Objectivist Round Up #223

Welcome to the 223^rd edition of the Objectivist Round Up, a weekly collection of blog posts written by Objectivist bloggers. Objectivism is the philosophy discovered and defined by Ayn Rand. You can find out more about Objectivism at the Ayn Rand Institute.

To live, man must hold three things as the supreme and ruling values of his life: Reason—Purpose—Self-esteem. Reason, as his only tool of knowledge—Purpose, as his choice of the happiness which that tool must proceed to achieve—Self-esteem, as his inviolate certainty that his mind is competent to think and his person is worthy of happiness, which means: is worthy of living.

Ayn Rand, Galt's Speech, Atlas Shrugged.

Read. Think. Enjoy.

Ryan Kavanagh presents Comments on Queen's University Academic Plan 2011 posted at Ryan Kavanagh's blog, saying, “Most of my concerns revolved around judging students, faculty and staff based on some group trait (i.e. ethnicity or gender) rather than on individual merit, while others revolved around recommendations on student assessment.”

C.W. presents The Financial Realities of Individual Retirement posted at Krazy Economy, saying, “I survey the problems with achieving a financially secure retirement. Calling people on Social Security "deadbeats" or "indigent" ignores the consequences of 100 years of government interference.”

Benjamin Skipper presents Chocolate Ethics: Slavery vs. Voluntary Child Labor posted at Capital Bean, saying, “Slavery and child labor are big issues in the chocolate world, but I argue that only one of these is truly a moral issue.”

Stephen Bourque presents Mere Hypocrisy posted at One Reality, saying, “Elizabeth Warren’s declaration follows, in all relevant aspects, the form of a protection racket.”

Doug Reich presents OWS Protestors Want Things Because They Want Them posted at The Rational Capitalist, saying, “A series of interviews and videos demonstrates the real motives of the Wall Street protesters.”

Edward Cline presents Not So Wonderful a Life posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, “At the risk of the accusation of my being a curmudgeon, a Grinch, overly analytical, and a person who was likely raised on a diet of sour grapes and Castor Oil, what follows is a critique of that hoary old American cinematic Christmas holiday chestnut, Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). I have never liked the movie, but have watched it many times, obsessed with the problem of why I did not like It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Doug Reich presents OWS: Dogs Chasing Cars posted at The Rational Capitalist, saying, “Some OWS protesters are comforted by not having any specific political demands. What is the essence of a movement that exists for the sake of being a movement?”

Jason Stotts presents SoCal Objectivists Second Meeting posted at Erosophia, saying, “A report from the second meeting of the SoCal Objectivists.”

Paul Hsieh presents Federal Government: All Your Data Are Belong To Us posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, “Under ObamaCare, the federal government will have much more access to your private medical data than you may realize.”

Kelly Valenzuela presents Shrinking US Cities Welcome Immigration posted at Mother of Exiles, saying, “Some cities are opening their arms to immigrants in an attempt to increase their shrinking tax base. How long will the welcome last though?”

Ari Armstrong presents A Parable of Shoe Stores and Bureaucrats posted at Free Colorado, saying, “What if bureaucrats controlled shoe stores the way they control other parts of the economy?”

Diana Hsieh presents Oh, Those Wacky YouTube Translations posted at NoodleFood, saying, “What happens when you put a simple conversation through YouTube's closed-caption translation feature... twice? Pure comedy gold, baby!”




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