Objectivist Round Up #88

Welcome to the March 19, 2009 edition of the Objectivist Round Up.  I'm honored to be hosting the Round Up for the very first time! 

For anyone unfamiliar with the ideas of Ayn Rand - where have you been?  Her epic novel, Atlas Shrugged, has been breaking even its own incredible sales records this year, and is currently in the top 10 on Amazon.com's US Fiction and Literature category.  Pundits are talking about Ayn Rand and Objectivism more than ever before.  Going Galt is the hot phrase of the moment on the internet.

In Atlas Shrugged, Rand tells a tale of the U.S. economy deteriorating at an ever-increasing rate due to government controls, which has obvious parallels to our situation today.  Rand offered a unique moral defense of capitalism in the novel and her other works, which is something many seem to be grasping for right now.  Ayn Rand explained that:

The moral justification of capitalism does not lie in the altruist claim that it represents the best way to achieve “the common good.” It is true that capitalism does—if that catch-phrase has any meaning—but this is merely a secondary consequence. The moral justification of capitalism lies in the fact that it is the only system consonant with man’s rational nature, that it protects man’s survival qua man, and that its ruling principle is: justice.

“What Is Capitalism?”  Capitalism, The Unknown Ideal

Still, Rand was much more than a political philosopher, and so are those of us who are informed by her ideas.  Today's Round Up includes posts on parenting, sexuality, morality, health care, music, and of course, politics and economics.  Enjoy!

 

Burgess Laughlin presents Book Review: The Independent Scholar's Handbook posted at Making Progress, saying, "This book review identifies potential values for three types of readers, each gaining from different elements of the book: (1) would-be independent scholars wanting to know proper methods; (2) students of recent history who would like to see the role non-academics played in creating today's culture; and (3) intellectual activists intrigued by detailed examples of the careers of non-academic intellectual activists in the 1960s-1980s (the roots of our own time)."

Brad Williams presents The Austrian business cycle in one image posted at scripsit, saying, "Mish says: "[T]he only way 45% of the world's wealth could vanish in a year is if it was a mirage in the first place.""

Galileo Blogs presents The Case for Bankruptcy posted at Galileo Blogs, saying, "What is bankruptcy? What are the common fallacies of bankruptcy? Why is bankruptcy an essential feature of capitalism? It uses General Motors as an example."

Amy Mossoff (that's me!) presents Selfish Parenting posted at The Little Things, saying, "Can rational selfishness be a guide for making better parenting choices? This is the first post in a series which will explore that idea using concrete examples. Today's example is the question of allowing a child to help with cooking family meals."

Paul McKeever presents Paul McKeever’s Minimal Maxims and Bon Arrows, volume 1, issue 4 : Paul McKeever posted at Paul McKeever, saying, "four more thoughts for the week...including one cipher."

Doug presents Colbert's Distortion of Atlas Shrugged posted at Dark Waters Blogs.

Greg Perkins presents Challenging What Everybody Knows posted at NoodleFood, saying, "How do you quickly explain -- or at least motivate further exploration of -- subtle ideas that would challenge "what everybody knows"? It's just hard, a skill to be practiced. That one can profit from "prudent predation" is one of those things that Everybody Knows. So what might an Objectivist say to shake a general audience's confidence in the idea that predation is egoistic?"

Flibbert presents Men, Women, Birds, and Bees - Part 5 posted at Flibbertigibbet, saying, "I've finally posted the last in my series on masculinity and femininity in which I focus on the particular issue of homosexuality (my favorite!). Check it out!"

Francis Luong (Franco) presents My Subconscious Altruism Yardstick posted at Just Add Rationality, saying, "A wholly credible contextual backdrop to challenge people to seriously consider whether they believe they truly have a right to live for themselves or not."

Francis Luong (Franco) presents Initial Thoughts on Going Galt posted at Just Add Rationality, saying, "That Rand's ideas are making the media is good publicity. But if the publicity spreads a diluted or subverted version of Rand's ideas then it will only serve to give power and credibility to our enemy. Consistency is key (to hell with Emerson)."

Ari Armstrong presents Beer Smash Protests Protectionism posted at FreeColorado.com, saying, "Colorado law prohibits grocery stores from selling regular beer to consenting adults. This protectionism is wrong."

Paul Hsieh presents More Problems In Massachusetts Health Care posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "The problems with Massachusetts' system of "universal health care" are becoming increasingly obvious, even to the NY Times."

Diana Hsieh presents Activism Against NAIS posted at NoodleFood, saying, "NAIS -- the National Animal Identification System -- is on the political horizon. It's not just another statist intervention: it promises to put many small farmers out of existence. You can help prevent it."

Rajesh Dhawan presents Living under socialism posted at Objective extrospection.

Grant Jones presents Tax Supported Indoctrination posted at The Dougout, saying, "On the manufacturing of mindless altruists by academia."

Khartoum presents Desert Island Scenarios – Good Or Bad? posted at Philosophy, Law and Life., saying, "A desert island example greatly reduces the amount of perceptual data one requires in making a rational decision by scaling it down to the personal level. It could be a powerful tool for communicating an idea."

John Drake presents Parenting as managing posted at Try Reason!, saying, "Parenting is a lot like managing. In this post, I explore some of the similarities."

Rational Jenn presents Kids Handling Conflict posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "Even young children can learn rational ways to work out their differences."

Rajesh Dhawan presents Why Democracy does not work- Idea cellular advertisement on TV posted at Objective extrospection.

Rajesh Dhawan presents Women in the special forces? posted at Objective extrospection.

Daniel presents Prokofiev's "March"--More Tiddlywink Music posted at The Nearby Pen, saying, "Want to hear one of Ayn Rand's "tiddlywink" songs? This is one of her favorite marches by Prokofiev--the one she would famously swing an arm to the music to (as if she was conducting)."

Jim Woods presents Grassley Just Wants You to Make Him Feel Better posted at Words by Woods, saying, "When he comes to businessmen, what would make Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) feel a little bit better?"

C. August presents Housing Glut? Open the Borders posted at Titanic Deck Chairs, saying, "One surprising solution to the housing crisis... more freedom."

Michael Labeit presents On Free Trade and Marginal Utility posted at Philosophical Mortician, saying, "This second post in my free trade series focuses on how the law of marginal utility governs free trade."

Ryan Krause presents Tax Bitch #1 posted at The Money Speech, saying, "A few interesting notes about the tax code you might not have known."

 

That concludes this edition of the Objectivist Roundup. Next week's host is Erosophia. Submit your blog article to the Objectivist Roundup using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

 

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