Fossil Fuels and Environment: McKibben vs. Epstein, Full Debate

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Sword of Apollo

On November 5th at Duke university, renowned environmentalist and AGW proponent, Bill McKibben debated Alex Epstein of the Center for Industrial Progress, on the effect that fossil fuels have on the human environment. Bill McKibben took the position that fossil fuels were harmful and an immediate threat to the human environment, while Alex Epstein took the position that fossil fuels continue to improve the environment we live in.

Here is the YouTube video of the full debate:

Here is a debate highlight from the question period: What does Bill McKibben really advocate?

Another highlight: Are affordable fossil fuels a “market failure”?

Bernie Madoff: Not Rationally Selfish, But Self-Destructive

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Sword of Apollo

Bernie Madoff is sometimes held up by critics of Ayn Rand’s ethics as a poster boy for the evil of self-interest. But far from being an example of Ayn Rand’s ethics, Madoff is a type of person that Ayn Rand explicitly condemned, because he undertook an irrational–and therefore self-destructive–scheme.

Self-interest, for Ayn Rand, does not equate to simple monetary gain, or the pleasures of any given moment. Self-interest is defined by achievement of a deeply happy life over as many years as possible. Ayn Rand recognized that it is impossible to build long-term happiness by theft or fraud. One’s long-term happiness can only be based on the production of life-sustaining/enhancing values, along with honest dealings with oneself and others.

Do you think Bernie Madoff is happy now, in prison? What about while he was running his scheme? This interview should give you a sense of how much he enjoyed himself while defrauding other people:

Does this sound like a man determined to pursue his own happiness and live his life to the fullest? What must it mean for Madoff to be happier in prison, when he has no freedom and no control over his own life, than during his con? His primary emotion while in the middle of the con scheme was fear, which indicates that he sensed his life was out of control. His lies were constantly threatening to catch up with him, and it was just a matter of time before something slipped and he was caught. Continue reading →

Obama “Read Ayn Rand” and Gets Her Views Wrong

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Sword of Apollo

In a Rolling Stone interview published today, Barack Obama distorted and misrepresented Ayn Rand’s views. Ari Armstrong of The Objective Standard responded to the president’s statements here:

Obama, Unsurprisingly, Gets Ayn Rand Wrong

The Ayn Rand Center’s blog also responded with analysis of Ayn Rand’s actual views and context that should help people understand those views:

Obama on Ayn Rand: The Annotated Version

Don Watkins has also responded to the issue Obama raised, of being an individualist and caring for other people, on the Ayn Rand Institute’s Laissez-Faire blog:

Obama’s Straw Man Attack on Ayn Rand

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The Morality of Rational Egoism: Short Notes

QuickPoint 1: Thinking is Individual

Atlas Shrugged, Altruism and Egoism

What Caused the Financial Crisis: It Wasn’t Capitalism or Deregulation

Link Highlight: Introduction to Objectivism Playlist

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Sword of Apollo

Here is a playlist of YouTube videos providing an introductory overview of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. Please give it a like if you enjoy it:

Introduction to Objectivism – Best Playlist

Debate on Fossil Fuels and Environment: McKibben vs. Epstein

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Sword of Apollo

On November 5th at Duke university, renowned environmentalist and AGW proponent, Bill McKibben will debate Alex Epstein of the Center for Industrial Progress, on the effect that fossil fuels have on the human environment.

Here is a YouTube video on the debate:

As governments enact restrictions on fossil fuel use, power plant construction, CO2 emissions, etc. it’s important to be clear on exactly what the effect of fossil fuel use is on the human environment and human life. Do they harm the planet, or do they improve it?

This debate urgently needs funds for livestreaming, recording, distribution and publicity, though. If anyone would like to donate any amount to help with this, they can go here: McKibben vs. Epstein Donations
(McKibben’s website shows he will be there: http://www.billmckibben.com/appearances.html)

Here is a video of Power Hour by Alex Epstein on the indispensable role of coal in improving the standard of living of millions of people:

QuickPoint 1: Thinking is Individual

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Sword of Apollo

There are some people who say that ideas are products of a culture as a whole–that no one stands apart from the collective.

But where do ideas come from originally? Before an idea could be in many minds, it had to be in one mind. Thus, ideas come from individual thought. People can and do learn a great deal from others through their experience, but the process of thinking is a fundamentally, inescapably individual process. Learning from others does not mean parroting word sounds, but thinking about the material you are given. Before an idea can be taught, it must be thought of by an individual. Innovative individuals are those who use their own minds to think of new ideas, and thus move the “knowledge of the culture” (i.e. the sum of the knowledge of the network of communicating individuals) forward.

When people work to solve problems as a team, any individual who isn’t thinking on his own, with his physically separate brain, will not contribute to the discussion and will not make any breakthroughs.

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Note: At some point, I will likely write a longer article on this issue.

