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    Objectivism Is The Everyman's Philosophy

    In the universe, what you see is what you get,

    figuring it out for yourself is the way to happiness,

    and each person's independence is respected by all

  • Rand's Philosophy in Her Own Words

    • "Metaphysics: Objective Reality" "Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed/Wishing won’t make it so." "The universe exists independent of consciousness"
    • "Epistemology: Reason" "You can’t eat your cake and have it, too." "Thinking is man’s only basic virtue"
    • "Ethics: Self-interest" "Man is an end in himself." "Man must act for his own rational self-interest" "The purpose of morality is to teach you[...] to enjoy yourself and live"
    • "Politics: Capitalism" "Give me liberty or give me death." "If life on earth is [a man's] purpose, he has a right to live as a rational being"

  • Objectivism Online Chat

    Reblogged:Trump Lost Two Mid-Terms in a Row

    Gus Van Horn blog
    By Gus Van Horn blog,
    An Early Weekend/Post-Election Roundup There will be no post tomorrow as I am taking Veteran's Day off. *** 1. Tuesday was a good day for reproductive freedom and should serve as a warning to "pro life" Republicans who might actually want to win public office in a competitive race. Three measures favoring abortion rights passed, one anti-abortion measure lost, and another anti-abortion measure appeared to be headed for defeat. Tellingly, abortion was likely a drag on the GOP:Polling data ind

    Reblogged:Some Wave... Donald.

    Gus Van Horn blog
    By Gus Van Horn blog,
    A Pathetic Night for Trump's Party I haven't wasted my evening or lost sleep watching election results in at least a decade, I have been that disenchanted with both parties for that long. Which kind of idiot will try to screw things up and how? is not the kind of question that gets me to stay up to see what happens next. Image by Daniel Vogel, via Unsplash, license.That said, my personal best-case scenario for this election would have been the Democrats losing the House by a small amount and T

    Did the KGB or other Soviet agency keep a file on Ayn Rand/Alisa Rosenbaum? Has any such file been found in the USSR gov't archives?

    The Laws of Biology
    By The Laws of Biology,
    Given that Ayn Rand/Alisa Rosenbaum was a Russian emigre who became very famous in the U.S. for denouncing the political philosophy of the government of the USSR, it sure seems like the government of the USSR would have tracked her actvities, at the very least. 

    Reblogged:Trumps and Cronies: Anti-(Small-R)Republicans

    Gus Van Horn blog
    By Gus Van Horn blog,
    Secular conservative commentator Robert Tracinski finds himself urging his readers to vote straight-ticket Democrat in tomorrow's elections. I learned of this recommendation too recently to offer a definitive opinion on it one way or the other, but I will say it is an argument worth consideration. In particular, Tracinski does a good job of cataloging what many would loosely call the "anti-democratic" tendencies of Donald Trump and his loyalists within the Republican Party. These tendencies are

    Reblogged:GOP Abortion 'Compromise' Shows Chutzpah

    Gus Van Horn blog
    By Gus Van Horn blog,
    Dick Morris explains why he thinks abortion will not have a major impact on the midterm elections. Here's the nut of his argument:The above reminds me of two things. First, how many times have you heard Republicans gloating that "all the Democrats had to do was sound sane" following some electoral loss? The Republicans apparently remembered their own advice concerning abortion. (I think abortion should be legal until birth, but absent a well-reasoned and well-articulated case that voters are f

    My Social Contract Debate

    determinist
    By determinist,
    I was talking to someone who said he's a fan of Obama. I didn't have a desire to debate, but I began asking him questions because I knew his answers would contradict one another. He decided to ask questions because I asked so many. My honesty sparked the debate I tried to avoid. He asked if I support stem cell research. I told him that I'm opposed to federal funding for stem cell research because I'm against taxes, not for any religious reasons. He asked why I'm against federal funding for

    Reblogged:Friday Hodgepodge

    Gus Van Horn blog
    By Gus Van Horn blog,
    Odds and Ends 1. I sometimes start the day by finding an incisive, humorous, or inspirational quotation. A favorite way of doing so is to think of someone who has created something I like or done something I admire and do a bit of searching. Today's quest led me to the thought-provoking graduation speech given by Bill Watterson of Calvin and Hobbes fame to his alma mater. Here's a favorite passage:His explanation for why he didn't pursue merchandising more aggressively is good, too, despite t

    Reblogged:Why Greens Hate Nuclear

    Gus Van Horn blog
    By Gus Van Horn blog,
    It's from 2019, but I found a Forbes piece by Michael Shellenberger that deserves wide circulation: Within, Shellenberger nicely explains why so many thought leaders from the fossil fuel elimination movement are hostile to nuclear power -- the one technology that is even close to ready to fill the big shoes of the fossil fuels we need to survive and prosper. Although he is not as deeply philosophical as Ayn Rand, his piece reminds me of her work in two very important ways: (1) it takes abstract

    Reblogged:Xi Hopes 'Zero Covid' Means Total Control

    Gus Van Horn blog
    By Gus Van Horn blog,
    The BBC reports that China's dictator has decided to imprison everyone in Shanghai Disney (among other places) until they test negative for Covid. In addition, anyone who has visited the park since Thursday must "provide three negative test results over three consecutive days" or... The story doesn't say, but I presume those people will be under house arrest wherever they happened to have been when this ludicrous order went out. As if treating human beings like cattle weren't enough, the gover

    Reblogged:RE Covid: Amnesty Maybe. Amnesia Never.

    Gus Van Horn blog
    By Gus Van Horn blog,
    Writing at The Atlantic, Emily Oster of Brown University suggests that we "declare a pandemic amnesty" regarding positions many held that were eventually proved wrong. She seems overall reasonable, if more cautious then than I, and has a point:And, much later:This mostly sounds good, although with the perspective of my late middle age, I think that anyone who feels a need to gloat -- or who becomes defensive when proven wrong -- should take that as a sign that they have soul-searching and think

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