Mike Renzulli

Jim, So sorry for your loss. It sounds like your grandmother had a great last couple of years, was a wonderful person and, I am sure, a great life too. Mike Renzulli

Hello Everyone, As it turns out, it looks like I am going to be filling in for Ernie Hancock for next Sunday's program. As many of you may know, Ernie Hancock has a radio show that lasts for an hour on Sundays on Air America Radio AM 1480 KPHX from 10 - 11 am. I am going to call him sometime next week to firm things up. When I find out for sure I will let you all know. I will take this opportunity to discuss Objectivist philosophy and a topic related to it. The station's website is: http://www.1480kphx.com.

Your welcome, Robert and keep up the good work. I suppose the wrinkles at TAS will have to be ironed out and that will take time. Meantime, FWIW I am still supporting TAS by ordering recorded lectures via their website.

Hello Ed, I pretty much said my piece on TAS but if I have any more concerns, I will contact you. As far as a speaker at my club is concerned, I will keep you in mind. Meantime, Tibor Machan will be coming out in November to speak at a function at The Matador Restaurant and then The Goldwater Institute. If you want to arrange something else, please let me know.

I received an email about this a little while ago and thought you might want to check it out. As it turns out, American Humanist Association Board member, Marilyn Westfall has started an ezine for creative atheistic writers. If you are so inclined, please check out her site at: http://www.eloquentatheist.com/?page_id=4 If you like to write essays or poetry, this might be the place for you! All humanistic, freethought and atheistic writings are being considered. There is no pay, but if your work is selected, it will be seen by hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people!

Yes indeed, Ma'am. You are quite correct. Please allow me to compliment you on the work you have done also and I hope it will continue. If ARI is still up to its old tricks of kicking people out who are not in lock-step with them, then in the long run they most surely will fail. I do apologize to you all if came across as a bit harsh or uninformed in my post. So I suppose if I were "the king" of TAS, I would encourage the work mssrs Bidinotto, Machan, Branden, et all (Barbara too) to continue while spreading Objectivist ideas on campus via the methods ARI is using while drastically reducing the overhead (if any) to make the organization more effective than it is now. I am sure Ed Hudgins and the crew in DC are doing the best they can. But I suppose (like many others) I would like to see them do more. At least in a more visible manner than they are now.

Impressive indeed! Thanks for clarifying, Mssr Bidinotto. Perhaps its safe to say that TAS tends to work on things 'behind the scenes' unlike ARI which is working out outward in terms of evangelism in places like the college campuses. However, if what one poster said is true about TAS having too many chiefs and not enough indians, then it might be a good idea to look at trying to emulate ARI in this regard. With all of the people ARI has kicked out, at least TAS could be the place for them to call home if not could be an open counter-balance to ARI on the campuses. For myself, I am going to look into organizing an Objectivist chapter at Arizona State University as I know someone who works on staff there. While he cannot participate in the club leadership as per his employment contract, he can point me in the direction of the right people to enable a professor to sponsor a club let alone get me the right paperwork to register one with the school. ARI lists a club at ASU. However, it does not look like they are active.

I would point out that 2008 marks the 70th anniversary of the publishing of Anthem. Anthem was the first book written by Rand that I read and is very well done. FWIW my Objectivist group will commemorate the publishing of this book in January by watching the movie Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. This movie, based on a book of the same name, has elements to it that are very similar to Rand's book and the movie was directed by the book's author. I would also point out that Rush named one of their songs Anthem that was on their Fly By Night album (video below) and some school kids did an Anthem movie trailer (link below). Anthem by Rush: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCccQNL-pBY Anthem Movie Trailer:

