Free Republic

My 17 year old Grandson is looking for A university that he can double major in philosophy and physics. Thus far he has visited Wheaton, University of Dallas and North Texas State. Naturally he likes all of them but it would be much easier on the family if he would pick North Texas State. He lives in Prosper, Texas not that far away but far enough that he would not stay at home. I need help convincing him to select NTU. Please give me some ammunition. SF

Leftist ideology may be gaining ground in Latin America. But it will never set foot on the manicured lawns of Francisco Marroquin University. For nearly 40 years, this private college has been a citadel of laissez-faire economics. Here, banners quoting "The Wealth of Nations" author Adam Smith -- he of the powdered wig and invisible hand -- flutter over the campus food court. Every undergraduate, regardless of major, must study market economics and the philosophy of individual rights embraced by the U.S. founding fathers, including "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." A sculpture commemorating Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" is...

America faces severe housing, financial, energy, food, unemployment and recessionary shocks. But legislators, bureaucrats and presidential candidates seem intent on making them worse, by imposing onerous climate change rules and restricting fossil fuel development and use. Even the White House now wants "reasonable and responsible" legislation, to avert a "regulatory nightmare" from overlapping state and federal climate rules. It falsely assumes costly federal regulations, emission mandates and hidden cap-and-trade taxes would be preferable. Earth warmed a degree over the last quarter-century, as it emerged further from the Little Ice Age, and humans may have played a role. However, hundreds of...

DAKAR (Reuters) - African nations should follow Venezuela's lead and nationalize their energy and mining sectors to secure the resources to fight poverty, Venezuela's deputy foreign minister for Africa said on Friday. Reinaldo Bolivar, on a visit to Senegal, said his oil-rich South American nation would host a summit of African and South American nations in November to discuss cooperation ranging from energy to banking between the two regions. African nations, which produce 15 percent of the world's oil, could learn from aspects of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's nine-year-old leftist revolution, Bolivar said. "Africa's oil is plundered by multinationals: they...

As a college student in Chapel Hill, John Allison stumbled across a collection of essays by Ayn Rand and was hooked by her philosophy of self-interest and limited government. As he rose over the decades to chief executive of BB&T, one of the country's leading regional banks, Rand remained his muse. He's trying to replicate that encounter through the charitable arm of his Winston-Salem-based company, which since 1999 has awarded more than $28 million to 27 colleges to support the study of capitalism from a moral perspective. But on at least 17 of those campuses, including UNC Charlotte, N.C. State...

After years of delays, Ayn Rand's famous novel "Atlas Shrugged" is being made into a feature film starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, according to media reports. Lionsgate Films bought the rights to the film version of the 1957 novel, considered in many polls to be one of the most influential books in history. According to Hollywood trade paper Variety, the Mr. And Mrs. Smith co-stars, who are both fans of the Russian novelist, would play the lead roles of Dagny Taggart and John Gault. The story revolves around the economic collapse of the United States sometime in the future...

Even more relevant than when she said it in 1961. Substitute "Islamists" for "Communists" Hopefully, we will see in our lifetimes a realignment of the GOP in favor of reason and individual rights and away from faith and tradition. Religion is a private matter. With the respective candidacies of Giuliani and Huckabee the split has become even more glaring: the pro-freedom Giuliani (pro-choice, socially liberal, capitalist, anti-regulation- who respects profit and achievement) vs the christian socialist Huckabee (pro-tradition, anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-reason, anti-capitalist, pro-regulation altruist) Interestingly, in Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged (celebrating 50 years in publication) the President is the...

Public service employees -- federal workers, soldiers, nurses, firefighters and others -- will have an opportunity to qualify for student loan forgiveness under a law signed by President Bush yesterday. The law forgives outstanding education debt for public service employees who have made 10 years of monthly payments on their loans while serving full-time in government, public education or other positions related to public service.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of the novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. As I write, the book ranks Number 237 at amazon.com. That is phenomenal for a 1,200-page novel that contains philosophical speeches, one of which stretches to 90 uninterrupted pages. The book has sold over 6 million copies. In one survey from 16 years ago, Atlas Shrugged was ranked second only to the Bible as the book that influenced people most. My Ayn Rand craze happened in the late '70s when I was a professor of Biblical Studies at Bethel College. I read most...

