Objectivist Round Up #172

Welcome the 172nd edition of the Objectivist Round Up, a blog carnival of posts written by individuals who are advocates of Objectivism: the philosophy developed and defined by Ayn Rand.

If you are new to Objectivism and would like to discover more about Ayn Rand’s "philosophy for living on earth," I recommend you read her two great novels, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. If you enjoy her novels, I recommend her essays Man’s Rights, and The Nature of Government. The Ayn Rand Institute and the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights provide relevant information and commentary.

As we head to the polls on Tuesday, I thought this reminder appropriate to include:

The fundamental difference between private action and governmental action—a difference thoroughly ignored and evaded today—lies in the fact that a government holds a monopoly on the legal use of physical force. It has to hold such a monopoly, since it is the agent of restraining and combating the use of force; and for that very same reason, its actions have to be rigidly defined, delimited and circumscribed; no touch of whim or caprice should be permitted in its performance; it should be an impersonal robot, with the laws as its only motive power. If a society is to be free, its government has to be controlled.

Under a proper social system, a private individual is legally free to take any action he pleases (so long as he does not violate the rights of others), while a government official is bound by law in his every official act. A private individual may do anything except that which is legally forbidden; a government official may do nothing except that which is legally permitted.

This is the means of subordinating “might” to “right.” This is the American concept of “a government of laws and not of men.”

Ayn Rand, The Nature of Government



Following, in the order in which they were received, are the posts for this Objectivist Round Up.

Sean Saulsbury presents Blake Scholl: Barcode Hero posted at The Independent Entrepreneur, saying, “I recently interviewed Blake Scholl about his new startup and how he and his co-founder, Jason Crawford, created the iPhone app Barcode Hero, and their overall business strategies.”

Burgess Laughlin presents Imam Rauf, "What's Right with Islam ..." posted at The Main Event, saying, “This post begins a brief, exploratory look at one advocate of mysticism, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, chief organizer of the Cordoba Project, a.k.a. as the Ground-Zero Mosque. The focus is on his book, What's Right with Islam is What's Right with America.”

Greg Perkins presents Did Ayn Rand Have Something Against Children? posted at NoodleFood, saying, “The new site Objectivist Answers has really taken off since its launch! It now has over 120 questions with over 230 answers, one of which I'm featuring here. Come join the questioning-and-answering fray!”

Edward Cline presents "2081": Philosophy in Motion posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, “I wonder how many readers remember John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice, that scholarly paean to egalitarianism and institutionalized envy, from 1971. How would one dramatize, in visual and auditory concretes, its high-blown, insidious principles?”

Joshua John M. Lipana presents A John Galt Running for Congress: NRB Interviews Republican Candidate for Congress Stephen Bailey | NewsReal Blog posted at NewsReal Blog, saying, “Joshua Lipana interviews Republican congressional candidate Stephen Bailey for NewsReal Blog.

Rachel Miner presents Mommy, Teacher... Mixed Roles posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, “As my family prepares to move, my son has requested homeschooling. I share thoughts about evaluating the mixed role of parent and academic teacher.”

David Lewis presents facebook shenanigans posted at david in real life, saying, “...is your facebook full of phony people? Let's find out!”

Jason Stotts presents “I was Anti-Gun, until I got Stalked” posted at Erosophia, saying, “A blog post about one liberal's conversion to gun ownership and the facts about likelihood of death through gun related accidents.”

Jim May presents Unchaining the Good: Liberty and Tabula Rasa posted at The New Clarion, saying, “An essay on the Objectivist view of "tabula rasa", and the consequences of the wrong view on political debate.”

Jim May presents The Passion of the Frightened posted at The New Clarion, saying, “Something for Objectivists to remember when faced with Whittaker Chambers' modern heirs.”

Zip presents Only By Permission #9 posted at UNCOMMON SENSE, saying, “Where soap bubbles breaking on the skin of a police officer constitutes assault.”

Jared Rhoads presents Bramwell, the drama posted at The Lucidicus Project, saying, “If you like medical dramas, good acting, or Victorian-era pieces, then you'll like Bramwell.”

Sean Saulsbury presents Craig Biddle: The Objective Standard (Ep. 5) posted at The Independent Entrepreneur, saying, My interview with Craig Biddle, editor of The Objective Standard, about his quarterly journal, covering topics of culture and politics from an Objectivist perspective.”

Stephen Bourque presents Orthodox Environmentalists Try to Pin Faith on “Deniers” posted at One Reality, saying, “Leftists can scarcely contain their dismay that losses at the polls in November will likely obstruct their ability to foist meaningful 'cap and trade' legislation upon Americans.”

Diana Hsieh presents Subjectivism and Relativism in Arguments about Personhood posted at NoodleFood, saying, “The theocrats demanding full legal rights for embryos claim to be enemies of subjectivism and relativism. In fact, they're good friends in two ways.”

Rational Jenn presents Discovery Toys Fundraiser posted at Rational Jenn, saying, “Make a child on your holiday gift list happy with some great educational toys AND help fund the Atlanta Objectivist Society--ALL AT THE SAME TIME! :o)”

Aditya Pawar presents The Right to Petition Government for Redress of Grievances, Part III posted at Axiom, saying, “Third installment on the often-forgotten First Amendment right to petition government for redress of grievances.”

Miranda Barzey presents Myers-Briggs Personality Types as a Tool for Introspection and Extrospection posted at Building Atlantis, saying, “How I used Myers-Briggs personality types to enhance my knowledge of myself and others and to improve relationships.”

Amy Mossoff presents Age-Appropriate Books posted at The Little Things, saying, “Some thoughts on picking good books for preschoolers, including my list of favorite books on our shelves right now.”

Amy Mossoff presents Age-Appropriate TV and Movies posted at The Little Things, saying, “Some thoughts on picking good movies and TV shows for preschoolers.”

Kyle Haight presents Thinking About The 2010 Midterm Election posted at HAIGHT SPEECH. “There's an election next week, and I thought it would be an interesting exercise in applying principles to concretes to sketch my thought process as I decided how to vote all of the candidates and issues on my ballot. This is the result.”

Ari Armstrong presents Bush First Provoked Tea Party Backlash posted at Free Colorado, saying, “Americans' anger with big-spending politicians began with the Republicans.”

Martin Lindeskog presents INTERVIEW WITH JEAN MORONEY | EGO posted at EGO.

Mike LaFerrara presents Election 2010: Is it 1966, or a Real Turning of the Statist Tide? posted at Principled Perspectives, saying, “Election 2010 has strong parallels to 1966, when the GOP scored major midterm congressional gains, blunting Johnson's Great Society socialism. Will the coming Republican resurgence be as hollow?”

Sandi Trixx presents Roundup for the Roundup posted at Sandi Trixx, saying, “A collection of posts from the past week dealing with legalizing pot, free markets and risk aversion.”

Earl Parson presents The Role of Ideas in Architecture posted at Creatures of Prometheus, saying, “I am speaking on "The Role of Ideas in Architecture" at FROST, in Denver, on November 6th. This is my announcement of the event, and some thoughts on my approach to this subject.”

Thanks to all the participating bloggers!

The next edition of the Objectivist Round Up will be hosted at The Playful Spirit.  Submit your posts using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Read.
Think.
Enjoy.

Comments

Jenn Casey said…
Thanks for hosting! :)
October 28, 2010 at 1:49 PM
Lynne said…
This one was truly my pleasure!
October 28, 2010 at 2:51 PM
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