Individualism Archive

Michael Strong: Give charter schools a chance

May 1, 2008 · Category: Current Events, FLOW, Individualism, Politics

I've been talking some lately with Flow CEO Michael Strong, who (together with Whole Foods CEO John Mackey) is doing some excellent work with explaining free market principles to folks with liberal-ish ideals. Today I noticed an article he published recently at Cato Unbound, wherein he makes some excellent points about charter schools in the United States -- and why they haven't (really) been given a fair trial yet, when it comes to helping American students overcome their rotten performance scores. I liked this point: After the fall of communism, even the most recalcitrant academics acknowledged that Hayek had been correct ...

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Buying a Spot on the Syllabus … for Atlas Shrugged

February 27, 2008 · Category: Atlasphere, Individualism, Objectivism, Politics

(Cross-posted from the Atlasphere's Ayn Rand meta-blog.) Inside Higher Ed Editor Scott Jaschik kindly sent a link to his new story "Buying a Spot on the Syllabus," which is indeed very interesting. He begins: Some professors at Marshall University believe that the institution has crossed an ethical line by accepting a gift that requires that a specific book — Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged — be taught in a course. While the criticisms have come from professors who are not fans of Rand’s philosophy, they stress that their objection has nothing to do with this particular book, and that they would have no problem ...

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Liberal vs Conservative? Christ! Oops.

January 15, 2008 · Category: Individualism, Integral, Intellectual, Politics

If you struggle, as I do, with the nutty distinction between being considered "liberal" or "conservative" in modern America, you might share my enjoyment of this thoughtful post by Patrick Stephens. In fact, Patrick's discussion here, and his weighing of the various positions, strikes me as one that comes squarely from a second-tier perspective (in the Integral / Spiral Dynamics model of human development). ...Which already says a little bit, politically, if you're familiar with that model. After reviewing some very sensible arguments from those who are uncomfortable with both of the labels "liberal" and "conservative" -- as well as their ...

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Objectivism, Modern Politics, and the Non-initiation of Force

January 13, 2008 · Category: Current Events, Individualism, Intellectual, Objectivism

A friend made some claims in a friends-only post at LiveJournal, and a disagreement between us ensued. Since it was a friends-only post, I cannot really quote his post here in public. The issues raised were important ones, however, and ones that require some time to disentangle. So I'm posting my reply here where others may add to, and benefit from, the dialogue if they wish. * * * It sounds like we agree that the important overall question is "What major party candidate, if any, is most likely to make America a more free country?" In your original post, you do ...

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San Diego Mayor Reverses Position on Gay Marriage

September 29, 2007 · Category: Current Events, Individualism, Politics

Andrew Schwartz e-mailed me a link to this video, with the subject line "Integrity." I really couldn't agree more.

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Does Suffering Build Character?

July 30, 2007 · Category: Buddhism, Health, Individualism, Intellectual, Mindfulness

This somewhat-throwaway comment, from a post by Virginia Postrel, caught my eye: Contrary to what you may have heard, the only sort of character suffering builds is the ability to suffer -- a useful ability in a world where suffering is the routine nature of life but not a virtue that makes the world a better place. I say "somewhat-throwaway" because I don't think her overall argument stands or falls on this point. But on this point itself... Do you agree with her? Or do you see ways in which suffering builds character? Do you feel that suffering has built your own character? ...

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Every Man As an End in Himself

June 20, 2007 · Category: Individualism, Objectivism, Politics

Did you know that all 328 pages of Tara Smith's book Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist are available online through Google? [Correction: Apparently only part of it is available.] I stumbled across the book (which I've not yet read) while searching for a quote from Ayn Rand's The Virtue of Selfishness, which appears as follows in Smith's book: The basic social principle of the Objectivist ethics is that "every living human being is an end in himself, not the means to the ends or the welfare of others..." (citation: Virtue of Selfishness, p30) This particular quote by Rand is, in my ...

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Do AQAL and Spiral Dynamics Really Help with Political Analysis?

August 11, 2006 · Category: Individualism, Integral, Politics

I enjoyed reading Matthew Dallman's brief critique of spiral dynamics (the first chunk of block-indented text on this page). I'm relatively new to the theory of spiral dynamics, but I too am beginning to wonder whether it actually leads to new political insights, or whether it inadvertently muddies the process of identifying more fundamental principles -- such as the non-initiation of force principle -- that deserve serious and abiding consideration regardless of what "color" may have first thunk it up. For example, am I the only person who thought the following analysis was a little too accommodating to the collectivist end of ...

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Capitalism = Happiness?

July 30, 2006 · Category: Buddhism, Current Events, Individualism, Integral, Politics

The situation may not be as simple as "Living Under Capitalism = Being Happier" but a new article in New Scientist called "Wealthy Nations Hold the Key to Happiness" suggests that such a conclusion is not far from the truth. The "Map of World Happiness" below sums it up pretty well. Red indicates happiness. Yellow indicates unhappiness. From the article: According to the analysis, a country’s happiness is closely related to its wealth, along with the health and education levels of its people. It is no surprise that people spending heavily on healthcare, such as US citizens, rank highly, says White, as ...

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Money Doesn’t Buy Much Happiness

June 29, 2006 · Category: Health, Individualism

How much happiness does money actually buy you? About twelve percent -- or less, if you look at actual happiness, rather than reported life satisfaction. From a LiveScience article about a new study to be published in the June 30 issue of Science: It was expected that those who made less than $20,000 a year would spend 32 percent more of their time in a bad mood than those that had an annual income greater than $100,000. In reality, the low-income group spent only 12 percent more time in a bad mood than their wealthier counterparts. This suggests that the link between ...

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