Although I admire much of what is coming out of The Atlas Society (TAS) in terms of the ideas and philosophy and it is good that The New Individualist has won a prize since it is a very good magazine. However, I think that TAS falls short in terms of the actual growth of the organization. I think TAS needs a new direction when it comes to spreading Objectivist ideas. Its good that it has a high quality magazine. However, I have to ask, is this and the Summer Seminars all that TAS has to show recently in terms of its success? Unfortunately, it seems that the size of TAS, when it originally started out as the Institute for Objectivist Studies, has gone down dramatically and is lacking in terms of funding and growth. Also, it seems like the Ayn Rand Institute has undergone a rebirth since Yaron Brook has taken the helm of Executive Director. According to the Orange County Register article Atlas Came to Irvine: "When [Yaron Brook] took over in 2000, the institute's budget was less than $2 million. It just closed the books on the 2006-07 fiscal year at a stunning $6.7 million. "More of that money is going into programs, and less into fundraising and administration. In 2004, 57.8 percent of the institute's spending was on programs. Last year, that shot up to 80.6 percent, according to financial information filed with the Internal Revenue Service. It gives away Rand's books to high schools (some 700,000 to date). Runs an essay contest that annually attracts some 20,000 high school students. Supports college objectivist clubs, writes op-ed pieces, comments regularly on Fox News and CNBC. Next year it will open an office in Washington, D.C., to educate those in the capital on what America is really about." And, as a special treat for locals, it holds public lectures in Orange County, delightfully poking its fingers in the eyes of conventional wisdom and the status quo." If this is what it takes for TAS to be successful then by all means do it. From the outside looking in it seems TAS has internal problems that need fixing badly. Since becoming an Objectivist last year, I have requested multiple times for my club to be listed at the club listing section of TAS's website since that time and, to this day, it is nowhere to be found. When asked why this is happening, I believe the TAS representative that took my call told me that there were employment issues or something to that affect. The local clubs (like the one I head) are the lifeblood of a philosophical organization like TAS. Even organizing clubs at colleges and universities need to be done too since it is in the clubs and young people that will change the culture over time. Even posting videos done by TAS on YouTube would be a way to do so since it costs no money to put videos on there. Do we really want ARI to prevail in this? I know I certainly don't. If TAS wants to remain competitive, it needs to shape up or, unfortunately, it will die a slow death due to the internal bureaucratic mumblings going on behind closed doors. I hope changes are forthcoming.

Since one of the centerpieces or axioms of Objectivism is atheism, I thought I would mention this book since I think it is relevant in lieu of the rise of faith and the fall of reason in this country. The author, Charles Freeman, is a scholar of ancient history having written a few books on ancient Greece and Rome. Now Freeman has published this book in which he attributes the Dark Ages with the rise of Christianity. As many of you may know, Ayn Rand pointed out in her essay Faith and Force that there are two schools of philosophy, those of Plato and Aristotle, that constantly rise and fall in popularity. George Freeman also comes to the same conclusion and gives a meticulously detailed look into what happened after a significant event that occured during the 4th Century when Emperor Constantine declared a policy of toleration for Christianity in the Roman Empire. It was prior to this event and a little while afterwards that reason and free inquiry was practiced in the Ancient world which was inspired, in large part, by the ancient Greeks whose ideas were adopted by Rome. As Freeman points out, Emperor Constantine and some of his successors thought that by institutionalizing Christianity with the Roman state that it would act as a unifying force at times when the empire threatened by outside hostile forces, like outside invaders, and be an effective means of social control. According to Freeman, because the Christian bishops at the time acquired political power as a result of church-state union, and were given a rich and powerful institution to operate, that dissent and the tradition of free inquiry was crushed and replaced with 2 centuries of dogmatism and repression. More commonly known as The Dark Ages. Unfortunately, we are seeing this even more so in the United States today that originally rejected the idea of church-state union. Charles Freeman makes a vivid link between philosophical, political and cultural shifts while providing many historical details making the connection between the altruism that is bread by religion and how it subverted reason and free inquiry then like it is doing now. I have a religious background and what I found most fascinating about this book are the details that took place then and how they are repeating themselves today. Especially with how religious sects (like Christianity) are trying to hinder scientific inquiry about the existence of God and evolution while religions of all beliefs are in conflict with each other today just like they have been many times in the past. The question that people should ask is "why" when any country or culture dumps reason and inquiry (i.e. Aristotelianism) for faith and force (i.e. Platonism) and how Aristotle's influence can make a comeback. Freeman's book provides answers to this and many other philosophical questions in this well-researched, lucid, and excellent book.

Of course not. But, from my vantage point, the irrational votes cast in favor of liberty-destroying ballot initiatives tells me that we have to preach not only to the choir, but to the masses too.

