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The Coronavirus’ Dark-siders, Straddlers, and Light-siders: The Ethics of Good Public Policy

March 22, 2020 by · Comments Off on The Coronavirus’ Dark-siders, Straddlers, and Light-siders: The Ethics of Good Public Policy 

As the spread of the latest Coronavirus (SARS coronavirus 2, or “SARS-CoV-2”) continues, two purportedly opposing camps of policy wonks are forming, which I herein name “Dark-siders” and “Straddlers”. However, though their policy proposals differ, their respective proposals are founded upon the same ethical philosophy. For that reason, the policy proposals of the two camps ultimately will facilitate the same end. And, because the ethics underpinning their policies treats human nature as a thing to be defeated, rather than defended, their policies will be every bit as destructive as the illness they seek to address. There are collectivists who hope to take political advantage of the destruction caused by the government’s response to the Coronavirus. If the collectivists are to be thwarted – if individual freedom and capitalism are to prevail – the government must be careful to found its Coronavirus policies on a better ethical footing. It must come over to the Light-side. Read more

Ellsworth Toohey’s collectivism: Answer to a question on Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead”

July 1, 2019 by · Comments Off on Ellsworth Toohey’s collectivism: Answer to a question on Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead” 

On June 30th, on the public Facebook group “Ayn Rand“, a person fairly new to Ms Rand’s works posted the following passage from Rand’s “The Fountainhead”, highlighting (among others) the parts that below appear in red text. The person in question asked something akin to “Please explain”. I did so, but it appears that the person deleted her post (and all responses to it). Rather than letting my answer/effort go to waste, I post it below the quoted passage. Read more

The Virtue of “Sin”, and the Great Satan

June 14, 2016 by · Comments Off on The Virtue of “Sin”, and the Great Satan 

2016-06-14.riverA university student I know naturally was concerned about the June 12, 2016 murder, by an Islamic Jihadist, of 49 people in Orlando, Florida – many of whom reportedly prefer members of their own sex, sexually. Those murdered, it is believed, were murdered because of who they are attracted to or love. Being my friend, the university student naturally condemns the act, and does not share the murderer’s negative views on homosexuality. On facebook.com, he wrote the following:

“Islam is homophobic by nature. Muslims who tolerate homosexuality do so in spite of their faith, not because of it.”

The response came swiftly from another student at his university: she commented that he is a “hater”, and that she was sad that he hails from the same university. In lieu of actually addressing what the first student had written, she posted a tweet of a young man named Shawn who said he is both gay and Muslim. I can only imagine the “quality” of the arguments she makes in her university essays. Read more

SPOILER ALERT: What “Atlas Shrugged” means

March 23, 2016 by · Comments Off on SPOILER ALERT: What “Atlas Shrugged” means 

atlus-shruggedOn the “wall” for the facebook.com public group named “Ayn Rand” (the author philosopher who wrote the novel “Atlas Shrugged”), a group member posted the following question:

What exactly does the title of Atlas Shrugged mean? I remember the quote in the book went something like “Do you know what I would say to Atlas? I’d tell him to shrug.” But I’m unclear on what it literally means. Does it mean to make a gesture that says “Uh whatever” as if you don’t care, or does it mean to stop bearing the weight of the world and just let it drop?

I reply as follows. Read more

Letter to France re: The Paris Attacks of November 13, 2015

November 13, 2015 by · Comments Off on Letter to France re: The Paris Attacks of November 13, 2015 

DEAR FRANCE: “Atlas Shrugged” is a novel by Ayn Rand. The central message of the hero is that one must not sanction one’s own victimhood, and cannot be forced to do so. You are now experiencing the practical consequences of not taking that message seriously; of eschewing both factual certainty and moral absolutes. Neutrality has its costs. You’re paying them.

The Phony

June 13, 2015 by · Comments Off on The Phony 

The phony is befriended by people who are his enemies, and is loved by people who hate him. The phony not only sacrifices the possibility of friendship and love, but deliberately subjects himself to what only he knows to be exclusion and loathing. He is, in truth, a self-hater, and his own worst enemy.

Sticks and Stones: A Short Note on Verbally Baiting Theocratic Murderers

May 9, 2015 by · Comments Off on Sticks and Stones: A Short Note on Verbally Baiting Theocratic Murderers 

2015-05-09.draw-muhammadOn May 3, 2015, a group of people assembled at the Curtis Culwell Centre in Garland, Texas to watch the announcement of the winner of a “Draw Muhammad” Contest. The organizers knew that some if not all Muslims believe that no person ever should draw Muhammad, and knew that some Muslims have murdered cartoonists in the past who have drawn or otherwise depicted Muhammad (see here, and here, as examples). Accordingly, the organizers spent something in the order of $10,000.00 on security for he event, which was closed to the public. Two men from out-of-state approached the Centre, shot a security guard in the ankle, and were promptly shot dead by a police officer. In the days that followed, most of the media thought the event to be an irresponsible, provocative, “baiting” of Muslims, and they actually expected the organizers of the event to be repentant for what happened. Read more

The Weak

November 8, 2014 by · Leave a Comment 

To produce the values upon which ones survival and happiness depend, one must engage in rational action. Those who are more consistently rational, and those who are physically more powerful, are the strong. The irrational, and the physically less powerful, are the weak. Read more

Hate the Sinner

October 4, 2012 by · 2 Comments 

The electoral efforts of we pro-reason, pro-freedom individuals have been undermined by our cowardice.

Thinking ourselves bold and brave, we write in unambiguous and unequivocal terms of ideas and principles; of reason and faith; of selfishness and altruism; of individualism and collectivism; of free markets and central planning; of capitalism and communism. We stand up, look into the eyes of our audiences, and speak about big institutions and abstract entities – “the government”, “the state”, “unions”, etc. – and about their irrationality, their coerciveness, and the like.

In doing so, we act out of fear; fear not because of what we write or say, but because of what we refrain from writing and saying. Fearing we’ll offend someone, we cower from the utterance of the very thing that must be said if freedom is to prevail. Read more

The Future, Purpose, and Freedom: an Enlightening Dream

July 29, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

Dreams, though usually experienced in the dark, can prove most enlightening. On July 24th this year, I had such a dream, and it gave me a valuable first-hand experience that has helped me to understand the role of purpose in ones life, and its relation to the value of thinking rationally. It also gave me some insight into the methods and motives of those who see no value in rational thought, or who are hostile to it. And, perhaps most importantly, it helped me to identify a common flaw in the advocacy of freedom. I share this dream, and my thoughts about it, with you below. Read more

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