison and his colleagues. If the term “corporate social responsibility” can be given a legitimate, non-collectivism meaning, a principled public stand for individual rights is social responsibility of the highest order.
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