The Undercurrent Magazine Spring 2011
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Transcript of The Undercurrent Magazine Spring 2011
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subsidies to research pipelines and no government agencyto investigate the viability of developing new technologiesfrom crude oil. e early petroleum industry was ableto achieve so much because the best producers in theworld were free to pursue what they judged to be the best
methods.But, as in virtually every other area of production inthe last century, politicians intervened. ey imposednew laws and regulations constraining the choicesopen to petroleum producers. Today, a complex array ofrulesincluding drilling restrictions and environmentalregulationshas stifled the innovative spirit of the earlypetroleum industry. Few new refineries are built, and weextract relatively little oil domestically despite vast provenreserves. Government permission is required to drill newoil wells, and rare mistakes like the recent Gulf oil spill
are punished with arbitrary long-term bans on drilling.e end result of decades of government edicts has notbeen a more creative, productive oil industry, but ratherone in which all innovations are centered on finding waysto produce in spite of arbitrary government restrictions.
Even in the areas that government allegedly promotesinnovation, any actual implementation of innovativesolutions is subject to the consent of lawmakers, regulatorsand special interest groups. Companies wanting todevelop solar energy in the deserts of California areroutinely blocked by environmental groups applying
political pressure to preserve the area for study. Effortsto construct wind farms off the coast of Massachusettshave been stymied by layers of government permissionseeking well before the first turbine can produce a singlewatt. Even products as simple as solar panels for privat
homes are subject to government approval before they canbe used to supplement domestic energy consumption.On a larger scale, the changing of political leadership can
result in dramatic shifts in focus from one area of energyresearch to another. With the election of the Obamaadministration there was a parallel shift in governmenfunding from hydrogen-based towards electric/hybridcars. In the words of Energy Secretary Stephen Chuwhen announcing massive cuts to the governmenthydrogen vehicle initiative, We asked ourselves, Is ilikely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will convert to
a hydrogen car economy? e answer, we felt, was no.When support for technology development is subject tothe changing winds of political opinion, it becomes muchmore difficult for entrepreneurs to sustain any long-terminnovative push.
Government intervention in the energy market, whethein the form of subsidies, taxes, or regulatory oversight,creates artificial uncertainty for producers and innovatorsWhy expand refinement capacity over several decadewhen the EPA might pass carbon restrictions next year
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""continued from page 1
Americans, and specifically young Americans, haveunrealistic expectations. . . . Even if Obama had all theanswers, he never wouldve been able to turn all theseideas into concrete laws.
Why have the President and a generation of his
supporters gone so quickly from Yes we can! to Whybother?One explanation might be that nobody wants to fight
a losing battle for long. Obama had his chance. Heimplemented significant elements of his agenda (notably,major new health care regulations) but met with stiffopposition. Certainly many Democrats were demoralizedby the opposition and lost interest in fighting it.
But why were Democrats so easily demoralized? Obamawas not elected primarily because of his concrete policyproposals, but because of the idealistic moral passionhe projected during his campaign. Ordinarily, fervent
commitment to moral ideals does not fade so quickly.Had Democrats been more motivated, they could haveturned out in greater numbers and overcome Republicanopposition.
Perhaps Democrats were so easily demoralized becausetheir commitment to the Presidents ideals was never veryserious to begin with.
When Tea Parties began to challenge Obamas visionof progress and label it as socialistic, his defendersreacted with sarcastic contempt. One piece in e NewYork Times characterized the charge as dropping theS-bomb, or whacking the S-beast. How unhip, they
seemed to suggest, for anyone to think that a politiciantoday would support such an extreme ideologyorany principled ideology at all. Asked to characterize hispolitical philosophy in a word, Obama jumped aboard theanti-ideology bandwagon by responding, No, I'm notgoing to engage in that. e same attitude was on display at the October Rallyto Restore Sanity and/or Fear, billed by organizers JonStewart and Stephen Colbert as appealing to Americanswho reject extremism on either side of the politicalspectrum. In his closing speech, Stewart criticized anyonewho would polarize political discussion in America, and
celebrated those who accomplished impossible things,every day by virtue of the little, reasonable compromiseswe all make.
More recently, a thousand people in New York attendedthe founding meeting of No Labels, an organizationdedicated to putting aside political affiliations in order towork together and find practical solutions to our nation'sproblems. Echoing Stewart, No Labels proclaimed thatideological extremism . . . [is] toxic and destructive tocreating a space where the best ideas can be found andenacted.
Many Americans, then, are jaded about the very ideaof political ideology. ey view ideology as toxic orif theyre like Stewart or Colbert, downright laughableey regard it as toxic because they believe it encouragedogmatism, inflexibility, and divisiveness.