A Freestar Media/Zogby poll found that 8.1 percent of American adults have read the book Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. The poll of 1,239 adults was conducted by Zogby International between October 10 and October 14, 2007 at the request of Freestar Media, LLC. Among the poll's 80 questions was "Have you ever read the book Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand?". The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. The full poll can be read at: http://www.freestarmedia.com

Two important events occurred in October 1957. First, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, named Sputnik, into orbit, causing many to speculate the West was losing to the superior technology and, possibly, inevitable ideology of communism. Second, the novel "Atlas Shrugged" was published. Its author, Ayn Rand, had fled the tyranny of Soviet communism in 1926 for freedom in the West. Today communism in Russia and its satellite countries is dead. "Atlas" and Miss Rand's other works continue to sell millions of copies. A 1992 Library of Congress survey found it to be the most influential book in...

The famous question remains pertinent a half-century later: "Who is John Galt?" In 1957, Ayn Rand introduced a generation of readers to Galt, the reclusive engineer whose radical pro-capitalist stance brings a socialist government to its knees. Mixing romance, mystery, science fiction and philosophy, "Atlas Shrugged" has since fascinated millions with its epic tale of railroad heiress Dagny Taggart, who struggles against greedy union bosses, incompetent management and corrupt bureaucrats until her encounter with the refugees of "Galt's Gulch" enlightens her to the true nature of the "anti-life" forces that oppose the entrepreneurial spirit. The novel's 50th anniversary will be...

The Historic Significance of Atlas ShruggedBy Robert Tracinski October 10 is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Ayn Rand's classic novel Atlas Shrugged, so in the coming week we can expect to see a flurry of articles about the novel—many of which will, unfortunately, offer highly inaccurate descriptions of its meaning and significance.That's a shame, because Atlas Shrugged is a novel that everyone ought to discover and grapple with, because it succeeds at something too few artists and intellectuals have had the courage to do.The purpose of art and philosophy is to show us truths about human nature, about...

One of the most influential business books ever written is a 1,200-page novel published 50 years ago, on Oct. 12, 1957. It is still drawing readers; it ranks 388th on Amazon.com’s best-seller list. (“Winning,” by John F. Welch Jr., at a breezy 384 pages, is No. 1,431.) The book is “Atlas Shrugged,” Ayn Rand’s glorification of the right of individuals to live entirely for their own interest. For years, Rand’s message was attacked by intellectuals whom her circle labeled “do-gooders,” who argued that individuals should also work in the service of others. Her book was dismissed as an homage to...

New York, NY (CNS) - Lionsgate has signed "House of Sand and Fog" director Vadim Perelman to direct the film adaptation of Ayn Rand's iconic novel "Atlas Shrugged." According to trade magazine Variety, Perelman will also rewrite a draft of the script penned by "Braveheart" writer Randall Wallace. The latter will remain involved with the project. The film follows, Dagny Taggart, a railroad executive to be played by Angelina Jolie, who strives to keep her family-owned trans-continental railroad company alive amidst worldwide strike involving industrialists and thinkers. Howard and Karen Baldwin ("Ray"), who hold the rights to Rand's most ambitious...

It looks like the latest push to get a film version of Atlas Shrugged into theaters was another false start. Angelina Jolie, a fan of the renowned novel, was set to star in the role of the main heroine -- a tenacious and strong-willed railroad executive. The book was adapted into screenplay form by Randall Wallace (Braveheart), and production was set to begin this year. Now, however, Jolie tells Cinematical.com that work on the movie will be put on hold. "We all feel that it's one of those projects where if you can't do it right, you really can't touch...

Business execs arrested for refusing to cut prices By Angus Shaw ASSOCIATED PRESS July 9, 2007 HARARE, Zimbabwe – Police arrested 16 more business leaders in a crackdown on those suspected of violating the government's order to slash prices by 50 percent, the official media reported yesterday. The mandated price cuts ordered more than two weeks ago are a desperate attempt to confront inflation that has spun out of control during Zimbabwe's economic crisis. The falling prices have caused stampedes, panic buying and near-riots. Among those arrested in the latest sweep were the directors of Edgars, a leading clothing and...

