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For two decades, the Religious Right has reveled in the successes of their crusade to erode the wall separating church and state. Since America's sharp Left turn in 2008, they have not been so quick to gloat. Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, said, "I'm not grieving over Barack Obama's victory, but over the loss of things that I've fought for, for 35 years," particularly concerning abortion rights and advancement of the so-called homosexual agenda. The Religious Right itself seems to be taking a soul-searching sabbatical, to get back in touch with its deeper mission: to live...

Ah, Thanksgiving. The word conjures up images of turkey dinner, pumpkin pie, and watching football with family and friends. It kicks off the holiday season and is the biggest shopping period of the year. Children are taught that Thanksgiving came about when Pilgrims gave thanks to God for a bountiful harvest. It seems we vaguely mumble thanks for the food on our table, the roof over our head, and how lucky we are in spite of these hard economic times. After all, our lives are so much better than, say, those in Bangladesh. But surely there is something more to...

According to Politico.com, Ayn Rand — the subject of two new biographies, one of which is titled Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right — is “having a mainstream moment,” including among conservatives. (Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina wrote a piece in Newsweek on Rand, saying, “This is a very good time for a Rand resurgence. She’s more relevant than ever.”). I hope the moment passes. Ms. Rand may have been a popular novelist, but her philosophy is deeply problematic and morally indefensible.....

Previous Page The Daily Walk of Shame: Ayn Rand http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/11/04/the-daily-walk-of-shame-ayn-rand.aspx Alyce LomaxNovember 4, 2009This Motley Fool series examines things that just aren't right in the world of finance and investing. Here's what's got us riled today. If something's bugging you, too -- and we suspect it is -- go ahead and unload in the comments section below.Today's subject: Economic philosopher Ayn Rand died in 1982, but her legacy remains very much alive. Unfortunately, some people in positions of power have used parts of her Objectivist teachings to rationalize their own dysfunctional, damaging behavior. I definitely agree with the benefits...

Whenever Ayn Rand met someone new—an acolyte who’d traveled cross-country to study at her feet, an editor hoping to publish her next novel—she would open the conversation with a line that seems destined to go down as one of history’s all-time classic icebreakers: “Tell me your premises.” Once you’d managed to mumble something halfhearted about loving your family, say, or the Golden Rule, Rand would set about systematically exposing all of your logical contradictions, then steer you toward her own inviolable set of premises: that man is a heroic being, achievement is the aim of life, existence exists, A is...

Ayn Rand has drifted in and out of favor, but she may be more relevant today than ever before.In my experience, people who've read Ayn Rand's books either love them or hate them. I'm one of the few who fall somewhere in between. When I first read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged in the 1980s, I was blown away. Those books portray the power of the free individual in ways I had never thought about before. Since then, I've grown more critical of Rand's outlook because it doesn't include the human needs we have for grace, love, faith, or any...

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 lists. The news about this book seems to me to be that any ordinarily sensible head could not possibly take it seriously, and that, apparently, a good many do. Somebody has called it: "Excruciatingly awful." I find...

Daniel H from northern England wrote CMI-UK a really encouraging, spontaneous letter, a testimony that we think will also encourage many readers. To: All my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. … I would like to thank the team at Creation Ministries International (CMI) for their resources, time, love, dedication and zeal for our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ; the Almighty Father and the Holy Spirit, who empowers the church to give glory to the Son and live holy lives and become more fruitful in our walk in the LORD, Amen. Formerly, I was an unbeliever who mocked the...

The number are in, and paleo-capitalist Ayn Rand’s hot again. “Atlas Shrugged” is selling at a pace not seen since the novel was published in 1957. Sales of her other major novel, “The Fountainhead,” are up as well. It’s clear that the recession and a very liberal political leadership have caused the renewed interest. Economist Stephen Moore recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the Obama strategy mirrors the plot of “Atlas Shrugged. “The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you,” Moore said. I recently re-read “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead.”...