I know I may be ostracized by some people here but, based on a quick review of several of the posts on this site, I'd say ARI Watch is absolutely first rate. It seems that the writers are well-versed in their Rand and ARI. They understand the issues, and they are no holds barred, letting the chips fall where they may. I endorse this website without reservation. Someone I know who is a long time Objectivist and libertarian heard Yaron Brook deliver a talk at one of the ARI public forums in 2003 in favor of more aggressive war than had already taken place in Iraq. He was in favor of immediately blowing away Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia too. The ARI crowd wants an explicit declaration of war against all those governments. ARI's excuse is that the fascism represented there is so antithetical to the Randian view of human rights they deserve to be blown away. Moreover, they hold some silly kind of "tacit consent" theory that says the innocent people (victims) of those governments are even guilty too, and so there cannot be any innocence we need to worry about in regard to, for example, dropping nuclear bombs on Teheran or Mecca. And then they have the gall to say, "when we have won, we can explicitly end the war" - unlike the pseudo-war on terrorism, which will never end. My friend was literally dumbfounded, as was I, to hear this kind of argument from someone in his position as "leader."

Well everyone, I got some bad news in my e-mail box the other day. As it turns out, Laissez Faire Books, a bookstore that has been a staple in the libertarian and (possibly) the Objectivist movements is going to close after 36 years in business. Thanks to this bookstore, I was converted to libertarianism and when I became an Objectivist, I bought some literature and tapes from LFB for my Objectivist group. I first learned of LFB after I ordered a book from The Cato Institute in 1994 after becoming a Republican. I saw a Cato Institute rep debate a left-wing think tank rep on C-Span and (aside from the fact that she was hot) I liked what I heard from the Cato Institute spokeperson. As it turns out, LFB had an agreement with Cato to handle orders of books as I got an LFB catalog included with my Cato Institute order. The books I saw in the catalog were truly radical at the time for me. Yet I was interested in some of them so I started ordering books and, hence, became a bookworm almost instantly. I soon became a libertarian Republican and then switched to the Libertarian Party in 1998. I guess, over time, LFB lost contracts with think tanks, like Cato, and now will close its doors after 36 years. This is truly a shame since this bookstore has been a bell weather of providing invaluable books not only on philosophy but also fiction, politics, self help and even notable authors like Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises, as well as Nathaniel and Barbara Branden. LFB also contributed to my intellectual growth. I hope in some way it can be saved or it will be some sort of book review site as I find their insights on certain books invaluable. They will sorely be missed.

Thanks, Chris. I agree with keeping Gore's movie out of the government schools is a good way to start and it seems that will not be shown in them any time soon. Unfortunately, the government schools still indoctrinate kids in the mean greenie's propaganda and if the last election here is any indication, there is still much work to be done. Even though Arizona voters have an independent streak in them they have enacted a number of taxes and spending for corporate welfare projects and transit, a minimum wage law, bans on smoking and new social welfare programs. In many of Arizona's political institutions, the essence of the state is quasi-libertarian. However, I made it a point to not just 'preach to the choir' but also to use my group as a vehicle to educate the public by covering issues like this and publicizing them via as many low to no cost methods as possible (i.e. word of mouth). The trend can be reversed and the way to do that is to change the culture. I think Objectivist groups can play a good role in it..

Hello Everyone, I know it has been sometime since I posted here. However for those of you who live in the Phoenix-metro area, I thought you all might be interested in attending a lecture that my Objectivist philosophy group is hosting on Thursday, November 8th in which our guest will be Dr. Robert Balling, Jr. He will give a lecture on his findings on global warming. Dr. Balling is the former director of the Office of Climatology and is a professor of geography at Arizona State University and has been openly critical of former Vice President Al Gore and the film An Inconvenient Truth. Dr. Balling has also written books on this subject like The Satanic Gases: Clearing the air about global warming. The meeting will begin at 6:30 and will be held at China Village Restaurant on 27th Street and Indian School Road in Phoenix. If you can't make that meeting, my group will also host a viewing of 2 films: Mine Your Own Business and The Great Global Warming Swindle that will can be viewed at Bookmans on 19th Avenue and Northern in Phoenix also at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 29th. Both of these films show the dark side of environmentalism and the science they use to justify their positions. If you attend the China Village meeting the only thing you will be required to do is buy something to eat as I have an agreement with the restaurant owner that anyone who attends meetings my group holds there will do so. The Bookmans event is free of charge. Please RSVP if you are interested in coming by e-mailing phoenixobjectivists(at)gmail.com and pass this on to anyone else you think would be interested in coming. Our group's website is: http://phoenixobjectivists.blogspot.com For any of you out there who participate in or are heads of Objectivist groups, I would strongly encourage you to host a forum on this since your group can be an invaluable resource in putting the brakes on the mean environmentalist movement's anti-life agenda.