Sacred Ego

Welcome to the October 7th, 2010 edition of The Objectivist Roundup, a blog carnival of posts written by individuals who are advocates of Objectivism: the philosophy developed and defined by Ayn Rand.

To get us started, here’s one of my favorite quotes from Ayn Rand, regarding the nature of the Universe:

Although accidents and failures are possible, they are not, according to Objectivism, the essence of human life. On the contrary, the achievement of values is the norm—speaking now for the moral man, moral by the Objectivist definition. Success and happiness are the metaphysically to-be-expected. In other words, Objectivism rejects the view that human fulfillment is impossible, that man is doomed to misery, that the universe is malevolent. We advocate the “benevolent universe” premise.

The “benevolent universe” does not mean that the universe feels kindly to man or that it is out to help him achieve his goals. No, the universe is neutral; it simply is; it is indifferent to you. You must care about and adapt to it, not the other way around. But reality is “benevolent” in the sense that if you do adapt to it—i.e., if you do think, value, and act rationally, then you can (and barring accidents you will) achieve your values. You will, because those values are based on reality.

And now, without further ado, the Carnival:

Rachel Miner presents Video Games: In the Screen Zone posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, “I process through some concerns with screen time by identifying the questions bothering me and addressing them for myself. There’s always the parental challenge of when to impose a limit!”

Amy Mossoff presents I Could Be a Murderer posted at The Little Things, saying, “If you’re reading the Objectivist Round Up, you’ve probably already heard about Ari Armstrong and Diana Hsieh’s policy paper opposing Colorado’s Amendment 62 and the “personhood” movement. This issue is extremely important to me, given my history with abortion, infertility, and as a potential IVF patient. Read my post to find out how this law would condemn me as a murderer.”

Jane Eisenhart presents The Fountainhead Reloaded: Audition Results posted at Hometown Grotesque, saying, “With Atlas Shrugged the Movie garnering all kinds of buzz lately, my mind has turned to casting. Not that movie. The Fountainhead, if it were remade utilizing current figureheads to whom we could all relate. By that standard, here’s my cast list for The Fountainhead Reloaded.”

Diana Hsieh presents The ‘Personhood’ Movement Is Anti-Life: Part 14 posted at NoodleFood, saying, “This section of Ari Armstrong’s and my new policy paper explains the philosophic basis for abortion rights — meaning why rights can only begin at birth.”

Miranda Barzey presents My Life in Atlanta So Far, Part 1: Nannyland posted at Building Atlantis, saying, “A post about my stint as a nanny, why it didn’t work, and what I’ve learned.”

Sean Saulsbury presents Senh Duong: Rotten Tomatoes, Wopular (Ep. 1) posted at The Independent Entrepreneur, saying, “I’ve launched a new podcast called The Independent Entrepreneur (available at www.indybizshow.com), where I interview people who run or have run small businesses. My first show is with Rotten Tomatoes founder Senh Duong.”

Sean Saulsbury presents The Social Network, Freakonomics posted at The Movie Film Show, saying, “I play the ‘Mr. Movie’ character in this, and this week we reviewed the much anticipated Social Network movie. Those interested in the show might also want to check out the review for Never Let Me Go from a couple of weeks ago. It’s a very good movie, but, I think, morally revolting, and I gave it a very conflicted A-.”

Ari Armstrong presents Salazar Wants Economic Controls, Personal Liberty posted at Free Colorado, saying, “A CO congressman is relatively pro-liberty on church/state issues and abortion, but he voted for the “stimulus” and ObamaCare.”

Earl Parson presents Day 50: Drywall Goodness posted at Creatures of Prometheus, saying, “My latest house design, which is under construction in Tennessee, has had the drywall installed. This is my latest blog update on the progress.”

Zip presents A Tale of Two Moralities posted at UNCOMMON SENSE, saying, “A Judge in Ontario recently struck down the laws concerning keeping a Bawdy house, and communication for the purpose of prostitution. Predictably the religious and other moral busy-bodies have come out in opposition to the ruling and are promising an appeal.”

John Drake presents Career versus family posted at Try Reason!, saying, “Where do your hierarchy of values lie? In this post, I explore two very important values in my life, my career and my family. Ultimately, one must come on top. Read on to see which and why.”

Rational Jenn presents PD Tool Card: Mirror posted at Rational Jenn, saying, “Sometimes when I’m trying to make a point to my kids without wanting to get involved, I use this observational technique. It’s a great way to give children a hint about what they might need to do without being overly involved in their problems. (And it works well with spouses and coworkers, too!)”

Joseph Kellard presents Why Communists Have Largely Escaped Justice posted at The American Individualist, saying, “That communists have largely escaped justice and condemnation is due, in part, to the anti-communists, who have failed to indentify the fundamental issues involved in communism vs. Nazism.”

David Lewis presents not-so-guilty pleasures posted at david in real life, saying, “Sometimes the only way to really understand how a person thinks is by reading their personal diary. Well, here’s your chance. This week, I write about “not so guilty pleasures”.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of The Objectivist Roundup using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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