Because Earth Day is intended to further the cause of environmentalism—and because environmentalism is an anti-human ideology—on April 22, those who care about human life should not celebrate Earth Day; they should celebrate Exploit-the-Earth Day. Exploiting the Earth—using the raw materials of nature for one’s life-serving purposes—is a basic requirement of human life. Either man takes the Earth’s raw materials—such as trees, petroleum, aluminum, and atoms—and transforms them into the requirements of his life, or he dies. To live, man must produce the goods on which his life depends; he must produce homes, automobiles, computers, electricity, and the like; he...

In Ayn Rand's first television interview, she talks to Mike Wallace about self-interest, the efficiency of free markets, and the dangers of the government welfare state. If I didn't know better, I would almost think that she had traveled backward 50 years from today before she gave this interview - she's that dead-on. Not being an atheist, I don't consider myself an Objectivist. That being the case, I sincerely think I would prefer a government led by atheist Objectivists to a government run by liberal "Christians."

Today's G-20 economic summit conference in London is virtually guarenteed to be a ghastly pro-Big Government orgy -- a veritable Lolapalooza for Leviathan. Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan -- not to mention John Locke and Adam Smith -- are going to be spinning in their graves. Nothing is more certain than that this tour de force of politico-economic stupidity and depravity is going to come out four-square against true free enterprize, capitalism, and laissez-faire. Sadly and almost incomprehensibly, the great conclusion of today's deepest thinkers (sic) is that the "Anglo-Saxon" version of political and economic liberty has proven to be...

February 2, 2009 -- Ayn Rand was born on February 2, 1905; in 2009 we are sorry to be seeing the foresight she had of her future and our present. Is Atlas shrugging? Will Obama be the real-life Mr. Thompson? Join with us to celebrate Ayn Rand's great achievements and the legacy that she left us all! Just look at the influence Rand has had 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,...

Today marks the 104th anniversary of the birth of Ayn Rand, one of the great minds of Twentieth Century thought. Most notable for her works of fiction, such as We the Living, Anthem, The Fountainhead, and her opus magnus Atlas Shrugged, her contribution to the subject of personal freedom and the defense of capitalism are not be overlooked. While her works of fiction encapsulated her personal philosophy it is in her works of nonfiction we find her greatest contributions to the philosophical doctrine of Objectivism, which will forever remain her crowning achievement. Although never truly accepted by the academic philosophers...

http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2009/01/stiglitz200901?printable=ture&currentPage=all

It's not easy being Alan Greenspan these days. As the former Federal Reserve chairman, he urged government regulators to take a light touch while banks like Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers buried themselves—and the economy more generally—under a mountain of debt. Now that his reputation is plummeting faster than the stock market, he's been forced to admit a "flaw" in his hands-off ideology. Of course, things look entirely different to members of "free-market advocacy groups," as they like to be called. One such group is the Ayn Rand Institute, named after the matriarch of the movement, whose antigovernment and anti-regulation...

Who determines what your money is worth? There was a time when the American government did not have control over the nation's money supply. Should this be of concern to you? If you want that $20 bill in your pocket to be worth $20 in a few years, you should pay close attention. At the heart of this issue - and something every citizen needs to understand - is that government-controlled paper money does not fit into the natural order of economics. Through the phenomenon of gradualism, the government was able to replace intrinsically valuable commodities such as gold and...

Well, here we are.David over at NRO has an interesting piece....it's sort of written in code. You have to have a certain level of literacy and political awareness to get his meaning. You PhD's are mostly WAY TOO SMART to understand what he is talking about. But for the regular folks...give it a read. And then weep, and then like so many in the conservative sphere, I'm thinking it's time to start SHRUGGING. Practical ideas for stay at home mothers intent on providing a legitimate future for their children and grandchildren.1. Put in a supply of survival foods and a...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A writer for a libertarian group has written perhaps the most scathing attack on pro-life vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin since the Alaska governor was announced weeks ago as John McCain's running mate. Nicholas Provenzo condemns Palin for the birth of her baby Trig, who has Down syndrome.Provenzo, who writes for the Center for the Advancement of Capitalism, not only bashes her for allowing Trig to be born, but says she should have made the so-called morally justifiable decision to kill him in an abortion.The Center for the Advancement of Capitalism bills itself as a...