Free Market Revolution by Yaron Brook and Don Watkins

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Sword of Apollo

Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government is now available at Amazon.

From the description:

A look at how our current crises are caused by too much government, and how Ayn Rand’s bold defense of free markets can help us change course.

The rise of the Tea Party and the 2010 election results revealed that tens of millions of Americans are alarmed by Big Government, but skeptical that anything can or will be done to stop the growth of the state. In Free Market Revolution, the keepers of Ayn Rand’s legacy argue that the answer lies in her pioneering philosophy of capitalism and self-interest -a philosophy that more and more people are turning to for answers. In the past few years, Rand’s works have surged to new peaks of popularity, as politicians like Paul Ryan, media figures like John Stossel, and businessmen like John Mackey routinely name her as one of their chief influences. Here, Brook and Watkins explain how her ideas can solve a host of political and economic ills, including the debt crisis, inflation, overregulation, and the swelling welfare state. And most important, they show how Rand’s philosophy can enable defenders of the free market to seize the moral high ground in the fight to limit government. This is a fresh and urgent look at the ideas of one of the most controversial figures in modern history – ideas that may prove the only hope for the future.

To anyone who is relatively unfamiliar with Ayn Rand’s ideas, but interested in solving our current economic and cultural problems, I encourage you to read this book. I encourage anyone who is very familiar with Rand’s ideas to tell friends about this book, loan your copy to them, or give it to them as a gift.

To purchase, click here:
Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government

EDIT: Here’s a really good video from the CATO Institute with the authors of Free Market Revolution: Free Market Revolution at CATO

How to Show That Taxation is Robbery

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Sword of Apollo

The following article is not a general proof of the Objectivist principle that the initiation of physical force is destructive to human life; but it will show that taxation is equivalent to robbery and, when carried out for wealth redistribution, is actually more harmful to more people than the robberies committed by criminals in First-World countries. (A general proof of the destructiveness of initiated force does exist, and I may go through it at some point in the future.)

The Hypothetical Showing the Connection

If I have earned, say, $1,000 this week through my own labor, and another man comes up to me, points a gun at me, and tells me to give him the money, so he can pay his rent, is this robbery? Is it legal for him to do it? What if he tells me it’s for his friend’s rent? Is that robbery/legal? What if he gets 9 of his friends and they all tell me I need to give him my money? Is that robbery/legal? What if the 10 men write up a document that says I have to give him my money, and they include me in a vote to affirm or reject the “law” that says I should give him my money? They all vote “yes” on the “law” and I vote ”no.” “Now,” they tell me, “we as a society of 11 have drafted a law that says that you have an obligation to give us the money. We have taken a vote and you have been outvoted. As a part of our society, you now owe us this money. If you don’t give it to us, we will imprison you at gunpoint. If you don’t like what we are doing, you can leave our territory.” Is THIS robbery? Yes, the same forcible imposition of the wills of others upon me has been made. Is it legal? Yes, actually; it is now “legal,” because a law has been voted on and passed. It is legal robbery. So, the question is: How many people does it take before this practice ceases to be robbery? A hundred? A thousand? Ten million?
Continue reading →

The DIM Hypothesis by Dr. Leonard Peikoff

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Sword of Apollo

Dr. Peikoff’s last work of philosophy/historical analysis,The DIM Hypothesis was released today.

From the Amazon description:

With his groundbreaking and controversial DIM hypothesis, Dr. Leonard Peikoff casts a penetrating new light on the process of human thought, and thereby on Western culture and history.

In this far-reaching study, Peikoff identifies the three methods people use to integrate concrete data into a whole, as when connecting diverse experiments by a scientific theory, or separate laws into a Constitution, or single events into a story. The first method, in which data is integrated through rational means, he calls Integration. The second, which employs non-rational means, he calls Misintegration. The third is Disintegration—which is nihilism, the desire to tear things apart.

In The DIM Hypothesis Peikoff demonstrates the power of these three methods in shaping the West, by using the categories to examine the culturally representative fields of literature, physics, education, and politics. His analysis illustrates how the historical trends in each field have been dominated by one of these three categories, not only today but during the whole progression of Western culture from its beginning in Ancient Greece.

Extrapolating from the historical pattern he identifies, Peikoff concludes by explaining why the lights of the West are going out—and predicts the most likely future for the United States.

Available now from Amazon:

The DIM Hypothesis: Why the Lights of the West Are Going Out

Atlas Shrugged, Altruism and Egoism

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Sword of Apollo

After a brief introduction to Atlas Shrugged, this essay provides a very good overview of the alternative between altruism and egoism. While not a work of technical philosophy, it is substantial: it quotes philosophers and textbooks that explain the meaning of altruism and clearly differentiates what rational egoism means for one’s life, versus what altruism means. It also generally outlines Ayn Rand’s argument for life as the standard of value and for rational egoism.