Objectivist Round Up #185

I am pleased to be hosting this week’s edition of the Objectivist Round Up.  This blog carnival is a collection of posts written by individuals who are advocates of Objectivism: the philosophy developed and defined by Ayn Rand.

If you are new to Ayn Rand and would like to discover more about her philosophy, I recommend you read her two greatest novels, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.  If you are interested in her non-fiction, I recommend my two favorite 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.

Roberto Sarrionandia presents The Experiment That Failed Twice posted at Roberto Sarrionandia, saying, “Prohibition failed, twice.”

David Lewis presents Arbitrary Retirement Plan Rules, Part 2: IRAs posted at A Revolution In Financial Planning, saying, “Saving for retirement? Lots of folks use Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA), but should you? What the government giveth, it may taketh away. Discover the arbitrary rules governing these plans and be prepared to hack and slash your way through a maze of government favors.”

Ari Armstrong presents 'Citizens' Budget' Points Toward a Wiser, More Frugal Government posted at Free Colorado, saying, “A Citizens' Budget starts with sensible spending restraints and moves in the direction of respecting each individual's right to his own income.”

Zip presents The Canadian Farce of Rights and Freedoms posted at UNCOMMON SENSE, saying, “The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a document that chains the people of Canada to a contradiction riddled and unapologetically statist perversion of the concepts of individual freedom and liberty.”

Zip presents The Canadian Farce of Rights and Freedoms #2 posted at UNCOMMON SENSE, saying, “If you are a classically liberal thinker like myself you probably believe in the notion of unalienable rights, which is to say Rights as a precondition to living ones life as a man; To me and those like me rights are an intrinsic necessity to living as opposed to merely existing in this world. Well, the talking heads that wrote and lawyered the Charter don't believe in Rights like that. As a matter of fact I don't think they believe in Rights at all, only the power of the state.”

Julia Campbell presents pork tenderloin with spicy blackberry sauce + asparagus posted at the crankin' kitchen!, saying, “A simple, yet kinda fancy sauce for pork tenderloin.”

Thomas Hochmann presents Crybaby Metaphysics posted at The Objectivist Voice, saying, “In this woman’s mind, crybaby metaphysics is how the universe works: if you put your hands on your hips and make a scene, the universe (or the exasperated people around you) will give in and contort itself to your stubborn will.”

Diana Hsieh presents Two New OLists: OGeeks & OLeaders posted at NoodleFood, saying, “With the help of some generous pledges and their new managers, I've just created two new OLists: OGeeks and OLeaders.”

Jared Rhoads presents Four brief observations about repeal posted at The Lucidicus Project, saying, “A few thoughts penned before last week's vote to repeal the health reform law.”

Hanah presents A Chair for My Mother posted at Charlie's Bookshelf, saying, “This is a heartwarming story that manages to teach about the importance of work, saving and budgeting, and a benevolent community all at the same time.”

Rachel Miner presents An Awesome Blog and an Awesome Site posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, “Sharing two quick recommendations for websites that I have discovered through my Autism learning. These two are resources that I think would be useful for adding more zest to learning for any kiddo.”

Gene Palmisano presents The Referendum Against Pragmatism posted at The Metaphysical Lunch, saying, “If I hear another politician, political pundit or talking head, glorify pragmatism, prudence, political expediancy, or "pragmatic" as a virtue my head is going to explode.”

Kate Yoak presents Martin Luther King day posted at Parenting is..., saying, “A joyful and heroic perspective on Martin Luther King day I shared with my son.”

Stephen Bourque presents Let's Pretend posted at One Reality, saying, “Capitol Hill strategy: 'tiptoe' past the mess they created.”

John Drake presents Purposefulness posted at Try Reason!, saying, “The habit of purposefulness in a nutshell. Good times to be had by all who are. ”

Stella Zawistowski presents Drug dealing by the federal government posted at ReasonPharm, saying, “The federal government is trying to get into the business of discovering drugs. It won't work.”

Morgan Polotan presents Obama’s State of the Union, Part 1 | Morgan Polotan's Blog | Defending the Individual Since 2010 posted at Morgan Polotan's Blog.

Kelly Elmore presents Boobs in the News posted at Reepicheep's Coracle, saying, “People freak out when an underwear model posts a breastfeeding photo; a great article, which I link to, is written about how totally lame that is; and I rant about boobs, puritanical ideas about sex and moms, and the ridiculous negativity about public breastfeeding.”

Rational Jenn and Kelly Elmore present Cultivating the Virtues Q&A posted at Cultivating the Virtues, saying, “No, we don't quite yet have a new podcast up. We are collecting questions about parenting for future podcasts, so please ask us something!”

Rational Jenn presents Parenting Thoughts of the Moment posted at Rational Jenn, saying, “In light of the "tiger mother" article and my own recent parenting experiences, these are some of the parenting-related things I've been thinking about lately.”

And last, but by no means least,

Rational Jenn presents Why Blue's Clues is my Favorite Children's Show posted at Rational Jenn, saying, “My youngest child has recently become a BIG fan of Blue's Clues, which is a wonderful show for preschoolers.”

This one’s about a whole lot more than a boy and his animated blue dog.

For past and future carnival hosts, see here.

Read.

Think.

Enjoy.