Saturday
December 24, 2011 |
 Capitalism & Socialism Rightly Understood
by Tibor R. Machan
Nozick pointed out that in the libertarian system he presented in his book there is every chance to experiment with a great variety of human associations--he called the “utopias”--provided these do not sanction the coercion of some people by others. And since the kind of associations that “worker owned companies” are by no stretch of the imagination involve any kind of coercion, they are entirely compatible with capitalism wherein the major element is freedom of association, not the pursuit of any particular goal (including profit). (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (44 messages)
Saturday
December 31, 2011 |
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman: A Case of Self-Delusion
by Edward W. Younkins
One of the best known fictional depictions of business is Arthur Miller’s 1949 play, Death of a Salesman, which tells the story of a traveling salesman who has reached the end of his road. Several fine films have been made of this drama, and in 1984 Dustin Hoffman starred in an acclaimed revival of it. The story is tol... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (4 messages)
A conversation with an altruist
by Marty Lewinter
Altruism is a despicable doctrine that, in addition to being wrong, robs all participants – givers and takers – of dignity. It is, was, and will be used by every totalitarian state to justify its power over the individual citizen. It must be fought tooth and nail in the fight for freedom. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (28 messages)
 Four Major Worldviews
by Ed Thompson
An overview of the main kinds of ways that you can look at the world. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (61 messages)
Cuba Awakes?
by Tibor R. Machan
Cuba’s fate over the last half a century has been disastrous, although before that the island wasn’t a Caribbean paradise either. US government policies haven’t made it easier for Cubans to escape their misery since instead of opening up the routes of free trade, the US has mostly chosen to issue penalties against the country, never mind that Cuba has done little against the USA per se to deserve most of it. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (5 messages)
Executive Suite: A Story of Corporate Success and Succession
by Edward W. Younkins
For over a quarter of a century, Cameron Hawley had two simultaneous successful careers—as a businessman and as a writer of short stories in magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, McCall’s, and Good Housekeeping. For several years, he was an advertising executive in Minneapolis. This was followed by a 24-year car... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (2 messages)
 The Altruist
by Marty Lewinter
By the deafening drums and the torches of the tribe And the terrifying chanting in the middle of the night, An evil deed unfolded – that I now shall describe – On a stone–hewn altar and a burning flame of light. There a youth tied down was to have his throat slit By the order of the chief for the gre... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (0 messages)
Why not Pessimism?
by Tibor R. Machan
By most accounts there is little good news about any progress toward a freer society, quite the contrary. Around the globe, of course, there are some regions that are making small moves away from tyranny but even in those few, human freedom doesn’t appear to be a priority. Instead tribal and religious conflicts are the rule, even as the more vicious rulers are losing their grip on their populations. In Syria the tyrant is hanging on by a very thin thread yet elsewhere it’s mob rule that has replaced dictatorships. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (5 messages)
Cash McCall: The Story of a Heroic Corporate Raider
by Edward W. Younkins
Cash McCall (1955) is a novel by Cameron Hawley that is positive about business and free-market capitalism. It explores many of the same themes as does Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged but it is not nearly as philosophical. Like Atlas Shrugged, Cash McCall is populated with a range of good and bad characters. It is also a 195... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (4 messages)
Machan's Archives: Essay on Libertarianism in One Lesson
by Tibor R. Machan
This essay should come in handy these days when "libertarianism" has become almost a household word. Here is a summary discussion of its central tenets, at least as seen by some prominent libertarians. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (8 messages)
Glengarry Glen Ross: A David Mamet Word Play
by Edward W. Younkins
David Mamet’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize winning play, Glengarry Glen Ross, is about the struggles of four shady small-time salesmen in a small branch of a larger real estate company located in Chicago. Taking place over two business days, the play portrays the dog-eat-dog world of real estate and the ends ruthless salesmen w... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (0 messages)
Why Is Religion Still Popular?
