Category: The Atlasphere

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

Five Ayn Rand Essay Semifinalists in One Class

Posted on by Marshall Sontag

The Albany, NY Times Union recently published an article about five students from the same class being chosen as semifinalists in the Ayn Rand Institute’s annual essay contest:

Marc Sullivan shrugged when asked how five of his students at Mohonasen High School ended up as semifinalists in an Ayn Rand essay contest with more than 14,000 entrants across the country. He attributed their success to having them do several rewrites and critiquing one another’s work.

While the teacher misrepresents Ayn Rand’s philosophy as “uber-libertarianism” and opposed to cooperative efforts, five semifinalists from one class is quite an accomplishment. See the full article to read more about them.
According to ARI’s list of 2003 Fountainhead Winners, one of the students went on to become a finalist.

Andrew Bernstein Lecture in NYC Central Park

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

From Atlasphere member Robert Begley:
On September 18, Dr. Andrew Bernstein will give a lecture in New York City’s Central Park. The title of his talk is “Global Capitalism” and admission is $20.
This will be part of the NY Heroes Society’s first ever picnic/lecture event in Central Park. The picnic will be held at Mineral Springs, just northeast of the concession stand ? which is at the northern end of Sheep Meadow (nearest entrance is W.67th St, Tavern on the Green). Please bring your own food and beverage. The picnic goes from 2 to 6 pm, with Dr. Bernstein’s talk at 4 pm.
If you would like to attend, rsvp to info@nyheroes.org.
Rain date: Sunday, September 19.
Continue reading “Andrew Bernstein Lecture in NYC Central Park”

The Real Meaning of Labor Day

Posted on by Heather Wagenhals

The Joplin Globe has printed a terrific Labor Day column by ARI columnist Fredric Hamber, which begins:

It is fitting that the most productive nation on earth should have a holiday to honor its work. The high standard of living that Americans enjoy is hard-earned and well-deserved. But the term “Labor Day” is a misnomer. What we should celebrate is not sweat and toil, but the power of man’s mind to reason, invent and create.
Several centuries ago, providing the basic necessities for one’s survival was a matter of daily drudgery for most people. But Americans today enjoy conveniences undreamed of by medieval kings. Every day brings some new useful household gadget, or a new software system to increase our productivity, or a breakthrough in biotechnology.
So, it is worth asking: Why do Americans have no unique holiday to celebrate the creators, inventors, and entrepreneurs who have made all of this wealth possible – the men of the mind?

Read the full article.
Our own Craig Ceely has also published a recent column about Labor Day.

Saaket Sethi, Architect

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

An article today’s India Express profiles architect Saaket Sethi, who is quite a fan of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead:

Mumbai, September 1: WHEN 11-year-old Saaket Sethi was asked to draw a sketch for his grandfather, he ended up doodling an entire airport! “The family was quite mystified. But then, I always had a passion for drawing grand structures,” says this new architect on the block. […]
And like all good architects has he memorised Ayn Rand�s The Fountainhead? “Every architect worth his salt has read the book. It’s amazing how the author sexualises architecture. And Roark’s passion is something that every architect should feel for his creation,” he declares with Roark-like fire in his eyes.

See the full article for further information.
Ayn Rand is remarkably popular in India. For more examples of her influence in India, see our postings on India’s first woman astronaut, the Fountainhead primary school, the Language of Liberty Summer Camp, and India’s richest woman.

ARI: The Morality of War

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

The Ayn Rand Institute has announced a talk and Q & A on the life-and-death consequences of the United States’ moral premises. The event will take place on September 9, 2004 at the Hyat Regency Irvine in Irvine, California. The press release describes the talk:

In this passionately reasoned lecture, Dr. Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute illustrates how “just-war” theory has been undercutting America’s success in the war, and why it is necessarily self-destructive. Dr. Brook argues for an alternative morality of war, one that justly demands the total, ruthless eradication of the enemy, and lasting victory. Drawing upon Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism, he advocates a war based on the principles of rational self-interest.

View the PDF flyer.

Defending Price-Gouging

Posted on by Shawn Klein

The St. Petersburg Times quoted Edward Hudgins, the Washington Director for The Objectivist Center, defending price gouging during emergencies.
“Gouging gets a bad rap, economists argue” is mainly focused on the economic arguments against anti-gouging laws, reporting the views of many economists who argue that these laws lead to shortages and delays in recover. But it also includes several advocates of a moral defense of free-markets. Hudgins is quoted as asking “Why should one hurricane victim by prevented from paying more money for better or faster service, just because another hurricane victim can’t or won’t”?
Read the full article.

Fountainhead Movie in San Fran

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Live in San Francisco? If you’ve not seen the movie version of The Fountainhead before, or even if you have, you can watch it this Wednesday at the San Francisco Public Library:

Architecture and the City Film Series
The San Francisco Public Library presents a special screening of “The Fountainhead,” a cult classic based on Ayn Rand’s best-selling book about controversial downtown architect Howard Roark, who designed Manhattan’s Wynand Building.
3 p.m. Wednesday at the San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin St., San Francisco. Admission is free. Call (415) 557-4400 or visit www.sfpl.org.

'Explaining Postmodernism' by Stephen Hicks

Posted on by Shawn Klein

Objectivist scholar Stephen Hicks has published his long-awaited book on the intellectual causes of postmodernism. And it was well-worth the wait.
Explaining Postmodernism clearly presents the history of the ideas that gave rise to the contemporary movement characterised by nihilism, skepticism, and relativism.
The primary thesis of Dr. Hicks’ book is that “the failure of epistemology made postmodernism possible, and the failure of socialism made postmodernism necessary.” The history of modern epistemology has, by and large, failed at defending reason as one’s means of knowing the world. Similarly, the failure of socialism, both economically and morally, lead to, as Hicks calls it, a “crisis of faith” among many in the Left.
In order to maintain their belief in the superiority of socialism over capitalism, many theorists used the failures of epistemology to eschew reason, reality, and truth. One now no longer had to deal with the evidence that shows the superiority of capitalism. Thus, we ended up with the nihilistic, skeptical, and relativistic Postmodernism dominating much of academia and the political left.
I highly recommend Explaining Postmodernism to anyone ? philosopher or not ? with an interest in the history of ideas or an interest in understanding postmodernism. It is available at many bookstores and at Amazon.com.

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