 The Self-Educated Soul
by Matthew Graybosch
Labor Day has just passed here in the United States. Among other things, this means that children across the nation are returning to school for another year of "education". It is another year wasted; the schools attempt to accomplish the impossible by force-feeding knowledge to children unwilling to think while denying knowledge to children to whom thought is as natural and life-giving a process as breathing. (Read more...)
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To Err or Not to Err
by Elizabeth Kanabe
Is it better to experience more and take the bad with the good, or to only enter situations when you are confident and can protect yourself as best as possible? (Read more...)
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 The Meaning Of Life
by Joseph Rowlands
Joseph Rowlands gave this speech at the inaugural SOLO conference in NZ. "What is life? What do we mean when we say the word? Since the word stands at the center of Objectivist ethics, the answer to this question has wide-reaching implications." (Read more...)
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What is Happiness?
by Joseph Rowlands
The quest for happiness can take a number of detours. Part of the problem is a lack of clarity in what exactly is the goal. (Read more...)
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Identifying Values
by Joseph Rowlands
Often in life, we fail to recognize the values we do have until attention is drawn to them. (Read more...)
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Auto-Pilot
by Ashley Frazier
It is too easy to allow the self to slip into a sort of auto-pilot, a familiar routine. (Read more...)
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Inner Peace
by Joseph Rowlands
Many people search for inner peace to quiet the storms within themselves. A proper philosophy can take you a long way down that road. (Read more...)
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Wishing to be a Buff
by Elizabeth Kanabe
No one has the time or resources to be the best at everything, and for this reason the best at one thing will always lack something else. (Read more...)
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Have Mind, Will Travel
by Matthew Graybosch
Regardless of the connotation irrational people place upon the word, there can be honor in being a mercenary if one deals honestly with an employer and gives the employer his money's worth by working to the best of one's ability. (Read more...)
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Active vs. Passive Minds
by Joseph Rowlands
Objectivism holds rationality as a virtue. This shouldn't just mean that we think rationally only when we have to. (Read more...)
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Forgiveness
by Joseph Rowlands
"It is against the sin of forgiveness that I wanted to warn you." (Read more...)
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Romance & Rationalism
by Lindsay Perigo
In seeking a romantic partner, many Objectivists begin with a floating abstraction called John Galt, or Howard Roark, or Dagny Taggart - characters from Ayn Rand's novels. These characters always know their own minds, never falter, never experience fear, doubt, or confusion, never err, never belch, never break wind, never fumble when uncorking the wine. They are without flaw, failing or foible. In reality, they don't exist. But such is the power of Ayn Rand's projection of them that many Objectivists will settle for nothing less in their own lives. The consequences of this rationalistic attitude are personal misery & destruction ... (Read more...)
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Stylized Life
by Glenn Lamont
Objectivism provides you with the tools to make your life extraordinary, to make your life like the pages of an Ayn Rand novel. I call this living a stylized life. (Read more...)
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The Benefits of Objectivism
by Barry Kayton
Objectivism is a philosophy based in this world; a philosophy for your mind, your life, your liberty; a philosophy for life as it could be and should be. As such, the benefits of Objectivism are the benefits of life itself: priceless. (Read more...)
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Golf, Guilt, and Capitalism
by Larry Sechrest
Pro golfers should feel no guilt about their high incomes; they earn every penny. Very few humans are capable of playing this demanding game with such consummate skill. And the touring pros should reject every suggestion that they must give something back to society at large. They took nothing in the first place. There is nothing to give back. Indeed, their athletic achievements represent a net gain, for they provide us "duffers" with precious and unforgettable memories. We should applaud their triumphs, not accost them like beggars. (Read more...)
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In Praise of Aristocratic Attributes
by Larry Sechrest
Without good taste and refinement, how are we to appreciate beauty? Without dignity and honour, how can we recognize grandeur? Without benevolence and sentimentality, how will we ever find love? Our lives need the richness, the texture that these "aristocratic attributes" can bring. (Read more...)
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The Answer to Imprudence
by Tibor R. Machan
Nothing much else stands out so starkly as American influence around the world as the proliferation of McDonald's fast food restaurants. Of course, let's not forget Burger King and the others. Nor are these the most important influences America has had around the globe, only the most visible ones. And in some ways it is quite a benign thing, this influence, but in others it also brings to mind something insidious. (Read more...)
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Liking People
by Joseph Rowlands
"People are stupid and evil". Does that sound familiar? I'm guessing it does. This is a widespread belief that is promoted by nearly everyone. Those with the biggest interest in promoting this belief are the socialists. They whittle away at liberty by declaring that people are too stupid to be left on their own. Politicians love looking for some idiot somewhere that screwed up, and declaring that all men are like that, and that they must be enslaved for their own good. This makes sense, since their goal is the diminution of rights. (Read more...)
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Sacred Cow
by Joseph Rowlands
Vegetarianism is evil. It calls for the sacrifice of one’s actual values and happiness for an arbitrary standard. There is nothing noble or positive about sacrifice for any reason. It is just mixing a little poison in with your food. Destroying a little of your life for no reason. It’s making life harder and less satisfactory an end in itself. (Read more...)
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Purposeful Life
by Joseph Rowlands
To live is to act, and to act purposefully. Life is not measured in units of time, but in accomplishments, both in number and in greatness. It is measured in values gained. It is measured in happiness. It is not a passive state of existence, but an adventure. It won't come to you. You have to pursue it. (Read more...)
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