 Was Jesus A Socialist?
by Lawrence W. Reed
"Regardless of your religious beliefs, Larry Reed proves it takes a wild leap of imagination to view Jesus as a Progressive Socialist. This is a critically important issue because secular Progressives would like to control the moral high ground by capturing religion to support their elitist, statist ideology, which would allow them to do even more damage to genuine human flourishing." — John A. Allison, President and CEO, Cato Institute (Read more...)
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 AN OBJECTIVIST’S VIEWPOINT OF THE DEATH PENALTY
by Manfred F. Schieder
This article summarizes the author's viewpoint on the application of the death penalty in the case of willful murder as a means of social hygiene. (Read more...)
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 The Focus on Intentions
by Joseph Rowlands
The political left is focused on intentions more than actual results. If a debate over a healthcare policy happens, they will view the debate in terms of one side desiring free or cheap healthcare for people and the other side desiring that some people not be able to afford healthcare. Conservatives might argue that th... (Read more...)
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Who Should Vote?
by Michael E. Marotta
If you claim that in a better future those who cannot pay a poll tax will not vote, that is one proposal, in isolation. If you claim that “someone on welfare should not vote here and now” you must accept that in a mixed economy everyone is “on welfare”; and some people “on welfare” deserve to vote. (Read more...)
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Strength and Weakness of Socialism
by Manfred F. Schieder
Which is the strength and, at the same time, total weakness of Socialism or why does Capitalism fail in its endeavor to convince, while giving such good benefits to the general population in the rarely attained opportunities when it is effectively applied? (Read more...)
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More Mind-Body Dichotomy
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the parts of Objectivist theory that I disagree with is the idea that rationality is the primary virtue. According to this view, all of the other virtues are mere sub-divisions of rationality. The virtues focus on one aspect of rationality. For instance, honesty is viewed in terms of not creating a fake reality.... (Read more...)
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Different Standards in Politics
by Joseph Rowlands
There is a major source of confusion in politics. While people recognize that they can't seem to communicate, they always assume the problem is on the other side. Either their political opponents are ignorant, possibly intentionally ignorant, or they are just evil and are pursuing destructive goals.
... (Read more...)
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WHY IS CAPITALISM HATED?
by Manfred F. Schieder
An Objectivist analysis of the motives that move people to hate Capitalism. (Read more...)
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The Left and Intentions
by Joseph Rowlands
To understand the political left, the role of intentions in their ideology needs to be understood clearly. It informs their entire perspective. It is the foundation of their understanding of the nature of politics, opposing views, and the explanation for various consequences.
... (Read more...)
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Faith in Free Markets
by Joseph Rowlands
Free markets are well known to be efficient, to drive down costs through competition, and to increase the total amount of wealth produced. Unfortunately, people often treat free markets as some kind of magical process, guaranteeing efficient results no matter the circumstances. Anarcho-capitalists treat free market thi... (Read more...)
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Conservatives Are Not Friends of Freedom
by Joseph Rowlands
The reasons why people support an idea or institution determine how far and what context they are willing to support it. This is particularly true of the conservative friendliness towards free market.
... (Read more...)
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Is Altruism Practical?
by Joseph Rowlands
Conservatives and liberals, for lack of better names for them, have major ideological differences. At the same time, they share some fundamental premises. I believe the differences and similarities rest on a single question. Is altruism practical?
... (Read more...)
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Progressivism and Paternalism
by Joseph Rowlands
The political left is often viewed as a homogenous group sharing roughly the same vision of the proper role of government and valuing the same set of policies. While individuals will always vary, it often appears that there is little actual variance. However, there are really two entirely different worldviews that happ... (Read more...)
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Thursday
December 25, 2014 |
Fair Share
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the most common, and most poisonous, ideas in politics is the idea of paying a fair share. Politicians, particularly leftist politicians, repeated this phrase over and over to justify ever greater taxes and government intervention. The claim is that they only want the rich to pay an appropriate amount, and that ... (Read more...)
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Thursday
December 11, 2014 |
Trust and Betrayal
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the most significant means of achieving values is through cooperation with others. We rely on others in all kinds of ways. We gain information from them so we can act in an informed way. We get second opinions from them, so we can add some assurance that our analysis is correct. We rely on them in business or ot... (Read more...)
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Wednesday
December 3, 2014 |
White Lies
by Joseph Rowlands
One variant of dishonesty comes in the form of so-called 'white' lies. These are lies told in order to make someone feel better or not be confronted with a painful truth. You might tell someone that you like their cooking, or that they look good in that dress, or that they haven't gained weight. These are lies that use... (Read more...)
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Standard versus Goal
by Joseph Rowlands
There's a longstanding debate on Objectivist forums over what is the proper standard of morality. One view, taken by Rand, is that survival is the standard. Others are unhappy with this and promote flourishing as the alternative. Which is the better standard?
... (Read more...)
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Thursday
November 13, 2014 |
Moral Landscape Review
by Joseph Rowlands
The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris is a book with a theme I entirely agree with. He attempts to make the case that morality can be objectively defined, and consequently can benefit from scientific investigation and the determination of facts. In contrast, far too many people see morality as entirely disconnected from fa... (Read more...)
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Wednesday
November 5, 2014 |
Defining Anarchy
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the problems with discussing politics with "anarcho-capitalists" or "libertarian anarchists" or whatever they go by, is there is so rarely a definition given for what they are promoting. They will often claim to be for a society without a government, but that's not clear. It's a negative description, and one pos... (Read more...)
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Religious Excuses
by Joseph Rowlands
Reality exists and behaves regardless of our desires or beliefs. If you act on faulty information, your action will likely fail. If you think an old bridge should hold your weight, and you try to walk across, you may find out the hard way that believing something doesn't make it so.
... (Read more...)
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Religion and Tolerance
by Joseph Rowlands
I recently heard stories of atheists living in deeply religious communities. They were having problems being open about their disbelief because of the probable backlash. One mentioned telling his family that he was an atheist, and they were horrified and demanded that he not tell anyone else, since they might all be os... (Read more...)
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Incompatibility of Altruism and Egoism
by Joseph Rowlands
A question that comes up often is whether it is possible for an action to be both altruistic and egoistic. Is a morality of self-interest always in conflict with a morality of altruism? Or is it just some choices that conflict?
... (Read more...)
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Wednesday
September 24, 2014 |
Bottom-up View of Government
by Joseph Rowlands
There are two ways of approaching the topic of government from the perspective of justifying it. Ayn Rand used a top-down perspective. She recognized the need for individual rights to be protected, and asserted the need for some group or organization to exist that defends those rights. The group or organization is gove... (Read more...)
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Thursday
September 18, 2014 |
There is no John Galt - and that's worse
by Michael E. Marotta
What you tax you get less of; and what you subsidize you get more of. The brightest people in the world are making video games; and no one is on the Moon. It did not take a genius to figure this out: it is a universal law of human action. There is a destroyer loose in the who is shutting off the motor of the world, slowing the engine of creation, tapping out the extra power of invention. But it is not one person whose name is a question.
(Read more...)
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Thursday
September 11, 2014 |
Doubting One’s Mind
by Tibor R. Machan
A central topic of philosophy throughout the ages has been whether human
beings can trust their minds, including their sensory awareness and
thinking. Skepticism about this has been a major challenge and many from
Socrates to such recent and current thinkers as Ayn Rand and John Searle
have responded with more or less elaborate arguments defending our
capacity to get things right about the world. (Read more...)
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