 Aid Only Feeds Africa's Corruption
by Carl Mortishead
Ask Andrew Mwenda how rich nations can help Africa and you get a quick and disturbing answer.
“The best thing the West can do is nothing,” he says.
The Ugandan journalist and broadcaster is in London telling anyone who is prepared to listen that aid has been a disaster for Africa, fuelling corruption and hindering development. (Read more...)
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Virgin on Track for Passenger Space Trips
by Associated Press
British billionaire Richard Branson's latest venture will take you into space for a cool $200,000. (Read more...)
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Thursday
September 21, 2006 |
 CHARITY? NO, HUMBUG
by Doug Casey
Here is Doug Casey's excellent take on Warren Buffett's gift to the Gates Foundation. This appeared in Doug Casey's investment newsletter, International Speculator. Casey has been an investment writer for many years and travels the world. (Read more...)
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Wednesday
September 20, 2006 |
The Pope vs. Islam: Who Stands for Reason?
by Ed Hudgins
Islamists complain about the Pope's quote from an old emperor about their religion but they prove the quote correct in their violent, irrational reactions. But in the Pope's speech he fails to understand that it is putting faith above reason that causes such violence and is responsible for most of the world's problems today. (Read more...)
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Tuesday
September 19, 2006 |
 Plain Truth
by John Paul Sherman
And hordes of falsehood ravaged the land,
... (Read more...)
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Arabs’ Handling of Dissent
by Tibor R. Machan
It is interesting to notice, by the way, that here is where the Marxist-Leninist Left is very close to the radical Muslims. They, too, make everything political, everything subject to a physical conflict, to coercion. (Read more...)
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"Progressives" Aren't Progressive
by Tibor R. Machan
At my university I was sitting at one interminably long meeting where sadly much time is wasted and little gets done. But during one of the discussions the person who was the leader made the point that there are faculty members of different political persuasion (a piece of vital information we all needed to be provided) and divided them into two groups, conservative and progressive. By this was meant something simply descriptive and showing not kind of bias at all. (Read more...)
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Thursday
September 14, 2006 |
 Higher Levels of Abstraction
by Joseph Rowlands
Let's continue on the theme of concepts. We've discussed the process of concept formation already, and this is most easily seen when the referents are perceptual existents. That means it's easiest when you can directly see what you're talking about. So length, color, and cars are all easy examples. These are all concepts formed at the perceptual level. You see them out in the world, and can point to them. (Read more...)
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Wednesday
September 13, 2006 |
Revisiting the Intellectual Heritage of a Free Society
by Edward W. Younkins
This essay surveys and revisits the intellectual heritage of a free society. The origins of theoretical arguments for a free society make up a long and distinguished tradition which stretches back at least to the 6th Century B.C. and spans writers until the present day. Elements of the liberal outlook have been discove... (Read more...)
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Tuesday
September 12, 2006 |
A 911 Call
by Lorie Sjogren
Mourn our dead enshrined in dust
... (Read more...)
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An Analysis of David Gulbraa's "Tales of the Mall Masters"
by Kenny Lo
Editor's note: This is the last of the pieces submitted by Ed Younkin's students.
"Tales of the Mall Masters" by David Gulbraa is a brilliant comparison of American free market capitalism society and Middle Eastern religious market society. On the surface most readers will not agree with me since the dominant religion portrayed in the book is Christianity. However, today some Middle Eastern societies are governed by their holy book the Koran similar to the novel's Christian bible.
(Read more...)
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Thursday
September 7, 2006 |
Demeaning Work?
by Tibor R. Machan
So my CBS TV morning news program reports that whereas on average Americans take 10 days vacation per year, the Germans, French, Italians and other Europeans are up there with 25 days or near it. OK, so what? The report suggests one interpretation of these data: Americans cannot relax, while Europeans can. Americans are workaholics, while Europeans have a more sensible approach to work. (Read more...)
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Wednesday
September 6, 2006 |
Dialogue Along Stone-Dark Corridors
by John Paul Sherman
"Guard-watch says he died rather well."
... (Read more...)
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Definitions and Words
by Joseph Rowlands
We just discussed how concepts are formed. There's a little more to know about the topic. At the point I ended the concept formation discussion, we had completed the process of abstraction. But to retain the concept, it needs to go a little further. (Read more...)