Address To The Graduating Class Of The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York - March 6, 1974 Since I am a fiction writer, let us start with a short short story. Suppose that you are an astronaut whose spaceship gets out of control and crashes on an unknown planet. When you regain consciousness and find that you are not hurt badly, the first three questions in or mind would be: Where am I? How can I discover it? What should I do? You see unfamiliar vegetation outside, and there is air to breathe; the sunlight seems paler...

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...

One of the most profound corporate philosophers of modern times was the writer Ayn Rand (1905-1982), whose landmark novel "Atlas Shrugged" is celebrating its 50th anniversary. During her lifetime, Rand's pontifications on individual rights and laissez-faire capitalism, presented under the theory of Objectivism, never touched upon alternative energy issues. Her successors in Objectivism, however, are aware of today's alternative energy industry and believe its heavy reliance on government tax incentives and rebates is hurting the growth and viability of this sector "Government incentive programs for adopting alternative energy are totally corrupt," warns Alex Epstein, business analyst with the Ayn Rand...

Phoenix Objectivists will dedicate their November meetings to the topics of global warming and environmentalism

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...

For intellectual heft, the capacity to spark debate and controversy, the number of young people inspired by her writing over the decades, the endurance of her ideas as the basis of a philosophical movement, the broad influence of those ideas -- and oh yes, for the number of books sold -- she was the most important American author of the post-World War II era. And on this, the week of the 50th anniversary of publication of her greatest work, "Atlas Shrugged," if you happen to disagree with that assertion, Ayn Rand would not be at all bashful in pointing out...

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...

Remember the big question in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged: "Who's John Galt?" In the novel, more and more people ask the question, but no one knows the answer, or even where the question came from. Ironically, the same thing now seems to be happening to Ayn Rand and her philosophy of objectivism. Even leading objectivists don't know the whole answer, but one thing is sure: A quarter century after her death, and half a century after the publication of Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand is back. The autobiography of former Rand acolyte Alan Greenspan, in which he credits her for his...

It has been half a century since the publication of Ayn Rand's magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged. That book like no other has inspired millions of readers; motivated individuals to pursue their own happiness and achieve the best within them; influenced philosophy, politics, ethics and aesthetics; and has created the Objectivist movement. The Atlas Society will celebrate this great achievement with an all-day conference and gala concluding banquet in Washington, D.C. and give you any updates on the planned Atlas movie! Our keynote speakers: *John Stossel, ABC News 20/20, author. Dinner Speaker *Charles Murray, author, philosopher and social scientist. Luncheon Speaker....

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 is taken for granted," said Alex Epstein, a junior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute, "that OPEC, a despicable cartel of tyrannical regimes that coercively limits their oil production to raise prices, can manipulate our energy future on a whim. But such a state of affairs is completely unnecessary; it is a product of U.S. environmental regulations that strangle domestic energy production.

When Ayn Rand wrote about the moral code she originated, the code of rational self-interest, she stressed that morality is a matter of life and death. The right ethics, she held, leads to individual (and societal) survival, prosperity, happiness; the wrong ethics leads to misery, poverty, death. This is true in every field but is especially true in the realm of war, as the present struggle has made clear. We are losing the war on Islamic Totalitarianism because our leadership, political and military, is crippled by the morality of altruism, embodied in the tenets of Just War Theory. The moral...

Egoism is a state of mind where a person values all things in terms of their value to the self. Egoism and selfishness are virtues, in fact the greatest of all virtues, as they enable life. All living beings are selfish. To survive, they must be. Without fulfilling one's basic needs of water, food, or protection, one would cease to exist. Although selfishness is a necessity, many people hold selflessness as their goal in life, and this altruistic thinking is a dominating and corrosive mainstay of today's society. If one were to give all of his money to charity or...

Every Memorial Day, we pay tribute to the American men and women who have died in combat. With speeches and solemn ceremonies, we recognize their courage and valor. But one fact goes unacknowledged in our Memorial Day tributes: all too many of our soldiers have died unnecessarily—because they were sent to fight for a purpose other than America's freedom. The proper purpose of a government is to protect its citizens' lives and freedom against the initiation of force by criminals at home and aggressors abroad. The American government has a sacred responsibility to recognize the individual value of every one...

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...

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,...

