A member here, “Atlas51184”, recently blogged about the “state of ARI” lecture in Philadelphia. I figure others may be interested in the write-up.
A member here, “Atlas51184”, recently blogged about the “state of ARI” lecture in Philadelphia. I figure others may be interested in the write-up.
WHEW! An Objectivist World Domination Plan. 
But seriously:
This is a pretty good strategy.
WHEW! An Objectivist World Domination Plan.
It’s nice to know somebody has one. 
Interestingly, the “funnel” reminds me of a post by Tony Donadio to one of the Usenet Objectivism groups many years ago, describing the process by which he thought Objectivism would achieve cultural dominance. I can’t seem to find the post now, but the similarities are striking. Based on my vague recollections, I think we’re pretty much on schedule.
As an aside, I have to say I’ve been very impressed with Yaron Brook’s management of ARI. Since he took the helm their projects have been much more tightly integrated. The Institute seems much more goal-directed than they were under Dr. Berliner. (Not to badmouth Berliner; he did a great job guiding ARI through its formative years. But Dr. Brook has clearly taken things to the next level.)
There was a time when I could name all the active Objectivist intellectuals. Then there was a period where I’d see lectures by people I hadn’t heard of previously. Now I’ve started seeing entire books that are not only by people I hadn’t heard of before, but which I didn’t know about at all prior to publication. And the caliber of the books is getting higher. The essay collections Robert Mayhew has been editing on Rand’s novels are absolutely first-rate.
According to “Impact” (Feb 2007), since 2002 ARI’s “Free Books to Teachers” program has distributed about 700,000 copies of Fountainhead and Anthem. That’s a lot of books. Some of the comments from the teachers are extremely positive: the students love the books and recommend it to their friends in other classes, many say the books are life-changing, other teachers in the school are getting interested, and so on. Here’s one that I particularly liked:
Our major trouble is that students do not always want to give the books up. Many students say their parents are reading it and will give it back when they are done.
That’s awesome; I just hope the teachers are doing their jobs properly. I know how easily a bad teacher can ruin a great book.
According to “Impact” (Feb 2007), since 2002 ARI’s “Free Books to Teachers” program has distributed about 700,000 copies of Fountainhead and Anthem. That’s a lot of books. Some of the comments from the teachers are extremely positive: the students love the books and recommend it to their friends in other classes, many say the books are life-changing, other teachers in the school are getting interested, and so on. Here’s one that I particularly liked:
QUOTE
Our major trouble is that students do not always want to give the books up. Many students say their parents are reading it and will give it back when they are done.
Oh man that is LOL funny and (of course) “most excellent”.
Man, I would like to meet these families. Fighting over who gets _A.S._ in the home! Are you kidding me? Where is this happening?!?
Man, I would like to meet these families. Fighting over who gets _A.S._ in the home! Are you kidding me? Where is this happening?!?
That particular quote came from a teacher in a tiny little town, near South Bend, IN. Other quotes in this issue were from teachers in Florida, Georgia, California and North Carolina.
Now, as one of the activities around 50th Anniversary of Atlas Shrugged, ARI plans to distributed copies of AS as well. They have purchased 30,000 copies and will send many of them to students who entered the Fountainhead essay contest. They plann to buy more, and to distribute over 20,000 copies to high-schools.
Now, as one of the activities around 50th Anniversary of Atlas Shrugged, ARI plans to distributed copies of AS as well. They have purchased 30,000 copies and will send many of them to students who entered the Fountainhead essay contest. They plan to buy more, and to distribute over 20,000 copies to high-schools.
Yep, and they need another $515,000 to fully fund all the initiatives they have planned. Time to send in another contribution, methinks…