RoR: Forum

I'll dare to be honest. My impression of 'activism' is that of idealistic but misguided college kids holding political demonstrations on issues they don't understand and which will have no effect on the powers that be. If someone has some other tactics in mind for Oist activism I'm all ears though.

Post 1

Thursday, December 1, 2005 - 5:39am

Activism can include activities such as:

Writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper using Objectivist principles.
Running a local discussion group about Objectivism.
Encouraging peers of ability to read the works of Ayn Rand.
Contributing financial support to organizations like ARI, TOC and RoR.
Speaking about Objectivist topics and themes in your local Toastmasters Club.

Post 2

Thursday, December 1, 2005 - 5:56am

Letters to the editor I see as similarly productive to political demonstrations. Local discussion groups about Objectivism are not without merit and can be personally enriching - but in my experience they are always preaching to the choir and not a means to spread Objectivism. Encouraging peers to read Rand of course is an easy act-locally tactic, and if that suffices then we are indeed all activists.

Financially supporting organizations begs the question of what activities they partake in. For ARI, despite whatever faults it has, their distributing free Rand literature and lesson plans to schoolteachers strikes me as a remarkably wise approach. Are there other examples for TOC or the newly reborn RoR?

Your best note though was the Toastmasters Club. Personally it does seem that speaking to a specific small audience of intelligent non-Oist people would be one of the more likely means to find recruits. Are you in Toastmasters? If so, have you had success bringing new people to Objectivism via it?

Post 3

Thursday, December 1, 2005 - 6:01am

Yes, Aaron, I am a Toastmaster.

People generally "get" my message especially if I couch it in traditional American terms, e.g., the virtue of productiveness, etc. I cannot honestly say that I have "converted" anyone to Objectivism with my speeches, but I have won awards at various levels using speeches with implicitly Objectivist themes. Check the RoR Toastmasters page to read some of these speeches.

EDIT: I need to fix all the links to the speeches so they point to the new site. You can check my article archives in the mean time.

(Edited by Luke Setzer on 12/01, 6:05am)

Post 4

Thursday, December 1, 2005 - 11:09am

I incorporate, into my University courses, relevant insights from Ayn Rand's work, mainly on the epistemological issues that are fundamental to the disciplines (Information Systems: Networks, Computers, Software, User Interfaces, Knowledge Systems) in which I teach. I count it as activism, but others may differ.

Post 5

Thursday, December 1, 2005 - 12:34pm

Adam, that is definitely activism. Anything that spreads or arouses interest in the philosphy..or prepares someone to be a better role model for the philosophy.

(Including poetry, personal stories, and many things without a -direct- connection to Objectivism, as I argued on another thread.)

Phil

PS, anything that spreads Objectivism on an epistemological level like what you describe is a deeper and more telling kind of activism than political marching and carrying placards or emailing against the latest government expansion. Good job!

Post 6

Thursday, December 1, 2005 - 12:37pm

> relevant insights from Ayn Rand's work, mainly on the epistemological issues that are fundamental to the disciplines (Information Systems: Networks, Computers, Software, User Interfaces, Knowledge Systems) in which I teach

That would be the source for a really great "survey" article!!

Explaining each point simply...especially if you can do it without jargon and briefly, essentially, non-longwindedly. And for audiences who are not computer or IT heavyweights.

Post 7

Thursday, December 1, 2005 - 9:38pm

I voted Yes. I will have more to say on this in a few days. Here is the opening paragraph:

LIMITS AND POTENTIALS OF ACTIVISM
Objectivists define their terms. Therefore, I will specify mine. "Actvism" brings up images of picketing the courthouse, leafleting political rallies, or at least writing letter after letter to editors and parliamentarians. That is political activism. Another kind of activism is speaking your mind, expressing political or philosophical opinions, in order to convince or persuade and opponent. I call that social activism. Personal activism is announcing your values because you know that they will resonate with someone who shares them.

Post 8

Friday, December 2, 2005 - 2:25am

I just looked at both the new sites, and I'm glad to see this one. Of course, I voted yes.

Post 9

Friday, December 2, 2005 - 2:32am

So far we have 38 activists. That's great. What I'd really like to see is each activist write an article about what they do as activists. Or maybe what they think is the most important thing that should be done in activism. I think it would be great to share concrete ideas about the kinds of activism that can be done. Adam Reed's description of how he incorporates Objectivist ideas in his courses would be an excellent article, for instance.

Post 10

Friday, December 2, 2005 - 9:44am

Because I am a 'themescapist', and my works deal with the metaphorical aspect of showing contemplation to that "...sense of his completed task, the sense of living in a universe where his values have been successfully achieved" (Ayn Rand), whenever I do a show, there is clear written blurbs alongside the works explaining this - quotes from Rand...

As, to finish the above -

"Art gives him that -

"The pleasure of contemplating the objectified reality of one's own sense of life is the pleasure of feeling what it would be like to live in one's ideal world." (Ayn Rand)

And while my blog site www.visioneerwindows.blogspot.com enlarges on this, tho it is not seen much by others, it is out there, and it is more a matter of links to increase its being awared...

(Edited by robert malcom on 12/02, 9:47am)

Post 11

Friday, December 2, 2005 - 11:36am

Question for Joe: Since you've splintered off to make an activism-focused site I was wondering if it was alright for us non-Oist activists to still participate in the forums. I like your emphasis on activism and I don't want to get in the way of that.

Sarah

Post 12

Saturday, December 3, 2005 - 3:37pm

I voted YES.

Katdaddy cleaned up the Romance page, added photo galleries so people could share their successes with others, has advertised for it, and even started a personals section where people can better find romance. She's also written on other lists about her positive experiences on SoloHQ, and has helped Luke on some of the local club stuff.

Thanks Joe for your acknowledgements of some of the things I've done in the area of outreach. I think the local groups are very important and create a sense of community. Invite people to your group or start a new one.

Seek out companionship with others in order to learn and live the philosophy.  Date, mate, procreate. Bonk like bunnies and make baby Objectivists, yeah....   ;-)

Ok, silliness aside, I'm sure that there are many of us out there who have been touched by Atlas Shrugged and have identified with Ayn Rand's philosophy, but have never met anyone else who has. It seems that most people discover Objectivism by someone recommending a book like Atlas or Fountainhead.    Have you turned anyone on to Rand that way? There is a boxed set out there now just in time for holiday gift giving. Share Objectivism.

Kat

Post 13

Saturday, December 3, 2005 - 6:47pm

Sarah, if you come to the site with the desire to learn more about our ideas, I'm happy to have you participate. I don't see this site as a battleground where non-Objectivists should come to debate Objectivists. That's never really worked well in the past. But we do benefit from honest and polite participants wanting to learn more.

Katdaddy, you're welcome. And thank you for so many positive contributions.

Let me add that used book sales often have extra copies of Ayn Rand's books for dirt cheap. Sometimes 50 cents a copy. Jeff Landauer goes to these occasionally and brings home a bag of them to give out to people. We always keep spare copies around. It's far easier to say "read this" than it is to say "Go find this book in a bookstore or library and read it".

Post 14

Monday, December 5, 2005 - 4:52pm