A real change in policy for Iraq wouldn't start and end with a collection of vague aspirations. It would start with a clear-eyed, realistic assessment of the facts that explain the chaos in Iraq--the facts that explain why all of the aspirations stated by the Iraq Study Group have not yet been met. The whole ISG report is a spectacular punt. It contains a few broad, vague goals for our policy--and a whole range of specific recommendations for actions that are not in the power of the American government to take. It recommends, for example, that the Iraqi government "accelerate...

Open Letter to Republicans John Lewis There are two things that all Republicans know today: that you lost the mid-term election, and that the loss was a repudiation of President Bush's policies. What you must now figure out is why. Why did Americans vote as they did? What specific policies did they reject? The answer you accept will determine whether you discover a road to victory for your country and your party, or whether you stumble further into defeat. You have heard—and will continue to hear—many explanations for the election results. You have been told, for instance, that Democratic obstruction...

Some people have asked me how an atheist can celebrate Christmas.

OINO True Believers It is easier to believe than to think Almost the entire Objectivist political theory is explicated in Ayn Rand's Capitalism the Unknown Ideal. During a recent discussion, which began with a simple statement I made about that theory (and from which I was promptly banned) a number of mistakes were made that need to be addressed. Here is a little of that discussion. I realize that Regi is no longer allowed to post here, but I'd like to address his last post, because it constitutes a common misconception among anarchists that government, by its nature, requires the...

OINO Death Wish by Reginald Firehammer The Democrats now control the House. Though the claim seems excessive to me, we have been assured we've been saved from a fate worse then death, because all fifteen Peikovian Objectivists have saved our country from becoming a Christian theocracy by voting a straight Democratic ticket. That there might be something worse, and that they have helped make it a reality does not occur to these arrogant academic twits. No, these OINOs (Objectivists in name only) continue to marginalize themselves with their paranoid fear of benign religions while ignoring the only real religious...

OINO's Paranoid Fear of Christians As though to prove the thesis of my recent article, "An Atheist's Defence of Christianity" [also on Free Republic], the usually brilliant and highly respected (at least by me) Leonard Peikoff shocked me with a piece of unobjective illogic that I can hardly believe. From the question and answer piece on his website: "In my judgment, anyone who votes Republican or abstains from voting in this election has no understanding of the practical role of philosophy in man's actual life ..." Why did he say that? Because he believes the US is on the verge...

We all know the basic alternatives that form the familiar "spectrum" of American politics and culture. If a young person is turned off by religion or attracted by the achievements of science, and he wants to embrace a secular outlook, he is told--by both sides of the debate--that his place is with the collectivists and social subjectivists of the left. On the other hand, if he admires the free market and wants America to have a bold, independent national defense, then he is told--again, by both sides--that his natural home is with the religious right. But what if all of...

When: Thursday, August 31, 2006, 6:30 PM Where: Please visit http://aynrand.meetup.com/158/ and sign up for details. There have been location and time changes. Description: This will be our group's August where we will meet to discuss Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. We will listen to a taped lecture and after listening to the it, Ed Carlson will lead the discussion on the issues and points Branden brings up. The time slot has also been moved to up to allow for more discussion after listening to the tape.

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...

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...

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 USC Objectivist Club showed controversial cartoons of Muhammad Leland Ornelaz Posted: 4/12/06 The USC Objectivist Club revealed the Danish Caricatures of the prophet Muhammad Tuesday night at Davidson Conference Center - the images have rarely been seen in the West since inciting violent protests across the Muslim world in February. Jason Hoskins, president of the Objective Club, wrote in an e-mail the club revealed the cartoons because they point out that freedom of speech is absolute except when advocating violence. "To say 'I stand up for free speech, except when it offends my group' is not to defend...

Bridging the gap — I first met Bill Bradford close to 20 years ago at one of John Baden's Liberty Fund conferences held at a Montana dude ranch. Before the conference began, I found Bill sitting at a table with another libertarian he had just met. Bill was saying that his magazine did a regular poll of libertarians that showed there had been a shift from people who considered themselves libertarian primarily for ideological reasons to those who were libertarian primarily for pragmatic reasons. The former were influenced by writers such as Ayn Rand and considered freedom an end in...