Comments on: Carter or FDR? Or What?

By: Mike N

Mike N — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:56:08 +0000

Oopps, I almost forgot. I also donated a one year subscription to the Objective Standard to the library of a local community college. I really felt good about it too.

Also, I can’t think of a better way to spend part of whatever stimulus check you get. Stimulate Objectivism with it! Go you!

By: Mike N

Mike N — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:47:54 +0000

Seine:
“…where is the effort to sell reason best rewarded.”
I would concentrate on the young, say those under 30. They are still forming the general principles according to which they will live the rest of their lives. They are usually open to new fundamental ideas whereas older folk are pretty much set in their world views.

FWIW, when I post an essay on my blog, I try to use, in my title or first paragraph, words that are popular in the press, that is, words a student would use if doing a google search for research purposes. What this often does is put my blog in the top ten listings of current topics even if their number is in the millions. That’s what I want, students to read their subject of interest from an objectivist perspective.

I recently gave a copy of the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged to a 14 yr old neice who loves to read. There are other ways to focus on the young as well.

Hope that helps in some way.

By: madmax

madmax — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:03:53 +0000

“Has there been more success with the broadly classified, ‘religious free enterpriser’ type or the ‘personal freedom socialist’ type?”

I haven’t had success reaching either but it never ceases to amaze me that the more secular a person is today, the more leftist they are generally. It seems that the only people outside of Objectivists and some libertarians who defend free markets to any extent are the religious. And usually what I see is that these types are a mix of religion and Classical Liberalism. I have three atheist friends. They are all extreme welfare-statists which is depressing as they are generally good people but very, very leftist and they all think Ayn Rand is crazy. There is no reaching them.

By: seine

seine — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:58:30 +0000

It is a long term scholastic exercise to understand and explain fully how we got to here, today. The average person just wants to go to work and go skiing on the weekend. Its a tough sell.
The with-your-help-we-can-do-anything dialogue delivered by President Obama motivates the crowd and I think it will need to run its course.
Truly this crisis is unique in that it is the result of letting a bunch of creative manipulators use our life-blood, our wealth, and run amok.
But I would like to have a question answered. From personal experiences, what kind of people have each of you been able to ‘convert’ to a reasoning viewpoint? Has there been more success with the broadly classified, ‘religious free enterpriser’ type or the ‘personal freedom socialist’ type? The reason I ask, where is the effort to sell reason best rewarded.

By: Billy Beck

Billy Beck — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:42:14 +0000

“Last year”? No, that’s impossible: it was quite before that.

By: Billy Beck

Billy Beck — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:41:16 +0000

Burgess: I read Flynn for the first time last year. On my list of Recommended Books, I called it, “Sobriety. In the face of generations of drunkeness.”

It’s still not to be missed.

By: Bill Brown

Bill Brown — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:43:04 +0000

I watched the speech, watched Jindal's "us too" response, and read both transcripts. I'm working on a blog entry but I'm struggling with it (just like I've been struggling to write anything lately). There's so many ways to come at it.

By: Myrhaf

Myrhaf — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 06:27:45 +0000

I missed the speech and Jindal’s response. Maybe if I have some time tomorrow I will read the transcripts.

The Democrats can’t be stopped. They control the White House, the Congress and the Senate. The only thing that might slow them down is fear of going too far and setting off a “tea party” rebellion (possibly led by Rick Santelli). Right now, with liberals saying “spend, spend, spend,” there is little fear among the Dems of going too far.

By: Madmax

Madmax — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:40:03 +0000

I’m curious as to what some people here think about the response to Obamas speech last night. It does seem like the MSM is drinking the Obama koolaid by the gallon. I’ve even heard some right wing talk show hosts say that Obama was “Regeanesque.” It seems likely that Obama will get some major socialized health care plan through. All this has to further damage the economy. I’m starting to think we are going to take one hell of a hit. I wonder if the Left will be able to blame all of the damage to come on Bush?

By: Burgess Laughlin

Burgess Laughlin — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:08:31 +0000

> “Whatever success they might achieve in creating a myth of Obama, it will only be a fraction of their previous success.”

One way to ensure that is for at least a few individuals who value a philosophy of reason to specialize in the Obama administration or perhaps, even more narrowly, into President Obama himself or one of the departments of his administration.

Only a dedicated specialist, working over the long-term and thus accumulating a vast amount of information, will be able to speak authoritatively in debate, in books, and in media interviews.

Generalists won’t be enough. There must be someone like John T. Flynn, author of The Roosevelt Myth.

(I read Flynn’s book 40 years ago, and I do not know how many of the details I would endorse today, but the book certainly helped disintegrate the myth among those who love liberty.)

The point is that someone–a weblog writer or a student of history in or out of academia–must focus on a subject that is both narrow and leveraged in its likely importance. Focus is hard work.