Category: Commentaries

The latest issue of The Objectivist Center’s monthly journal, Navigator, is out.
In the cover article “Death by Environmentalism,” Robert Bidinotto explores the philosophical foundations of the environmental movement and argues that the consequences of accepting them are human deaths. Bidinotto writes:

In the same way that so many intellectuals once turned a blind eye to the massacres perpetrated by communists, most intellectuals now evade the three decades of mass destruction and misery perpetrated by environmentalists. Sharing the movement’s underlying philosophic precepts and focusing their gaze upon its proclaimed goals, they remain blissfully ignorant of its wretched consequences, or—when brought to their attention—excuse them as unfortunate “excesses” wrought by a few overly zealous “idealists,” whose hearts are nonetheless in the right place.

On the 40th anniversary of Ayn Rand’s Playboy interview, Don Hauptman shares omissions from the interview and his thoughts from looking over the original manuscripts and galley proofs of this influential interview. In his article “The ‘Lost’ Parts of Ayn Rand’s Playboy Interview,” Hauptman tells what it was like to see these valuable documents:

It was an exciting experience to examine the archive for the first time. What a fascinating collection! I saw Rand’s and the editors’ revisions. I spotted numerous differences from the published version, as well as questions and answers that were omitted in their entirety. Every manuscript page and even the most minor corrections Rand made were initialed “AR.”

See the full issue of Navigator for these and other articles.

Long-time Objectivist scholar Stephen Hicks has reprinted his article “Ayn Rand and Contemporary Business Ethics” on his web site.
This article was originally published in The Journal of Accounting, Ethics, and Public Policy. In the article, Dr. Hicks writes:

My purpose in this essay is to defend the egoism that the business world depends upon. Business is about production and trade. Production is a consequence of individuals? taking responsibility for their lives and exercising rational judgment about their needs and how to fulfill them. Trade is a consequence of productive individuals? willingness to interact cooperatively to mutual benefit. These principles ? responsibility, rationality, cooperation ? are core principles in any healthy moral system, and form the core principles of the business world.

See the full article for further details.

Ed Hudgins, TOC Washington Director, attacks the subtle racism of John Kerry’s appeal to African American voters in his latest Report from the Front and he explains why African American leaders rejected Kerry’s clear pandering to racial politics. Lastly, Hudgins reflects on Ayn Rand’s thoughts on racism:

[T]his episode points to the moral and political bankruptcy of those who, as Ayn Rand wrote in her essay “Racism” over four decades ago, “Instead of fighting against racial discrimination … are demanding that racial discrimination be legalized and enforced… Instead of fighting for equal rights … are demanding special racial privileges.” But she also observed that, “the smallest minority on earth is the individual.” Individuals should not identify first with accidents of birth such as their race or social class, nor should they see these circumstances entitling them to other people’s money. Rather, their self-esteem should come from what they make of themselves through their own efforts to realize their own dreams, whether in the face of old-fashioned Southern-bigot white racism, which thankfully is disappearing from America, or the more subtle but equally dangerous version that is perpetuated by Clinton, Kerry and much of the black establishment.

Read the full article….

The latest issue of The Objectivist Center‘s monthly journal, Navigator, is out.
In his cover article “Fortress Americanism,” Roger Donway examines the dangerous influence of foreign ideas on the founding philosophy of America. Noting two contrasting philosophies of liberty, Donway writes:

Since the dawn of the Enlightenment, liberty in America has rested on the political philosophy of John Locke to a degree unequaled in any other country, even Great Britain. By contrast, liberty in continental Europe has rested on a political philosophy rooted in medieval Christendom, secularized by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and radicalized by romanticism and socialism.

And in the article “Art and Ideas,” TOC Executive Director David Kelley tackles the age-old question of why humans started creating art:

Why did humans begin doing this sort of thing? Unlike tools for hunting, cooking, building, scraping animal skins, and the like, these artifacts have no clear survival value. Why did people whose daily life was a struggle for subsistence and whose life expectancy was probably less than twenty years spend time and energy making two-dimensional images in dark places? Why did they spend time and energy making instruments to produce rhythmic, tonal sounds? Why did they invent stories of things that never happened? What was the purpose of such activities? What needs did they satisfy? Why has art been such a pervasive feature of human life?

See the full issue of Navigator for these and other articles.

In his latest op-ed, Objectivist Center Washington Director Ed Hudgins is critical of the moral message in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.” Arguing for a morality of self-interest over a morality of self-sacrifce, Hudgins writes:

In “The Passion” we see Jesus passively submitting to his own brutal torture and death, even forgiving his tormenters. Many see Jesus’s sacrifice as a moral model: He forfeited his life to save us sinners; we are all responsible for the problems of the world; thus we each should sacrifice ourselves for the good of others. But this is exactly the wrong moral lesson. A morality of life requires the pursuit of happiness and pride in oneself, not self-abnegation and acquiescing in the role of a sacrificial victim. It requires that we judge both others and ourselves, both their actions and our own, by standards of justice, and not offer moral absolution for the most heinous crimes and criminals.
This is the key to the right moral code: We each have a right to our own lives and should act out of self-interest, not self-sacrifice. True self-interest means seeking rational values that preserve and enrich our lives. It means we should each seek the best within us. It means neither sacrificing ourselves to others nor asking others to sacrifice themselves for us. It means engaging in relations with others because we value them and they value us. For example, when we give up time and money to help a sick spouse — someone with whom we share our values, interests, and deepest thought and feeling; someone to whom we bare our souls; someone who we love — we are not sacrificing but, rather, affirming our highest values and self-interest.

Read the full article…

Ed Hudgins, TOC Washington Director, decries the presidential candidates on their hypocrisy in attacking special interests. In his latest Report from the Front, Hudgins writes:

All of this wailing and gnashing of teeth over special interests evades the fundamental premise of a free society, the premise best articulated by Ayn Rand: ?There is no conflict of interests of men who do not desire the unearned, who do not make sacrifices or accept them, who deal with one another as traders, giving value for value.? When governments stick to their proper functions of protecting the life, liberty and property of citizens, no conflicts arise. All individuals who seek rational goals benefit by living under objective laws that preserve their rights.
Special interest groups that benefit at the expense of others are created by government when it uses force to limit the private use of property, private contracts between consenting individuals, or private behavior that does not violate the equal rights of others. In such a system, raw political power rather than production and trade become the coin of the realm. Politicians compete to see who can promise one group more of another group?s money or freedom while denouncing their victims as ?special interests.?

Read the full article…

ARI op-ed columnist (and industrial psychologist) Ed Locke has written an editorial in defense of Wal-Mart stores:

Wal-Mart is one of the most impressive success stories in the history of business.
Founded some 50 years ago as a single five and dime store in a small Arkansas town, it has grown into a world-wide behemoth under the leadership of its brilliant founder, the late Sam Walton, and his able successors.
It is the largest corporation in America in terms of sales, $245 billion. Wal-Mart has over 4,000 stores worldwide, employs 1.3 million people, and serves 100 million customers per week.
It is quite true that Wal-Mart has been successful in outcompeting other stores which sell the same products, such as toys, clothing, and groceries.
But how has it been able to do this? By discovering new ways of using computer systems and other technology to better manage its inventory and costs and reap the benefits of economy of scale.

Read the full article.