Objectivist Roundup

The latest Objectivist Roundup has been posted at One Reality. Go check it out!

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PDF version of "Health Care is Not a Right"

In anticipation of the nationwide April 15 Tea Parties, FIRM (Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine) offered free copies of Dr. Leonard Peikoff's "Health Care is Not a Right" brochures to Objectivists to distribute at their local Tea Parties. Based on feedback from around the country, these were popular items.

I've since received multiple requests for more brochures, but unfortunately I've given them all away.

However, Tod (the original designer of the brochure) has created a nicely-formatted PDF version of Dr. Peikoff's essay. Now anyone can download and print out copies to give out at future Tea Parties, community events, etc.

The link to this version, as well as to other OpEds and essays can be found at the main FIRM webpage.

BTW, Tod is also the creator of the Objectivist greeting cards, including the popular alternative Dec 25 "Newton Cards".

Thanks again to everyone who helped spread Dr. Peikoff's essay last week!

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Head Trauma CT Scan

While working a recent evening shift, the following dramatic case came through the ER. The patient was a 61 year old man in a bad car accident who arrived in the ER unconscious with obvious head trauma.

Here are two sample images from the CT scan of his head.

The arrows on the first image point to extensive internal bleeding and air within the skull, with gross distortion of the normally symmetric brain structures:



A second image shows more detail of the depressed skull fractures. (This is the same location as the first image but with the brightness/contrast settings altered to show bone detail as opposed to brain and soft tissue detail):



Immediately after his CT scan, he was taken to the OR for emergency neurosurgery. The last I heard, he was still alive but his future was still very uncertain.

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Wednesday Open Thread #55

Here's yet another Open Thread for your thoughts:

For anyone in the fiery grip of a random question, comment, joke, or link they'd like to share with NoodleFood readers, I hereby open up the comments on this post to any respectable topic. (Please refrain from posting personal attacks, pornographic material, and commercial solicitations.)

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Harry Potter Trailer

The latest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince promises to be excellent. The books' themes have become darker and more adult as the series progresses.

The trailer also reflects this progression:

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Just Say No Fast Tracking

In response to this article on how the Democrats in Congress are seeking to "fast-track" some kind of health care "reform" -- likely universal, mandatory insurance -- Hannah Krening wrote the following letter to Colorado's two senators:

Dear Senators Bennet and Udall,

I have read the recent Reuters article and want to register my vehement objection to this underhanded approach to the debate on health care. I do not want government involvement in my health care decisions. I want a free-market approach to medicine.

Creating new government tentacles to surround my physical well-being and doing so in a way that "rams" it through (Reuters words, not mine) betrays the unprecedented power-lust present in Washington these days. Your participation in this "deal" would be a gross betrayal of your constituents and the Constitution. I hope you will find the conscience and backbone to resist participation.

Sincerely,

Hannah Krening
Larkspur, Colorado

Inspired by her good example, I wrote the following:

Dear Senators,

I am writing to express my dismay over the prospect that some kind of socialized medicine (like mandatory, universal coverage insurance) will be imposed on America by "fast-tracking" health care reform. It is grossly irresponsible for the legislature to take such drastic action without proper debate and discussion. We've already seen too many frantic attempts to do something quick -- anything, no matter how irresponsible -- over the past few months. It's time for the legislature to slow down -- preferably before you grind the economy to a halt.

You might have won an election, but you have no right to dispose of anyone else's life, health, and wealth. For you to attempt to ram socialized medicine down our throats -- without so much as offering Americans the chance to form and express their opinions on the matter -- is morally wrong. It's also a sign that your position is weak -- that you cannot persuade Americans of the merits of your views by any rational appeal to facts. Indeed, you have reason to worry: socialized medicine in any form is always disaster.

I do not want any government involvement in my health care. I do not wish my life and health to be subject to the whims of government bureaucrats. I support the elimination of the whole horrid web of entitlements and controls that are strangling medicine while driving up costs. The free market has not failed: your government controls have failed. Repeal them -- and restore the doctor-patient relationship to its properly private sphere.

Diana Hsieh
Sedalia, CO

I encourage you to write your senators about this issue. Even just a sentence or two is adequate, so long as you express yourself clearly. If you live outside of Colorado, you're certainly welcome to adapt the text of my letter for your own purposes.

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Mel Blanc's Vocal Cords

Today's medical video is a fiber optic direct laryngoscope view of Mel Blanc's vocal cords as he does various cartoon character voices.



(Via Boing Boing.)

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Alarming Flu Reports From Mexico

BBC News has posted a number of "in the trenches" readers' reports on the swine flu epidemic in Mexico. Here are two disturbing excerpts from Mexican physicians:

I'm a specialist doctor in respiratory diseases and intensive care at the Mexican National Institute of Health. There is a severe emergency over the swine flu here. More and more patients are being admitted to the intensive care unit. Despite the heroic efforts of all staff (doctors, nurses, specialists, etc) patients continue to inevitably die. The truth is that anti-viral treatments and vaccines are not expected to have any effect, even at high doses. It is a great fear among the staff. The infection risk is very high among the doctors and health staff.