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Happy Labor Day: We're All Workers!
by Ed Hudgins
The assumption behind Labor Day is that workers are distinct from managers, investors and entrepreneurs. But these roles are artificial. We're all workers and all workers should realize they're entrepreneurs, managers and investors in their own lives. (Read more...)
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 Rationality
by W Chase
Rationality. This word gets tossed around a lot. Throughout such semantic tug ‘o wars, it often gets twisted, stretched and misused. Many use it as if to refer to a mere social convention that arbitrates a vague, “proper” way to think and act. Consequently, we see many others that react to this sort of ambiguous misuse of the word and wail against their newly malformed concept of rationality; as some arbitrary, restrictive and often burdensome social custom. As a few amongst us may know, this is an irrational perspective of rationality.
So then, what is rationality? (Read more...)
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The Mid East Crisis
by Tibor R. Machan
When the Hizbullah initially kidnapped the Israeli soldiers, the event that seems to have sparked the current crisis, I was traveling in Europe with only the International Herald Tribune, CNN, BBC and some German newscasts available to keep me up to snuff. I also had a chance to talk with several people from the region itself. (Read more...)
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Concept Formation
by Joseph Rowlands
It's time to go over exactly how a concept is formed. Understanding this process can help you in several ways. First, by understanding how they are formed, you get a better idea of what a concept is. By understanding the method, you can learn to perform it more efficiently, and more accurately. You'll learn the kinds of mistakes that can happen if someone doesn't construct a concept correctly. You'll be able to understand the limits and advantages of conceptual thought. (Read more...)
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Objectivism, "Contextual Knowledge" and the Correspondence Theory of Truth: Conclusion
by William Scott Dwyer
In this, the final part of my article, I expose the contradictions in Schwartz's application of his principle that a seemingly true conclusion arrived at on the basis of false premises is a false conclusion. Despite his principle, Schwartz considers von Mises, whose epistemology and ethics depart radically from Objectivism's, to be a proponent of individualism and an ally in the fight for freedom and capitalism, while nevertheless arguing that libertarians cannot be considered allies, because they do not share Objectivism's premises. He is also at odds with Ayn Rand who is on record as stating that she considered some religious people to be supporters of Objectivism and allies in the fight for freedom. (Read more...)
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 Concepts
by Joseph Rowlands
Ayn Rand wrote a series of articles called Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, which eventually became a book. It was only ever designed as an introduction, not even covering many aspects of epistemology. The one issue she thought was most critical was the nature of concepts. And that's what we'll discuss on this thread. (Read more...)
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Pro-Lifers Guilty of Mass Murder!
by Roger E. Bissell
The Rhythm Method of contraception causes more embryonic deaths than birth control and morning after pills -- rivalling even the number of deaths due to abortion -- so Right to Lifers are in no position to criticize the morality of other people's methods of contraception. (Read more...)
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Wishful Thinking From Mr. Lind
by Tibor R. Machan
In the August 16th issue of the Financial Times Michael Lind, senior fellow at the New America Foundation and author of The American Way of Strategy (OUP, October 2006), penned a piece titled "The Unmourned End of Libertarian Politics." Immediately you could tell something fishy is going to be presented to you here because it is one of the most obvious facts of recent American politics that the libertarians have had hardly any role in it. (Read more...)
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 Objectivism and the Five Loves
by Luke Setzer
This submission delivers on my promise to post an article with this title. It also constitutes the eighth chapter of my book The Vision-Driven Life which I outlined on this site earlier this year. This particular selection continues the Objectivist examination of the rational basis of emotions and its ties to recent research. It discusses how one must deliberately embrace the Objectivist ethics in order to program his emotions most effectively for living in this world. (Read more...)
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Eliminating the Altruistic Baggage
by Joseph Rowlands
Coming from an altruistic culture, there are mental habits and assumptions that get carried with you even when you decide to adopt an ethics of rational self-interest. Here is a discussion of how these implict ideas can affect your worldview. This speech was delivered at The Objectivist Center/ The Atlas Society summer seminar in July of 2006. (Read more...)
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 Apotheosis: The Virtue of Perfectionism
by W Chase
Perfectionism means living, and acting at 100% all the time – not merely here and there, wherever or whenever one feels like it. Perfectionism is not impractical – to the contrary. Striving towards perfection is the only practical guide to action – anything less is impractical and therefore, evil; read: anti-life. Let us see why, using a simple example, supposing you are about to take a test in any given class. (Read more...)
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