Editor’s Note: Sen. Jeff Sessions (R.-Ala.) offered a devastating analysis on the Senate immigration bill in a speech delivered on the Senate floor on May 23. Sessions pointed to shocking elements of the bill that were hidden deep in its text. These include, for example, that the employers of illegal aliens would be given an amnesty for cheating on their taxes, and that under the terms of the law the government would for all practical purposes have to take an illegal alien’s word for it that he has been in the country illegally long enough to qualify for an amnesty....

Uh-oh. Don’t look now, but somebody who wants to be President forgot to take their medicine. It remains uncertain as to whether the failure to follow the prescription will be politically costly. But the Senator formerly known as Hillary Rodham Clinton seems to be caught in another little conflict, and this one could be a problem with, shall we say, “the faithful.” By “the faithful,” I mean the left-wing contingency within the Democratic Party that long ago abandoned any historic, western understanding of the relationship between the human person and the earth (an understanding that is so commonplace for most...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened Thursday to nationalize the country's largest steel company and private banks unless they make national interests a priority. In a nationally televised speech, the leftist president said he would nationalize steel maker Sidor if it continued to sell its products abroad instead of selling them to domestic industries, particularly in the oil sector.He also announced plans for a law to force the private banking sector to give top priority to the financing of domestic companies.If the banks flout the law, he warned, "they should leave."The outspoken champion of "21st century socialism" and leader of the...

When Ayn Rand finished writing "Atlas Shrugged" 50 years ago this month, she set off an intellectual shock wave that is still felt today. It's credited for helping to halt the communist tide and ushering in the currents of capitalism. Many readers say it transformed their lives. A 1991 poll rated it the second-most influential book (after the Bible) for Americans. At one level, "Atlas Shrugged" is a steamy soap opera fused into a page- turning political thriller. At nearly 1,200 pages, it has to be. But the epic account of capitalist heroes versus collectivist villains is merely the vehicle...

Ayn Rand is one of the most controversial writers in modern American literature, known for her tireless advocacy of the right to selfishness and her hatred of big government. She has been derided and loved in equal measure and her books have sold millions of copies, attracting followers as diverse as banker Alan Greenspan, President Ronald Reagan and architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Her most famous book, Atlas Shrugged, has long been a target of Hollywood producers and attracted such big names as Faye Dunaway, Raquel Welch and Sharon Stone. But each project collapsed in the face of turning a 1,200-page...

February 2, 2007 -- Ayn Rand was born on February 2, 1905; in 2007 we celebrate her great achievements and the legacy that she left us all! Rand has had a significant influence on today's world: Her strong moral defense of freedom and capitalism inspired many who have fought over the years for limited government, individual liberty and free markets. Her great novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, show the terrible consequences of the wrong philosophy on both individuals and societies and present the vision of happy, joyous lives in a benevolent society that is the consequence of human achievement,...

Back in the 1970s, Albert S. Ruddy, the producer of "The Godfather," first approached Ayn Rand to make a movie of her novel "Atlas Shrugged." But Rand, who had fled the Soviet Union and gone on to inspire capitalists and egoists everywhere, worried aloud, apparently in all seriousness, that the Soviets might try to take over Paramount to block the project.

Spaceship Earth,” after its unveiling in October at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Ga. An artist who hoped to stir debate over global warming with his 175-ton quartzite and bronze sculpture “Spaceship Earth” is instead struggling to solve the mystery of its spectacular crash at Kennesaw State University last week. Andy Sharp/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via Associated Press John Kirtley, a Kennesaw State employee, looking over the rubble after the sculpture’s collapse. Questions abound over whether vandals destroyed the sculpture, made by a Finnish-born artist known as Eino, or whether a combination of substandard adhesive and rain caused it to crumble in...