There is a sense of chaos in the other hospitals and we do not know what to do. Staff are starting to leave and many are opting to retire or apply for holidays. The truth is that mortality is even higher than what is being reported by the authorities, at least in the hospital where I work it. It is killing three to four patients daily, and it has been going on for more than three weeks. It is a shame and there is great fear here. Increasingly younger patients aged 20 to 30 years are dying before our helpless eyes and there is great sadness among health professionals here.

Antonio Chavez, Mexico City

...I work as a resident doctor in one of the biggest hospitals in Mexico City and sadly, the situation is far from "under control". As a doctor, I realise that the media does not report the truth. Authorities distributed vaccines among all the medical personnel with no results, because two of my partners who worked in this hospital (interns) were killed by this new virus in less than six days even though they were vaccinated as all of us were. The official number of deaths is 20, nevertheless, the true number of victims are more than 200. I understand that we must avoid to panic, but telling the truth it might be better now to prevent and avoid more deaths.

Yeny Gregorio Dávila, Mexico City

A few natural questions:

1) How will this affect border control policy?

Mexico has arguably been teetering on the edge of being a "failed state" for a few years now. If a flu pandemic causes the central government to lose effective control over the country, will we see a flood of desperate illegal immigrants seeking to cross into the US to escape the problems in Mexico? And given that some of those people may be infected, how will the US respond?

Although I support open immigration in the sense that Craig Biddle discusses in his article "Immigration and Individual Rights" from the Spring 2008 issue of The Objective Standard, I also completely agree with him that it is a legitimate function of government to prevent people with deadly communicable diseases from entering this country. In an emergency, this may require fairly drastic steps (such as deploying the US military along the border).

Hence, border security may become a big issue in the near future.

2) If the pandemic strikes the US, will this lead to a permanent increase in government control over our lives?

Again, in a mass casualty medical emergency, I think the government can legitimately impose controls that would not normally be justified. For instance, it might restrict normal commerce, assume temporary control of hospitals and health care facilities, impose quarantines/curfews on neighborhoods and cities, etc. One can argue over whether any specific proposed measures are justified for a given emergency, but the basic principle is valid.

But we also know that once government assumes "emergency" control over a sector of the economy, it rarely gives up that control after the emergency has passed.

Hence, a flu pandemic could lead to permanent new government controls over health care and/or other major sectors of the rest of the American economy, even after the immediate crisis has passed.

3) What would be the long-term economic effects of a flu pandemic on the US?

If there is significant loss of life, the individual tragedies will be bad enough.

But I expect this would be compounded by significant disruption of normal economic activity. In the present political climate, this could deepen our current recession, thus creating more pseudo-justification for further government controls over the economy, which would further worsen the recession, etc. How far could this downward economic spiral go?

We'll soon know the answers to these questions.

I also wish to emphasize that I am not taking an alarmist position. For instance, I think it's a huge positive that medical technology has advanced immensely since the flu pandemic of 1918.

If you want to read some good practical advice, take a look at this page from epidemiologist Dr. Tara Smith (not the Objectivist philosophy professor) written during the bird flu scare of two years ago. In short, she recommends:

Don't panic
Wash your hands
If you're sick, stay home
Don't touch your eyes/nose/mouth
Stock up on food, water, and other household necessities (i.e., standard prep for blizzard, earthquakes, or other natural disasters)

There is also recent research suggesting that Vitamin D may help strengthen your ability to fight off the flu. (The article doesn't specifically address swine flu, but my guess is that correcting any Vitamin D deficiency wouldn't hurt and would likely help against this new virus.)

[Note from DMH: As I've mentioned before -- here and here and here -- most Americans are deficient in vitamin D. For example, a recent study showed that 72% of men over 65 are deficient using 30 ng/ml as the cutoff. From what I've read, levels should be over 60 ng/ml. For some people, that can require thousands of IU supplementation per day.]

So don't panic, keep informed, and stay tuned for updates!

(BBC link via Instapundit.)

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Recap #41

This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:

• Monday, April 20, 2009: Two From Pacific Research Institute by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Tuesday, April 21, 2009: WSJ: When Doctors Opt Out by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Tuesday, April 21, 2009: Admin: Twitter Feed by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Wednesday, April 22, 2009: Washington Times on Rationing by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Thursday, April 23, 2009: Who Should Control Your Health Care? by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Friday, April 24, 2009: Gratzer on Socialism and Cancer by Paul Hsieh, MD
  

This week on FA/RM, the blog of Free Agriculture - Restore Markets:

• Sunday, April 19, 2009: NAIS Meeting with Ag. Secretary Tom Vilsack by Monica

(Nothing was posted this week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government.)

