sedriss scott blaine

What if a state suddenly felt that the federal income tax was a lack of respect to individual rights. Could that state dissolve its ties? I know that income tax is a disrespect to individual rights and that a state declaring so would be unlikely... Just another hypothetical question.

I agree wholeheartedly (whole mindedly?) about your right to discriminate against gay men for the reasons you stated. However, could you actually have this with today’s legal system? I know that in an ideal system your beliefs could be acted upon. In today’s system, would this be possible? Are the discrimination laws for/against you?

While thinking about the possibility of a sci-fi/romanticism genre, this popped into my head: Imagine that the technology existed to have an underwater base. On the ocean's floor a corporation begins mining for a new natural resource they've discovered. This is so successful that the corporation soon becomes a mega-corporation and have the funding to expand their base into a city. All the people who work there and their families are down on the ocean's floor. It's thriving to the point where a political system is established (and you people on the forum know what kind). They decide to have their own nation similar to the Vatican in Italy. But this isn't religious, it's capitalist. Could they have the legal right to do so? What if the corporation that founded the base became the financial backer/bank of the new nation? If that corporation wanted to defect from the nation it came from and take up legal residence in this New Atlantis, could their origional nation force them to stay? Would war have to be declared? Is every inch of the ocean's floor the legal territory of a land nation?

I'm going into the Navy to become a SEAL. It was actually Objectivism that led me to my decision; the notion that a quality existence is one in which you acted upon your values. Now not all of my values can be met through the military, but the ones you mentioned in your post can. To persue a life as a SEAL seems to me the best way to push these values to the absolute extreme (and thus making existence more enjoyable/fulfilling).

Grew up christian/catholic with a political lean to the Republican party (no big suprise there). Always was an individualist but my personal ideas clashed with religion and my method of dealing with this was to supress the contradiction(s). I started getting into Rand when my best friend gave me a copy of the Fountainhead. It was everything I wanted/needed but it still took some time to get the religion out of me (Catholicism is a tough one, people). The friend became a Marxist shortly after and proceeded to mock me behind my back for my O'ist leanings and reclusive behavior (I wasn't anti-social, just pro-individual and with a higher standard of human behavior). He's now an ex-friend I haven't talked to in years.

I saw a forum subject on a pro-Che site (researching the enemy) that had a special section for non-communists and stated that that was the only place where they could post. That way they could still engage in discussions/disagreements while not disrupting the commies. If the site supporters (commies) wished to discuss/debate with them, they could; if the commies wanted only to interact with their own kind, they had the rest of the forum to do it in. I recommend having a subject topic that would be for designated for the filth and allow them to post there and there alone (assuming they are respectful and not taking up space with vague anti-capitalist remarks).

If there is anyone out there that has obtained audio (I prefer CD versions) of items from the Ayn Rand Bookstore and is considering putting them on e-bay, please let me know. I may go direct or can at least be aware that it is up for grabs at another site (Amazon, e-bay, etc.).

epheme, It's interesting to see how people came to discover objectivism. I too became aware of Ayn Rand's ideas through the Fountainhead. I gave a copy to my teenage sister for Christmas (she wanted teenage girl stuff but I gave her what I thought she needed; if someone gave me that book at 15/16 things would have been a lot better...). Best of luck with your club on campus.

Hello. I'm new to the site and the forum but not new to objectivism. This is coming at you from Austin, Texas (Live Music Capital of the World). Great to see a site like this with a forum. Looking foward to meeting you all...