What is ideology? It is simply an organized set of ideaor beliefs, a basic point of view, a set of philosophicaprinciples offering answers to lifes major questionsConsider one example: if you think that slavery is evil andfreedom is good, you have the seeds of a political ideologyIf you think that an individuals secure possession ofproperty is good and theft is evil, this is another seed. Iyou then understand that what unites these two positionis a commitment to an individuals right to a life free frominterference by others, you have a political ideology in fulbloom.
If you openly advocate this ideology, you will necessarilybe polarized from and in conflict with those who advocateits opposite. e American Civil War was nothing if noan ideological conflict. Ideology led some Americans to
evaluate slavery as evil, and to pursue abolition (and evenwar) with idealistic passion. Were abolitionists being tooextreme? Were they inflexible and divisive to treatheir opponents as evil? If the answer to both questionsis yes, we should wonder if these concepts can be usedmeaningfully to criticize.
Fortunately, the debate about slavery has long beensettled. But serious struggles over political principleremain. Obamas pragmatism may be growing, but thereis no question that Democrats principles push them inthe direction of increased government control over oureconomic lives. Many Americans, by contrast, believe tha
a principled commitment to individual freedom implies acommitment to economic freedom, a value that Obamapolicies threaten.
We cannot escape the questions of principle thaunderlie current debates. Does freedom include economifreedom, or not? Do individuals have inalienable rightsor not? Must individuals sacrifice for the greater good,or not? Answering these questions means thinking aboutideology.
ere is no reason to think that Americans today canwork together and find practical solutions to our nationproblems without ideology, i.e. without reference to basic
principles. We cannot cure a disease without identifyingits underlying causes. And if we face economic stagnationwe cannot eliminate it without identifying its underlyingcauses or the fundamental basis of long-term economicprosperity. A genuine commitment to principles doesninvolve unthinking dogmatism. Rather, it requireobserving the evidence and thinking clearly to identifythe underlying causes.
Not only in politics, but in life in general, we all relyon principles even if we dont realize it and even if wedont form or apply them consistently. As the philosophe
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These organizations hold regularmeetings and events discussing
and debating Objectivism and itsapplications.
ALABAMA
University of Alabama ObjectivistClubEmail: [email protected]
ARIZONA
Fountain Hills Objectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
Arizona State Universit y Objectivi stClubE-mail: [email protected]
ARKANSAS
University of Arkansas ObjectivistAssociationEmail: [email protected]
CALIFORNIA
Golden Gate Objectivists (SanFrancisco Bay Area)Email: [email protected]: goldengateobjec tivists.com
Stanford University ObjectivistsEmail: [email protected]
University of Southern CaliforniaObjectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
UCLA: LOGICEmail: [email protected]: clublogic.org
UC Berkeley Objectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
UC Irvine Objectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
UC Santa Barbara Objectivist Club
Email: [email protected]
CONNECTICUT
Connecticut Objectivism DiscussionGroup (Southbury)Email: [email protected]
COLORADO
Front Range Objectivism (Denver)Email: [email protected]: frontrangeobjectivism.com
University of Colorado, DenverObjectivist ClubE-mail: [email protected]
Colorado State Objectivist ClubE-mail: [email protected]
DISTRICT OFCOLUMBIA
American Universit y ObjectivistSocietyEmail: [email protected]
DC Objectivist Salon (DCOS)Email: [email protected]: meetup.com/DC-Objectivist-Salon/
FLORIDA
Canterbury School ObjectivistSociety (Fort Myers)Email: [email protected]
South West Florida Objectivists(SWFO), Sarasota to Marco Island,FLEmail: [email protected]
GEORGIA
Atlanta Objectivi st Soc ietyEmail: [email protected]: atlantaobject ivists .com
Georgia Institute of
Technology Students of ObjectivismEmail: [email protected]: cyberbuzz.gatech.edu/aynrand/
Kennesaw State UniversityObjectivistsEmail: [email protected]
New South Objectivists (SC, NC,and Georgia)Email: [email protected]: newsouthobject ivists .org
University of Georgia ObjectivistClub
Email: [email protected]
HAWAII
Hawaii Pacific UniversityE-mail: [email protected]
IDAHO
Idaho State University ObjectivistClubEmail: [email protected]
ILLINOIS
Chicago ObjectivistsEmail: [email protected]: chicagoobject ivists .org
Naperville North HighSchool Society for ObjectivistStudiesEmail: [email protected]
INDIANA
Indiana University, BloomingtonObjectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
Objectivists at Indiana University,IndianapolisEmail: [email protected]
KANSAS
Kansas State University ObjectivistClubE-mail: [email protected]