RUSSELS, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Microsoft filed revised documents with the European Commission on Thursday aimed at complying with a landmark antitrust decision from 2004, the European Commission said. The Commission ruled in 2004 that Microsoft had abused its dominant position in the market because Windows, used by more than 95 percent of the world's personal computers, allowed too little interoperability for other software makers. The Commission's decision, it recalled, required Microsoft to "disclose and license complete and accurate interface documentation which would allow non-Microsoft work group servers to achieve full interoperability with Windows PCs and servers."

Lefties commonly say there is something wrong with Rand’s use of fiction as a vehicle for Objectivist beliefs. In a 1957 review of ‘Atlas Shrugged’, Whittaker Chambers, who had no idea how successful Atlas Shrugged would be, said, “The mischief here is that the author, dodging into fiction, nevertheless counts on your reading it as political reality.” Lefties have been using that same approach ever since. Using fiction is ‘mischief’ and ‘dodging’. Rand was trying to make an otherwise dull subject interesting, and she also wanted to show what might happen in a world where businessmen really did go on...

...The news about this book seems to me to be that any ordinarily sensible head could possibly take it seriously, and that apparently, a good many do. Somebody has called it: "Excruciatingly awful." I find it a remarkably silly book. It is certainly a bumptious one. Its story is preposterous. It reports the final stages of a final conflict (locale: chiefly the United States, some indefinite years hence) between the harried ranks of free enterprise and the "looters." These are proponents of proscriptive taxes. Government ownership, Labor, etc. etc. The mischief here is that the author, dodging into fiction, nevertheless...

That rumour from the other month is now confirmed, Angelina Jolie is set to star in the film adaptation of Ayn Rand's iconic tome "Atlas Shrugged" for Lionsgate reports Variety. Jolie, a longtime fan of Rand's, was eager to play the role of Dagney Taggart, the most powerful female character in any of Rand's books. A movie version of the Russian-born author's novel, which runs more than 1,100 pages, has been long in the making. For years, producer Al Ruddy tried to bring "Atlas Shrugged" to the bigscreen, attracting the interest of Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway along...

Karen and Howard Baldwin spoke at The Atlas Society's recent Summer Seminar about plans for their film adaptation of Atlas Shrugged. The principals in Baldwin Entertainment Group (BEG), producer of the 2004 Oscar-winning "Ray," appeared in a 90 minute panel session on July 7 with TAS board member John Aglialoro, who holds the screen rights to the Ayn Rand novel and will be co-executive producer with Howard Baldwin, the company’s president and CEO. Baldwin and Aglialoro confirmed earlier reports that BEG will collaborate with Lionsgate, the studio that produced last year’s Oscar winner, "Crash”; the final contract was signed just...

Happiness is not to be achieved at the command of emotional whims. Happiness is not the satisfaction of whatever irrational wishes you might blindly attempt to indulge. Happiness is a state of non-contradictory joy—a joy without penalty or guilt, a joy that does not clash with any of your values and does not work for your own destruction, not the joy of escaping from your mind, but of using your mind's fullest power, not the joy of faking reality, but of achieving values that are real, not the joy of a drunkard, but of a producer. Happiness is possible only...

St. Paul's chief says the directive is to provide a standard to measure performance — not fill city coffers. But the union and drivers aren't happy. Let the meter expire, even for a minute or two, and there's a parking officer issuing a ticket. Park too close to a driveway or ignore a permit-only sign and again it's ticket time. If it seems like St. Paul aggressively enforces parking meters and rules, this might help explain why: To make sure the city's enforcement officers are working hard, police want each agent to write tickets for 55 violations a day. Parking...

Frat boys and self-centered individualists of the world rejoice -- Lionsgate is moving forward on a big screen adaptation of Ayn Rand's heaviest book. According to Variety, "Ray" producers Howard and Karen Baldwin believe they've cracked the challenge of turning the 1,100 page novel "Atlas Shrugged" into a manageable feature. Lionsgate has acquired worldwide distribution. Written in 1957, "Atlas Shrugged" is considered Rand's masterpiece by people who believe that the Russian-born author had a masterpiece (in fairness, most frat boys usually stop after Rand's kiddie lit effort "The Fountainhead"). The weighty tome focuses on railroad executive Dagny Taggart, who feels...

by Edward Hudgins Norway recently lost its wealthiest citizen. No, he didn't die. Rather, he left or, to be more accurate, was driven out of the country for the sin of wanting to remain wealthy. John Fredriksen has made a fortune in shipping and aqua-business. But in past years he's spent less and less time in his homeland in order to avoid its confiscatory taxes. Recently the Norwegian government decreed that the only way to avoid those taxes was for citizens -- Fredriksen was the target -- to spend no more than 90 days a year in the country. In...