by Marty Lewinter
The Enlightenment broke many religious shackles on the minds of men, but some remain. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (15 messages)
Ideological Thinking Revisited
by Tibor R. Machan
Following the December 15th Republican “debate,” New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote once again about the evils of ideological thinking. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (2 messages)
The Lies of the Left and the Right
by Ed Thompson
Taking no prisoners. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (18 messages)
 It's All a Matter of Precision
by Paul Hibbert
The present butterfly effect theory doesn't come to the inescapable conclusion that small changes in initial conditions never die out without eventual significant effects. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (21 messages)
What about those Hoodies?
by Tibor R. Machan
Over the last couple of weeks I have been waiting for something to be mentioned about hoodies, something that I thought was staring us all in the face. This is that during the recent London riots, nearly everyone depicted by the TV cameras was wearing hoodies as they were caught vandalizing the stores in the neighborhood under siege. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (7 messages)
Henry Hazlitt's Time Will Run Back: A Tale of the Reinvention of Capitalism
by Edward W. Younkins
Henry Hazlitt’s novel, Time will Run Back, was originally published in 1951 as The Great Idea. It teaches that if capitalism did not exist, then it would be necessary to invent it. It makes the case that the discovery of capitalism is one of the greatest triumphs of the human mind. In his nonfiction works Hazlitt is a ... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (1 message)
When the Soul Stalkers Come
by Paul Hibbert
Beware of the soul stalkers (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (0 messages)
Objectivist Virtue Ethics in Business
by Edward W. Younkins
Virtuous actions can lead to the achievement of values. When one’s context is reduced to business, virtue theory contends that pursuing virtuous principles, strategies, and actions can result in firms realizing their values including their mission, purpose, profit potential, and other goals. Virtuous employees tend to ... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (2 messages)
 The Face of Egalitarianism
by Tibor R. Machan
A few weeks ago they ran the famous Oxford v. Cambridge rowing race on the Thames but a fanatical egalitarian, Mr. Trenton Oldfield from Australia, ruined it for everyone by jumping in the river and blocking the race in the name of resisting the elitism of rowing! He was dubbed in the UK the “anarchist swimmer” and has mounted some other guerrilla strikes to make his point. Among other things he is urging cabbies to take well to do passengers on long detours and cleaners not to place toilet paper where they are expected to serve rich folks. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (0 messages)
Creation of an Ethical Business: The Implementation of Virtuous Behavior and Shared Values and Goals
by Jessica L. Kuryn
In today’s competitive business environment, a growing number of firms will do almost anything to gain sales and customers, as well as to increase profits. For some of these firms, playing by the rules doesn’t achieve the results they are after. Firms have the choice to act ethically or unethically. While misguided ... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (4 messages)
Seattle, America’s Europe?
by Tibor R. Machan
On a recent trip to Seattle, which I visit on and off quite a lot, I found the place to have just the kind of feel I have experienced in Stockholm and Oslo and in cities, big and small, throughout Austria and Switzerland. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (2 messages)
Machan's Archives: Genuine Military Defense Anyone? (updated)
by Tibor R. Machan
As much as one may object to Iran's government’s efforts to build atomic weapons, the American government isn’t supposed to be some kind of meta-police that embarks upon restraining such governments! Certainly spending American taxpayers’ funds on conducting military actions against Iran would be going way beyond the proper military role of the American government, which is to protect its citizen’s freedom from domestic and foreign criminals. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (1 message)
Flourishing and Happiness in a Nutshell
by Edward W. Younkins
By integrating features found in the writings of Aristotle, Austrian economists, Ayn Rand, and a number of contemporary thinkers, we have the potential to develop a powerful, reality-based argument for a free society in which individuals have the opportunity to flourish and to be happy. Modern contributors to this appr... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (3 messages)
Jobs From Forced Charity--the Socialist way.
by Tibor R. Machan
It appears, based on the economic philosophy he has been outlining in recent weeks, that President Obama believes that jobs based on economic transactions, exchanges, trade, and so forth, do not matter, have no significance. This has a very serious foundation, to which I will turn later in this short discussion. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (0 messages)
|
