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Wednesday, October 10, 2007 - 9:21amSanction this postReply
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Well done piece....

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007 - 9:52amSanction this postReply
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David Kelley's article has been reprinted here, on The Atlas Society website.

Post 2

Wednesday, October 10, 2007 - 7:17pmSanction this postReply
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     That...
     ...was...
     ...GREAT!
 
     'Bout time that was spelled out in a major print-media outlet. (Gates, Forbes: did you read it?)

     Maybe soon we'll be hearing this on the TV-pundit shows? THAT's when, 'controversy' arguments or non, real change will start in our culture...and, therefore, our politics/politicians.

     Kudos, Kelley.

LLAP
J:D


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Wednesday, October 10, 2007 - 7:48pmSanction this postReply
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David did indeed do a great job.

Interestingly, the editor of his article at The Wall Street Journal was Howard Dickman.

Howard is a long-time Objectivist.

Howard was also my editor at Reader's Digest.

One of these days, Howard -- who always remains in the background -- will get full credit for his quiet influence.

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007 - 8:35pmSanction this postReply
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John:
Maybe soon we'll be hearing this on the TV-pundit shows?
see:


Post 31

Wednesday, October 10 - 6:14pmSanction this postReply
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Atlas Celebration from Washington, DC, on TV-Sat Oct 13-over 3 hours discussing Ayn Rand's impact today!


http://rebirthofreason.com/Forum/GeneralForum/1118_1.shtml


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Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 5:33amSanction this postReply
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Yes, a piece well done.

I liked, especially, the excerpted Hank Rearden quote from Atlas Shrugged, which bears repeating ...

"I work for nothing but my own profit -- which I make by selling a product they need to men who are willing and able to buy it. I do not produce it for their benefit at the expense of mine, and they do not buy it for my benefit at the expense of theirs; I do not sacrifice my interests to them nor do they sacrifice theirs to me; we deal as equals by mutual consent to mutual advantage -- and I am proud of every penny that I have earned in this manner…"
What clear & concise distillation of a moral issue!

Ed


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Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 10:41amSanction this postReply
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This was nice.  And I actually bought the WSJ for the first time in years.

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Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 12:46pmSanction this postReply
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Let me add my kudos.

Especially for the wonderful way David expresses himself in everyday language and still gets exactly to the heart of the issue.

I especially liked his explanation of Rand's solution to the 'paradoxical moral issue' of how 'vice' can produce good that bedeviled Adam Smith:

"Economists have also known for a long time that trade is a positive sum game, yet most defenders of capitalism still wrestle with the "paradox" posed in the 18th century by Adam Ferguson and Adam Smith: how private vice can produce public good, how the pursuit of self-interest yields benefits for all. Rand cut that Gordian knot in the novel by denying that the pursuit of self-interest is a vice. Precisely because trade is not a zero-sum game, Rand challenges the age-old moral view that one must be either a giver or a taker."

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Post 8

Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 4:11pmSanction this postReply
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Yep. You're right, Steve. You don't need vitriol and venom to make a strong, uncompromising, principled case to the uninitiated. That's juvenile self-indulgence. Instead, read David's closing paragraphs.

If that is weak or compromising, then I'll publicly eat a copy of the newspaper.

One of the finest things David accomplished in this piece was to invite America's business leaders to go beyond what they might obviously like about Rand's novels -- her positive, romantic portraits of entrepreneurs and business people -- and instead to dig and think deeper: to Rand's core message about individualism and selfishness.

That this message -- an uncompromising defense of personal self-interest -- went out to the cream of the crop of the business world, published on what many believe is the most influential editorial page in America, simply thrills me. And it ought to thrill all of you, too.

Folks, this wasn't just a home run,. This was a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth in the seventh game of the World Series.

Study it closely, and you will learn how real influence is achieved in our world.




(Edited by Robert Bidinotto on 10/11, 4:14pm)


Post 9

Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 4:35pmSanction this postReply
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"Study it closely, and you will learn how real influence is achieved in our world."
Bravo, David Kelly and Robert Bidinotto !

(Edited by Gigi P Morton on 10/11, 4:42pm)


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Friday, October 12, 2007 - 8:29amSanction this postReply
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Robert said:

…published on what many believe is the most influential editorial page in America, simply thrills me. And it ought to thrill all of you, too.

It truly does, Robert.  I couldn’t be more delighted.  It’s been a great few weeks for The Atlas Society.  You and the people at TAS have earned all the praise you’re getting.  The only downside is that the announcement of your winning the “Eddie” award was pushed off the homepage of The Atlas Society.  Ah, fame is such a fleeting thing.

Thanks,

Glenn


Post 11

Friday, October 12, 2007 - 10:21amSanction this postReply
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Ah yes, Glenn. Clearly, news of that Folio Award is the most important thing we could possibly trumpet.

And to think that today, everyone is talking about a mere Nobel Prize...

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Post 12

Saturday, October 13, 2007 - 8:40pmSanction this postReply
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> Folks, this wasn't just a home run,. This was a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth in the seventh game of the World Series. Study it closely, and you will learn how real influence is achieved in our world. [Robert]

I agree! Look at how well (and persuasively) it's written:

In the second paragraph he concretizes how businessmen are viewed and treated today in a way that drives that point home. He doesn't just state it abstractly. Then he arouses further interest by listing well-known names who have been influenced by Ayn Rand. After the abstract statement of her value (to this audience of readers) of her moral defense, he concretizes further arousing interest (or remembrance from a long ago reading) about who the people he mentions - Rearden, Dagny, Francisco - are. And a great quote about the symphony and the coal mine. Then the moral issues, including the strike, the issue of sacrifice, the right to produce and trade freely.

The 'logical structure' of the essay, to coin a phrase :-), is quite effective.

> One of the finest things David accomplished in this piece was to invite America's business leaders to go beyond what they might obviously like about Rand's novels -- her positive, romantic portraits of entrepreneurs and business people -- and instead to dig and think deeper: to Rand's core message about individualism and selfishness.

And that's exactly what needed to be done for this audience. This isn't "Vanity Fair".

So much for the unjust stereotype of David Kelley as an appeaser, compromiser, who is trying to insert Objectivism into the culture by watering it down or never mentioning the controversial parts. (I mean how much more direct can you get than the Rearden "I work for nothing but my own profit" quote. Duh!!)

People who say things like the above about Kelley should actually engage their brains and try reading what he writes once in a while. (Unless they were expecting a treatise on selfishness in a book on the evidence of the senses?)



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Saturday, October 13, 2007 - 8:45pmSanction this postReply
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Phil, I know that David would very much appreciate your comment. I certainly do. Thanks.

Post 14

Sunday, October 14, 2007 - 5:47amSanction this postReply
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This is the most exciting thing I've read coming out of the O'st circles in the long long time!

Kelley sure knows how to cut to the chase!  Excellent!  All of it!


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