Objectivist Round Up

Welcome to the February 17, 2011 edition of objectivist round up.  As I've just enjoyed a delightful Valentine's Day with my family, I thought it would be fun to share Ayn Rand's quote on an actress who made delight and romance so real on the screen.


"The death of Marilyn Monroe shocked people with an impact different from their reaction to the death of any other movie star or public figure. All over the world, people felt a peculiar sense of personal involvement and of protest, like a universal cry of "Oh, no!"

They felt that her death had some special significance, almost like a warning which they could not decipher--and they felt a nameless apprehension, the sense that something terribly wrong was involved.

They were right to feel it.

Marilyn Monroe on the screen was an image of pure, innocent, childlike joy in living. She projected the sense of a person born and reared in some radiant utopia untouched by suffering, unable to conceive of ugliness or evil, facing life with the confidence, the benevolence, and the joyous self-flaunting of a child or a kitten who is happy to display its own attractiveness as the best gift it can offer the world, and who expects to be admired for it, not hurt."
Ayn Rand, excerpted from The Voice of Reason, originally published August 5, 1962

This week's Objectivist Round Up:

C.W. presents Debt and Depression: Our Present and Future posted at Krazy Economy, saying, "Another reason to pay less attention to inflaiton right now. The government debt is a bigger threat. Pay attention to the debt."



Miranda Barzey presents The Undercurrent Designed by Me! posted at Building Atlantis, saying, "I did the page design for the February edition of The Undercurrent. And I made an ad too!"



Jared Rhoads presents Behold the 1099-Romney posted at The Lucidicus Project, saying, "Want to see what a Massachusetts individual mandate-compliant tax form looks like? Here's mine. I call it the 1099-Romney."



T Ellis presents A critique of Universal Utilitarianism posted at evanescent, saying, "A deconstruction of the morality of a humanist - and a comparison of such with Objectivism."



James Hughes presents To the Glory of Man « Temple of the Human Spirit posted at Temple of the Human Spirit.



Rachel Miner presents Experimenting. Parenting. posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "I share some experiments with video / screen time and their results before coming back to one of my consistent observations; trial and error is in the nature of parenting. There's no way to take on the job without lots of those errors and, I've found, addressing them is one of the greatest delights."



Edward Cline presents Islam + Democracy = Islam posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "In a February 9th interview of Middle East expert Daniel Pipes by Yosef Rapaport, “Analyzing the Turmoil (in Egypt),” Pipes reveals that while he has an intimate and comprehensive knowledge of Islam and Mideast history and affairs, he is sadly and dangerously ignorant of political philosophy. Pipes’ blog site also carries commentaries by guest columnists who echo his fallacies. In this interview, Pipes offers his views on the prospects of Egypt becoming a “democracy.”"



Kelly Valenzuela presents Tancredo: Mexicans are dumb criminals who steal jobs and welfare posted at Mother of Exiles, saying, "Tom Tancredo is at it again. This time at CPAC."



Ari Armstrong presents 'Unlawful Termination of a Pregnancy' posted at Free Colorado, saying, "A new bill in Colorado seeks to protect a woman's wanted fetus from reckless and intentional harm. While the bill has some problems, it explicitly states 'personhood' does not apply before birth."



Kate Yoak presents Why public education won't work posted at Separation of School and State, saying, "It's not just that the kids can't read: the problem is much deeper. I am analyzing the parallels between public education, centralized economies and old failing business.\"



Roderick Fitts presents Current Plans for My "Inductive Quest" posted at Inductive Quest, saying, "A list of projects I'm working on for my blog over the next few months--and years! Hope you're as excited as I am!!"



Thomas Hochmann presents I am not an Anarchist posted at The Objectivist Voice, saying, "I am not an anarchist. There is an objective need for a government, but it needs to be a limited government that is constrained to its proper function."



Julia Campbell presents pork chile verde + ancho chile salsa posted at the crankin' kitchen!, saying, "Take a break from dark, heavy winter chili and make a bowl of chile verde!"



Paul Hsieh presents What Kind of Healthcare Competition Do We Want? posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "The LIJ journal published my latest health care OpEd in their special issue on the theme of "competition"."



Rational Jenn presents Toddler Things posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "How we're helping our 2.5 year old manage his fears and learn communication and negotiation skills. The tools and skills he is learning today will be useful for the rest of his life."



John Drake presents Independence Day posted at Try Reason!, saying, "The day I realized that independence is a virtue to be pursued."



David C Lewis, RFA presents Roth vs 401K: One More Time posted at A Revolution In Financial Planning, saying, "In this post I discuss what I call the "Monte Carlo Problem" in investing and retirement planning. An ongoing argument over which is better--Traditional 401(k)s or Roth 401(k)s--is revisited."



Diana Hsieh presents SnowCon: Schedule and Registration posted at NoodleFood, saying, "I'm delighted to announce SnowCon -- Front Range Objectivism's weekend Objectivist conference in Denver, plus a few days of optional play in the snowy Colorado Rockies!"



Tom Stelene presents Anti-Gunners to Blame for Tuscon Shooting posted at The Audacity of Independence, saying, "Assuming for argument's sake that the anti-gunners' claims about the Tuscon shooting are correct only goes to show that they are to blame for the massacre."



Roderick Fitts presents Induction of Objectivity (Ayn Rand) posted at Inductive Quest, saying, "My presentation of how Rand reformulated Aristotle's view of objectivity through inductions made concept-formation! I think it's one of my best yet!"



That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of objectivist round up using our carnival submission form.