[The owner of the "Atlas" movie rights and executive producer is an Atlas Society/Objectivist Center Trustee. So here's the inside scoop!] The effort to film Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged has just taken a big step forward. Daily Variety reports a leaked story that Lionsgate, the independent studio whose movie "Crash" recently won the Oscar for best picture, will be distributing the film. We've confirmed today that a deal is going forward under which Lionsgate will take an option to finance and distribute the film. The executive producers are John Aglialoro, a Trustee of The Atlas Society and The Objectivist Center,...

Ayn Rand's most ambitious novel may finally be brought to the bigscreen after years of false starts. Lionsgate has picked up worldwide distribution rights to "Atlas Shrugged" from Howard and Karen Baldwin ("Ray"), who will produce with John Aglialoro. As for stars, book provides an ideal role for an actress in lead character Dagny Taggart, so it's not a stretch to assume Rand enthusiast Angelina Jolie's name has been brought up. Brad Pitt, also a fan, is rumored to be among the names suggested for lead male character John Galt. "Atlas Shrugged," which runs more than 1,100 pages, has faced...

Variety reports: Lionsgate has picked up worldwide distribution rights to “Atlas Shrugged” from Howard and Karen Baldwin (Ray), who will produce with John Aglialoro. As for stars, book provides an ideal role for an actress in lead character Dagny Taggart, so it’s not a stretch to assume Rand enthusiast Angelina Jolie’s name has been brought up. Brad Pitt, also a fan, is rumored to be among the names suggested for lead male character John Galt.

Ayn Rand's most ambitious novel may finally be brought to the bigscreen after years of false starts. Lionsgate has picked up worldwide distribution rights to "Atlas Shrugged" from Howard and Karen Baldwin ("Ray"), who will produce with John Aglialoro. Angelina Jolie, a longtime devotee of Rand's, and Brad Pitt, also a fan, are rumored to be circling the leading roles of Dagny Taggart and John Galt. "Atlas Shrugged," which runs more than 1,100 pages, has faced a lengthy and circuitous journey to a film adaptation. The Russian-born author's seminal tome, published in 1957, revolves around the economic collapse of the...

The New Orleans Disaster and the Line on 'John Galt' September 2, 2005 "...It was supposed to be a light column about this and that, with a brief update on a movie adaptation of my favorite novel, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged..."

Atlas Shrugged: A Model for Individualist Revolution by Reginald Firehammer Revolution is not the theme of Atlas Shrugged, the theme is rebellion, a rebellion of men against the chains of slavery, chains they had themselves made and given to their masters. The result of that rebellion is a revolution, but revolution is not the purpose of the rebellion. Rebels and RevolutionsThere are two kinds of revolution, political, in which one kind of government is replaced with another kind, such as the American or Bolshevik Revolution, and cultural/economic, in which some idea or discovery makes sweeping changes in the economy...

Ayn Rand at 100: The Moral Defense of Freedom By Edward Hudgins ehudgins@objectivistcenter.org She was born on February 2, 1905, in Russia. At the age of nine she decided she wanted to be a writer. As a teenager she lived through the horrors of the communist revolution, and at age twenty-one she made her way to the United States. She learned English and became a best-selling author; her books still sell hundreds of thousands of copies a year and in 1991, over a decade after her death, a Library of Congress survey found that her magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged, was...

