 Catering to Altruists
by Tibor R. Machan
It is pathetic how perverse an idea of political leadership guides this
new president. He should back off already. (Read more...)
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The Primary-Secondary Quality Distinction
by Merlin Jetton
Commentary on the primary-secondary quality distinction. (Read more...)
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Do All of us Expect to be Millionaires?
by Tibor R. Machan
Sunday is the day when even profit making broadcasters must do service or
pro bono work. And this mostly consists of broadcasting programs
misleadingly labeled "public affairs." (I say this because none of these
programs is actually about what matters to everyone, to the public, but
only to one or another special interest group and, mostly to bureaucrats
and their groupies.)
(Read more...)
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Dinner at the White House - a parable
by Richard Gleaves
Once upon a time, I was invited to the White House for a private dinner with the President. I am a respected businessman, with a factory that produces memory chips for computers and portable electronics. There was some talk that my industry was being scrutinized by the administration, but I paid it no mind. I live in a... (Read more...)
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 Implementing Capitalism
by Manfred F. Schieder
The implementation of liberalism (in the European sense of the term) as the future social system and Capitalism as its economic tool, requires the previous training of the future administrators that will take up the practical task of reforming the present form and content of governments into Administrations of the Means of Defense of the Rights of the Individual. This article contemplates some of the topics involved. (Read more...)
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Leonard Peikoff vs. Philosophy
by Barry Loberfeld
After almost 20 years, "Leonard Peikoff vs. Philosophy" — my reply to his "Fact and Value" — is now available (and illustrated) online. (Read more...)
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 "Rewards" of Determinism?
by Tibor R. Machan
Anytime in arguments among intellectuals motivations are introduced, one
risks taking a false step. First, few people know why others champion a
position on some controversial topic, although sometimes one can guess
fairly well. Still, it is strictly speaking bad form to raise the issue of
motives. (Read more...)
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 The Dubai Marvels
by Manfred F. Schieder
The architectural and engineering achievements being nowadays set up in Dubai, at the United Arab Emirates, are testimonies of human ingenuity and capacity, but they are also symbols marking the amazing depth that human immorality has now reached. Peaceful, productive life and togetherness among different human races, nations and populations require from all involved a strict adherence to the personal, individual rights to life and limb. (Read more...)
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Guaranteed Health Care?
by Tibor R. Machan
Why is it taken to be a palatable notion that people should get their
health care guaranteed? Of course, there are other services that are
treated as if people had a basic right to them, such as primary and
secondary education. But then there are many services people want, even
need, that few would regard as due people as a guarantee. (Read more...)
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 Get Your Freedom Soda Here!
by Jeff Landauer
There are many small tragedies that we all suffer every day at the hands of an overbearing government. And one of these tragedies, for those of us living in the USA, is inferior sodas sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) instead of real sugar because of a combination of sugar tariffs and corn subsidies. (Read more...)
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 Charting the Course to an American Renaissance in Art and Ideas
by Alexandra York
There is no doubt that we live in a dangerous but exhilarating time. The prize is great but the stakes are high, for if we do not generate another Renaissance, then surely we shall suffer the default position of another Dark Age. (Read more...)
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Without a plan
by Tibor R. Machan
A truly free country leaves it to its citizens to plan their lives, for
better or for worse, and refuses to permit the imposition of plans on them
even by the most wise and smart among us. (Read more...)
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Eden is an Illusion
by G. Stolyarov II
Beyond being destructive, the Eden myth is simply false. There never was a "better" state from which human beings have "descended." Mr. Stolyarov explores why the Fall is an illusion that ought to be abandoned. (Read more...)
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 Tag Days: Bailouts for America's Youth
by Jake Moore
The work ethic in America has suffered erosion on an epic scale in the last ten or fifteen years, and the best way to re-establish the mindset our nation was built upon is to instill it in our children. (Read more...)
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Is Government Preparing Us for Censorship?
by Tibor R. Machan
In a series of articles on climate change the villain is gradually being
identified as, you should have guessed it, freedom of thought! (Read more...)
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 Intelligence, Animality, and Machinery
by Stephen Boydstun
In the first section, I articulate what definitely does not possess intelligence. In the second,
what definitely does possess intelligence and what intelligence, if any, might be reasonably ascribed to animals and machines. (This paper was written in 2000.) (Read more...)
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What Does It Mean to Be Educated?
by Luke Setzer
This article, spiced with a healthy dash of rant, explores the meaning and purpose of education and how one should shape one's soul using that tool. (Read more...)
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What is Fascism?
by Tibor R. Machan
So not long ago I penned a column in which I identified the economic
policies of the Obama administration's so far as fascist! In it I said
"Fascism is a political system in which a country is lead by a charismatic
leader who has full power to order things about because he (or she) is
taken to know best." (Read more...)
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Uncle Sam empties the barn
by Jim Fedako
"Unbeknownst to Bob, his wife invited her Uncle Sam to visit. Now, Uncle Sam is a real layabout. Sure, he is fun, always ready for a hearty laugh, yet he never works a job. At family reunions and get-togethers, Uncle Sam alludes to "all that money my wife left me." But folks who knew his wife never heard of any family wealth or riches..." (Read more...)
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A (Very Brief) Defense of Induction
by Barry Loberfeld
A (Very Brief) Defense of Induction by Barry Loberfeld On the blog of his “Rationally Speaking” site, American (by adoption) polymath Massimo Pigliucci, reflecting the influence of a certain Scottish polymath, recently wrote that the problem with induction is “that if the only justification for induction... (Read more...)
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Has Capitalism Been Invalidated?
by Tibor R. Machan
Wieseltier is clever and keeps talking of an open society, not a free one.
For good reason—openness is a loose idea; a door can be open to a great
variety of degrees. But a free society isn't so flexible. You are free if
you are the master of your life, if you own it, if you have your right to
it fully respected and protected. Otherwise you aren't free and the
society in which you live isn't a free one. Ask any former slave whether
freedom means not having others intrude on one’s life or whether it means
that others intrude only, say, 40 percent. (Read more...)
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RELIGULOUS: Mankind, a rational Species? Ha!
by Manfred F. Schieder
"Religulous", the movie that inspired this article, points out the fact that mankind is moving at top-speed to the abyss of its destruction due to the malevolent spirit of faith and force, the corollaries that Ayn Rand clearly described in her essay "Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World." This is a call to action to avoid this dark prospect. (Read more...)
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Some Fallacies Underlying Tifft & Sullivan’s "Needs-Based Criminology"
by Michael E. Marotta
Within the last week, there were three armed robberies in our neighborhood, two on the street and another on the campus. We learned in this class that the gunmen were motivated by their needs and that their salvation will come by meeting their needs ... (Read more...)
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Some Sense about Advertising, etc.
by Tibor R. Machan
One reason the Obama administration's stimulus policy may not work out so
well is that people aren't forced to respond to stimuli--they can turn
away, refuting the underlying assumptions of what it takes to get them out
there to buy stuff! (Read more...)
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The Real Republican Divide
by Alexandra York
Alexandra York sent me (Manfred F. Schieder) an article that I consider important for the readers of "Rebirth of Reason". "The Real Republican Divide" analyzes the intellectual contradictions existing within that party - to which Ayn Rand herself pointed in her essay "For the New Intellectual" - and lines up with what the recent article "A Call for Action" and my own "Preparing for Capitalism" request. (Read more...)
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