MAINE
University of Maine, Orono Studentsof Ayn RandEmail: [email protected]
MARYLAND
Johns Hopkins Univers ity Object ivistSociety
Email: [email protected]
University of Maryland ObjectivistClubEmail: [email protected]
MICHIGAN
Michigan State UniversityObjectivistsEmail: [email protected]: msuoc.comUniversity of Michigan ObjectivistClubEmail: [email protected]: umso.org
MINNESOTA
Minnesota Objectivist Association(Twin Cities, MN)Email: [email protected]: mnobject ivists. com
MISSOURI
Kansas City Objectivists (KS andMO)Email: [email protected]: kcobjectivists.org
Southeastern Missouri StateObjectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
MONTANA
e Objectivist Society at Montana
State UniversityEmail: [email protected]
NEBRASKA
Omaha Area Objectivists OmahaEmail: [email protected]
NEVADA
University of Nevada, LasVegas Objectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
NEW JERSEY
Central Jersey Objectivists (UnionCounty)Email: [email protected]
Tenafly High School ObjectivistClubEmail: [email protected]
NEW YORK
West Islip High School Objec tivistClubEmail: [email protected]
NORTH CAROLINANew South Objectivists (SC, NC,and Georgia)Email: [email protected]: newsouthobject ivists .org
Students of Ayn Rand at UNCCharlotteEmail: [email protected]
University of North Carolina, ChapeHill Objectivist ForumEmail: [email protected]
OHIO
Baldwin-Wallace Objectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
University of Cincinnati ApplicableObjectivismEmail: [email protected]
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma State UniversityObjectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
(continued on page 12)
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Rogers State University ObjectivistClubEmail: [email protected]: rsuobjc lub.com
OREGON
Portland Area ObjectivistsEmail: [email protected]: aristot leadventure.com/pao/index.html
PENNSYLVANIA
Carnegie Melon UniversityObjectivistsEmail: [email protected]
Penn State University ObjectivistClubEmail: [email protected]
Philadelphia Region ObjectivistsEmail: [email protected]
RHODE ISLAND
Ayn Rand Admirers (RI andsurrounding area)Email: [email protected]
SOUTH CAROLINA
Clemson ObjectivistsE-mail: [email protected]
New South Objectivists (SC, NC,GA)Email: [email protected]: newsouthobject ivists .org
TEXAS
Houston Objectivism Societ y,Houston, TXEmail: [email protected]: houstonobjectivi sm.com
Rice University Objectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
South Texas Ayn Rand SocietyEmail: [email protected]: meetup.com/HoustonSTARS/
Texas A&M Universi ty AggieObjectivist ClubCollege Station, TXEmail: [email protected]
UT Austin Objectivist SocietyEmail: [email protected]
VERMONT
Bennington College ObjectivistsEmail: [email protected]
VIRGI NIA
George Mason University ObjectivistClubEmail: [email protected]
Virginia Polytechnic Institute andState University Objectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
University of Virginia CharlottesvilleStudents Pondering ObjectiveoughtEmail: [email protected]
Virginia Tech Objectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
WASHINGTON
An Objective University ofWashingtonEmail: [email protected]
Bellevue Community CollegeObjectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
Central Washington UniversityObjectivist ClubEmail: [email protected]
Seattle Portland Objectivist Network(SPON)Email: [email protected]
University of Washington ObjectivisSocietyEmail: [email protected]
Washington State Univers ityObjectivist Club
Email: [email protected]
WISCONSIN
University of Wisconsin,Madison Students of ObjectivismEmail: [email protected]
CANADA
Toronto Objectivist AssociationEmail: [email protected]: stevensnet.net/event&articlelist.html
University of Calgary ObjectivistClubEmail: [email protected]
University of Toronto ObjectivistSocietyEmail: [email protected]
, '
Today's young people face an uncertain world. Unemployment among recent college graduates is at
a record high, the United States is still bogged down in two foreign wars, and the wobbling Americaneconomy is in danger of deteriorating further once the Baby Boomers retire. Voters choose betweenDemocrats in one landslide election and Republicans in another, expressing their discontent with eachparty, and seemingly, their own uncertainty about how America should move forward. Many peoplewonder: where are we headed? Will America continue to be the land of opportunity, or are our bestdays behind us?
Dr. Yaron Brook, President of the Ayn Rand Institute, will argue that the answer to that questiondepends on what ideas young people accept and fight for. Join Dr. Brook as he goes beyond theheadlines, examining the basic ideas that have shaped today's events. And learn why the solutionto today's problems lies in rethinking not just our political system, but in challenging an idea mosteveryone holds to be true: the virtue of selflessness.
AYN RANDS MESSAGETO TODAY'S WORLDIDEAS MATTER
A LIVE LECTURE SIMULCAST TO UNIVERSITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY
MARCH ST, : PM PACIFIC, : PM EASTERN
MORE INFO: IDEAS.THEUNDERCURRENT.INFO
