Archive | October, 2011

In the wake of bailouts, stimulus packages, regulatory expansion, and a massive new entitlement program, ObamaCare, many Americans, alarmed by the rapid growth of the state, started the tea party rebellion. But previous rebellions against Big Government, such as the “swing to the right” of the 1980s, failed to substantially roll back government intervention in the economy. Now, there is a new protest group, Occupy Wall Street, which seems to be rebelling at the capitalist system itself.

In this talk, Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, will offer his assessment of these two groups, based on a revolutionary view of why government intervention grows–and what must be done in order to stop it. His provocative conclusion: to successfully stop the growth of the state, and end cronyism, Americans will have to discover that laissez-faire capitalism is the only moral system–one that must be defended without guilt.

Who: Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute
When: Thursday, November 3 · 7:30pm – 9:00pm
What: A talk that will focus on understanding what capitalism is, and its nature as a moral system
Where: George Mason University, Science & Tech II, Room 7 (Ground Floor)

Apparently “Obama for America is seeking poster submissions from
artists across the country illustrating why we support President
Obama’s plan to create jobs now, and why we’ll re-elect him to continue
fighting for jobs for the next four years.”

Andy Rutledge has an excellent post on Designers as Pawns and Useful Idiots
that starts with the headline: “Attention Designers: President Barack
Obama wants to hire* you! Get to work now making propaganda posters for
the U.S. government and get  paid…nothing! I know this sounds like
unpaid spec work—and it is—but this is not about you. It’s about the
important people: the people in the government!”

Other gems…

If you’re going to do the responsible thing and forego your profit in exchange for engaging in class warfare community service, I believe that it’s best to say what you mean. Yes, yes, I know that the SEIU has already approved some candidate slogans, but these stop short of being direct and factual. Let’s not mince words. Try these on for size in your propaganda posters:

• Let’s tax our way to prosperity!
• You won’t have to march on Wall Street when government has all the money!
• We’re running out of other people’s money! Help us take more!
• Redistribution! What we lose in bureaucratic waste, we make up for in volume!
• Money: Why earn it when you can just get the government to steal it for you?
• Union Rights! What’s ours is ours and what’s yours is ours.
• One nation, under God government unions. With equality and service for all.

That’s better. If you’re going to say something, say what you mean.

Apparently all creative types are not robot-Lefties.

This month Dr. Leonard Peikoff has a three part interview (episodes 184, 185, 186) with Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute on foreign policy, the economic situation of the world, and what can be done about it. Issues covered include: the economic crisis, government spending and the deficit and the taxes; cutting entitlements; the state of America; the state of Europe; the Euro situation and Greece; China as a new world power; is China communist?; Republican Presidential candidates; Obama and much more. Visit Dr. Peikoff’s website and look for episodes 184, 185, and 186.

Scott Holleran has a good analysis of the present state of the 2012 Republicans over at his blog.

As an advocate for secular republicanism, none of the 2012 presidential candidates are acceptable. Each candidate, including the President, who has indicated that he intends to run for re-election, fails to grasp, ignores, or explicitly opposes individual rights, capitalism and a rational foreign and domestic policy. But, unless we suffer a catastrophic attack or descend into anarchy or civil war before November of 2012, someone will be elected president of the United States. So, after watching tonight’s Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, Nevada, sponsored by the generic Cable News Network (CNN), with its snickering media celebrity moderator, Anderson Cooper, I’ve decided to update my take on the 2012 Republicans. My criteria for serious candidates: who will be the least opposed to individual rights?

Don Watkins of the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights  is a guest of Dr. Howard Gluss on KFNX (Phoenix) to discuss class warfare and the “Occupy Wall Street” movement.