  Embracing Ellsworth
by James M. Jowdy
Instead of the present article, I originally intended to write a follow-up to David C. Adams's Issue #39 contribution, Exterminating Ellsworth. I wanted to give a concrete example of how the sneering and philosophically destructive spirit of Ellsworth Toohey — arch-villain from Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead — merely pervades the 1999 film The Fight Club. Unfortunately, things seem worse than I initially imagined and, if this film and its wide acclaim are any indication, Ellsworth has nearly won. (Read more...)
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 "As the sun shows itself at the dawn..." A tribute to Maria Montessori
by Chris Lewis
The state of education in this country is a shambles. Parents who are concerned about the future well-being of their children are searching desperately for educational alternatives. The increased demand for private schooling and the dramatic rise in the number of home-schooled children provide an accurate measure of the growing degree of parental dissatisfaction with the current situation. (Read more...)
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The Crab Bucket Mentality and The Fountainhead
by Chris Lewis
Anyone familiar with the behaviour of a bunch of crabs trapped at the bottom of a bucket will know what happens when one of them tries to climb to the top; instead of attempting the climb themselves, those left at the bottom of the bucket will do all in their collective power to drag the climber back down. And although crab behaviour should not in any way be analogous to human behaviour, I can think of many instances where it is. (Read more...)
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Suzuki and Montessori versus Today's Culture
by Chris Lewis
In a speech to parents at the recent NZSI workshop at St Cuthberts College in Auckland, visiting American violin tutor, Craig Timmerman, stated that the ideas of Dr Maria Montessori and Dr Suzuki have had an enormous impact on childhood education throughout the world. (Read more...)
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Novels for the Libertarian Soul
by David Bertelsen
Reviews of Chocolat by Joanne Harris and Full Circle by Bob Jones. (Read more...)
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 Seatbelt, Señor?
by David Bertelsen
Forget the so-called "Freedom Index." If you want to measure economic freedom, yes, well maybe, just maybe, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States are the world's "libertarian paradises." That's if you measure an ideal way of life in dollars, cents and economic freedom. But to me, as a libertarian and an Objectivist, there are other important things that determine how good a place is to live in. Joy, passion, excitement. A sense of living life to the fullest. A healthy cynicism towards government, regulations, environmentalists, religion, opinion polls, vegetarians, animal rights activists, and easy-listening radio stations. All of these things are worth getting out of bed for, whereas the Capital Flows and Foreign Investment Grading Scale strikes me as a bit of a snorer. (Read more...)
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Reason, Freedom & Excitement
by Michael Koziarski
As our state slides further down the slope from freedom to increased state control, the readers of this magazine may, quite rightly, become increasingly agitated. As our nation's "philosophers" become more and more irrational and subjectivistic, students of philosophy may, quite rightly, also become more and more agitated. Yet as our nation's composers, writers, film-makers, sculptors and painters slip down the corollary slope for artistic endeavours, almost no one speaks out. It seems that while, thanks to the efforts of The Free Radical and, increasingly, Objectivist Forums, people know a breach of rights or irrational thinking when they see it, no one notices the artistic equivalents of these things. (Read more...)
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Nader's Delusions
by Tibor R. Machan
Most of us have heard of Ralph Nader, the so-called consumer advocate and, by the lights of most Democrats, the spoiler of the 2000 presidential election. In fact, Nader spoiled nothing much, when the numbers are closely explored, but it is always convenient for the psyche to have on hand some scapegoat on whom to blame one's bad fortunes. The fact is, Al Gore just didn't cut it with enough folks to do what by all political estimates he should have done this time, namely walk away with the prize. (Read more...)
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 There Will be "A Great Debate"
by Tibor R. Machan
In a recent column of his in USA Today, Walter Shapiro intones as follows: "The unseemly haste of the tax-cut drive brings with it a little-noticed cost: the elimination of a full-throated national debate over how best to use the anticipated budget surplus." (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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Boys Don’t Cry
by Robert White
Brandon Teena turned up on the front door of his girlfriend’s home at 6.00 am Christmas morning in 1993, bruised and bloodied. He had been exposed, earlier that morning, as a woman. He had also been raped by his two closest friends, including the man he regarded as a role model, and as a type of father figure. Three days later, at the age of 21, Brandon Teena was shot dead by the men who had raped him, and then he was stabbed, and then shot again. An unspent bullet was found on the floor, between Brandon Teena’s legs, a testament to the small-minded hate that prematurely snuffed out a life. (Read more...)