Born 100 years ago in Holy Mother Russia and educated under the Soviets, Ayn Rand became the quintessential American writer and philosopher, upholding the supreme value of the individual's life on Earth. She herself led a rags-to-riches life, wrote best-selling novels that championed individualism and developed a philosophy of reason that validates the American spirit of achievement and independence. The story of Ayn Rand's life is, in the words of the Oscar-nominated documentary "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life," a life more compelling than fiction. Born Feb. 2, 1905, she wrote her first fiction at age 8 when she also...

EDITOR'S NOTE: 2005 marks the fiftieth anniversary of National Reviewpos. In celebration, NRO will be digging into the NR archives throughout the year. This piece by Whittaker Chambers appeared in the December 28, 1957, issue of NR. Several years ago, Miss Ayn Rand wrote The Fountainhead. Despite a generally poor press, it is said to have sold some four hundred thousand copies. Thus, it became a wonder of the book trade of a kind that publishers dream about after taxes. So Atlas Shrugged had a first printing of one hundred thousand copies. It appears to be slowly climbing the best-seller...

From each according to his need - Mike S. Adams (archive) January 4, 2005 Dear absent student: I received your recent email asking to be excused from the first two days of class. I am sorry that your mother bought your plane ticket before consulting the schedule for the semester. That happens a lot. In fact, it happens to at least one of my students every semester. But, please don’t worry. I am going to handle your situation under a new policy I have initiated for the coming semester. Under my new policy, students with special needs will be able...

For those who are unfamiliar, Atlas Shrugged is a novel about a leftwing virus that grinds the world's greatest country to a halt. It has great application to the world we find ourselves in today. Reflecting on the recent very public suicide of the college student from Georgia, I was reminded of a passage in the book that is a strikingly relevant, though not a perfect analogy. In the novel, a young leftist has had his eyes opened, but then is shot in a violent uprising at a steel magnate's (Rearden) plant. In real life as well as the novel,...

The Atlas Society received a note just two days ago from the Baldwin Entertainment Group. This is the company that is now producing the Atlas Shrugged movie (Howard Baldwin founded the company after the shakeup at Crusader). This is what he says: "...everything is on track and [the movie] hasn’t been held up one bit.... I assure you that this will be a big movie and IT WILL GET MADE." I will keep you posted on the progress--whenever there is progress to report! Cheers, Patrick Stephens Webmaster, The Atlas Society

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Many Indiana obstetricians say medical malpractice insurance costs are becoming too high to stay in business, even though Indiana has among the lowest rates in the nation. Dr. Lynda Smirz stopped delivering babies this month because she could not afford the increase in medical malpractice insurance costs. A state fund created to keep malpractice rates low was almost depleted before the state Department of Insurance ordered a 73 percent increase for all physicians. Jim McIntire, an attorney for the state medical association, says some doctors were on such tight budgets that the increase pushed them over the edge.

Upon reading and rereading Atlas Shrugged and The Lord of the Rings, I find comparison of the two tempting, for both of these novels display firm and compelling visions regarding personal philosophy and the rejection of Evil. One of the most unique aspects of Atlas Shrugged is its rational definition of Good and Evil based on the principles of Objectivism. Good is that which is free, independent, thinking, and productive. Evil is that which attempts to feed upon others through false premises. But fundamentally Good is strong and Evil is weak, for Evil can only perpetuate itself through the consent...

  "Atlas Shrugged" in the Business School —by Edward W. YounkinsNovels, as well as plays and films, are excellent teaching tools for communicating ideas to students. A well-constructed and compelling story can engage students and make a subject more vital to them. Fiction provides students with interesting material that does not seem like hard work. The result is that novels tend to have greater teaching power and more appeal to students than articles, textbooks, or case studies. Because students are apt to enjoy reading fiction, it is likely that they may grasp ideas quicker and better than when more conventional...

For any man today who thinks and desires the capacity to unrestrictedly apply the conclusions of his mind, the scope of his current externally-imposed confinement is colossal and multifaceted. The government of this country has usurped almost every sphere of human activity, shackling creative entrepreneurial innovators through “antitrust” laws, which restrict the amount of market share a business may through its owners’ skill and the quality of its product acquire. It has erected barriers to the advancement of thoughtful freethinkers by the imposition of affirmative action initiatives that prevent many of them from acquiring education and jobs for faults not...