Free Republic

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...

Selfishness Has Its Value to the EconomyBy Peter Brown Self-interest gets a bad rap these days. It is both the driving principle of capitalism and a fact of human nature. And, it explains so much about many Americans' ambivalence toward Wal-Mart. A survey of attitudes toward the nation's largest retailer among New Yorkers, who might be expected to be among the least supportive of the firm and its practices, explains much about that love/hate relationship. They don't like the company and wish it were operated differently. But in a New York minute they are on their way to shop there....

If the justice is so fond of eminent domain, say protesters, let's seize his ancestral property and develop a charming bed and breakfast on it.Weare, New HampshireLOGAN DARROW CLEMENTS doesn't seem like the sort of fellow who'd go around stealing the houses of Supreme Court justices. He's mild mannered and laughs easily, often at his own jokes. Physically he resembles a less creepy Ralph Reed: He looks like a 36-year-old altar boy whose mom made him scrub up and dress for dinner. An Ayn Rand devotee, he heads an objectivist discussion group back home in Los Angeles. A zippy evening...

The American legal system is in real trouble. Many solutions have been offered-limitations on tort damage awards, restrictions of intellectual property rights, limits on class action suits, increases and decreases in various criminal penalties, and even changes in the Senate confirmation procedure for Supreme Court Justices. Many of the reforms sought do not address the fundamental issues involved, and therefore will ultimately fail. But how does one decide whether a particular reform is appropriate? To establish and preserve a free society, citizens must recognize, as the foundation of that society, the principle of individual rights. Rights are "the concept that...

... Third, complexity does not imply “design.” One of Adam Smith’s most powerful insights, developed further by Friedrich Hayek, is that incredible complexity can emerge in society without a designer or planner, through “spontaneous order.” Hayek showed how in a free market the complex processes of producing and distributing goods and services to millions of individuals do not require socialist planners. Rather, individuals pursuing their own self-interest in a system governed by a few basic rules—property rights, voluntary exchange by contract—have produced all the vast riches of the Western world.Many creationists who are on the political Right understand the logic...

Hi all and happy new year. Here's some humour, in the form of wallpaper for your computer (just right-click to save it). Send it to an anti-capitalist today! Cheers, LBM