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Dead Poets Society
by Robert White
Few works of art affect me as profoundly as the Dead Poets Society. It arouses my emotions, inflames my mind and inspires my soul. It carries me to the heights of ecstasy, and reduces me to tears. I have watched the Dead Poets Society many times over the past eleven years, and each time I see it my love for it deepens, as my love for it becomes more conscious. A great work of art is like a great woman - it caresses the soul, stirs the passions, excites the imagination and leaves one feeling alive - where feeling alive means not a grey, undifferentiated weight, but a command to rise - a command to seize the day, and make one's life extraordinary. Dead Poets Society is set at the Welton Academy, an elite preparatory school for boys. The four pillars of the school's philosophy are: tradition, honour, discipline and excellence. John Keating (played by Robin Williams) is an ex-pupil of the school and its new English teacher. He believes that the purpose of education is to teach students to think for themselves. This belief brings him into conflict with the school's administration. (Read more...)
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 Odyssey
by Bill Grazier
I have been a libertarian for years. Ever since the betrayal of the "Republican revolution", I have stepped away from my once-conservative roots and embraced true freedom and liberty. In the time since, I feel that I've learned a lot about the ideology of freedom and would consider myself a good libertarian. (Read more...)
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Libertarianism: An Objective Evaluation
by Logan Feys
"Libertarianism" has driven a wedge through organized Objectivism, dividing it into two disparate camps. On one side of the rift are "tolerationists" who openly embrace libertarianism. On the other are "moralizers" who denounce libertarianism as "an evil doctrine." (Read more...)
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Terrorism and Postmodern Art
by Michael Newberry
A Wonder of the World. Gone. To witness the obliteration of those glowing, lithe twins was a shock beyond comprehension. They were so playful; light danced on them as they stretched up towards the sky. They were so free; you could not say that they stood tall with pride because they were so unselfconscious of their beauty and height. They were so innocent; they believed in friendship, progress, creation, and joy. They were. (Read more...)
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Lindsay Perigo Interviews Barbara Branden
by Barbara Branden
Lindsay interviews Barbara (Read more...)
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Dogma and Development - Thoughts on the evolution of Objectivism
by Barry Kayton
Four decades after the publication of Atlas Shrugged, the groundswell of people familiar with Ayn Rand and Objectivism continues to grow. Year after year, Ayn Rand's fiction attracts bright, eager, young people, many seeking a golden highway to Galt's Gulch. But beyond Ayn Rand's fiction lies a disappointingly narrow land of interesting articles, abstract philosophy and, for many, authoritative dogma. (Read more...)
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The Twisting of Blame
by Joseph Rowlands
We’re constantly being assaulted by nonsense about big business controlling and manipulating government at the expense of us. Not to fear, though. The defenders of capitalism have stood their ground. They state unequivocally that those businessmen are not elements of capitalism. They are a part of a mixed-economy. That under a truly free market, they wouldn’t be able to buy these favors. This is what I call winning the battle, and losing the war. (Read more...)
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Libertarianism and Moral Disintegration
by Joseph Rowlands
I was having a discussion with a libertarian friend the other day. I was talking about how offended I am at "modern art". How splashing paint onto a canvass was not art. That the creators of such garbage are not artists, but con artists.
He then said something that surprised me. He said that there was nothing wrong with modern art. He didn't know what I was complaining about. After all, the painters weren't initiating force against anyone. (Read more...)
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Reason and Passion
by Joseph Rowlands
Due to the lack of understanding of the roles of reason and passion, people have chosen a side at the expense of the other. The men of reason have opted for cold, dry logic in an attempt to show their objectivity and seriousness. The defenders of reason have surrendered passion to the irrational. It's time to reclaim it. (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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