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Sunday Open Thread #54

Here's yet another Open Thread for your thoughts:

For anyone in the fiery grip of a random question, comment, joke, or link they'd like to share with NoodleFood readers, I hereby open up the comments on this post to any respectable topic. (Please refrain from posting personal attacks, pornographic material, and commercial solicitations.)

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Link-O-Rama

I really enjoyed listening to this hour-long interview of Dr. Davis, the Heart Scan Doc, by Jimmy Moore. Although I've been reading Dr. Davis' blog regularly for a while, a good bit of what he said -- particularly about LDL -- was new to me.

Don't miss Dr. Eades latest post: Nutrition and health in agriculturalists and hunter-gatherers. It's his excellent analysis of a very good anthropological study. The results are striking -- and they clearly point to the superiority of a "paleo" diet for health.

I pity the poor cats who must eat this (or any other) vegan cat food. They're carnivores, for goodness sake!

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Parkour On A Bicycle

I had no idea that some of these stunts were physically possible:



(Via TreyPeden and Kottke.)

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Those Difficult Chinese Names

Texas State Representative Betty Brown created a furor when she made the following remarks about Chinese last names during testimony on proposed voter ID legislation:

Lawmaker defends comment on Asians

...Brown suggested that Asian-Americans should find a way to make their names more accessible.

"Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese -- I understand it's a rather difficult language -- do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?" Brown said.

She made her remarks to Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans.

I'm sorry to hear that Ms. Brown has troubles with difficult Chinese last names like "Ko"...

(Via Cynical-C.)

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Yaron Brook on Pajamas TV

Yaron Brook has appeared several times on the Pajamas TV internet news and commentary website. I've enjoyed all of his videos, and I'm glad to see him getting such a wide exposure in the "New Media" world.

Here are the links to his appearances:

3/18/2009: "Is Atlas Shrugging?"
3/30/2009: "Is the Government in the Car Business?"
4/10/2009: "A Rally to Come on Wall Street?"
4/15/2009: "Yaron Brook & Terry Jones on the Tea Parties"
4/17/2009: "Tea Party Aftermath; Recovery Coming?"

The interviewer Allan Barton asks good questions, and he has given Yaron Brook excellent opportunities to discuss fundamental ideas. So if you haven't watched these videos yet, go check them out!

The ARC is also maintaining a dedicated webpage for these and future appearances on PJTV: "The Ayn Rand Center on Pajamas TV".

Overall, PajamasMedia has been a good outlet for Objectivists. In the past three months, they've also published the following OpEds by Amit Ghate and myself:

2/10/2009: "Obama's Regulatory Chief Believes in Paternalistic Government" by Paul Hsieh
3/02/2009: "Ayn Rand and the Tea Party Protests" by Paul Hsieh
3/22/2009: "Health Insurance Industry Sells Its Soul to the Devil" by Paul Hsieh
4/13/2009: "Ayn Rand as Prophet?" by Amit Ghate

(Disclaimer: Neither Amit nor I work for the ARI/ARC. We speak only for ourselves in our respective writings.)

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Objectivist Roundup

Rational Jenn has the latest Objectivist Roundup. Go check it out!

Oh, and while you're there, be sure to check out Jenn latest post on parenting: Positive Discipline From Day One. As usual, it's Good Stuff.

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Tea Party: John Lewis

I've already posted the video of John Lewis' excellent speech at the Charlotte, North Carolina Tea Party. However, you might be interested in the transcript of that speech, particularly given that "Permission is given to read [it] in full, wherever defenders of liberty may gather." Here's my favorite bit:

At its heart, the economic and political crisis is a deeper problem--a moral problem. The cause of the crisis today is the worship of need, and the view of man as too stupid to act for his own sake, and worthy of being milked of all his values, to provide for others. This is what we must reject.

Do you think that this is a conspiracy to seize your wealth? It is far worse than that. As Ayn Rand wrote, "It is not your wealth that they're after. Theirs is a conspiracy against the mind, which means: against life and man."

This is an attempt to seize your life, to destroy your sense of self as an independent human being, and to replace it with a being with no self-esteem and no capacity for individual action--a being doomed to beg for sustenance from an all-powerful ruling elite.

Much to my delight, John Lewis will be speaking at a FROST brunch on May 9th. If you're in the area, please join us. Here's the announcement:

Brunch Talk with Dr. John Lewis on "The Greek Lessons for Today's Crisis of Government"

• Date: Saturday, May 9, 2009
  
• Time: 9:00 am social time; 9:30 am breakfast buffet; 10:30 am to 12:30 pm talk
  
• Location: West Woods Golf Club, Arvada, Colorado

About "The Greek Lessons for Today's Crisis of Government"

The crisis of government we face today--out of control spending, non-objective law, and a ruinous foreign policy--is caused by a corruption of the ideas needed to protect individual rights under law. In the fifth century BC the people of Athens faced a similar crisis: a devastating military defeat, financial ruin, and tyranny. The nature of this crisis and how they rose to overcome it is the subject of this talk. The solution involved a renewed commitment to follow their laws and the conceptual and institutional reforms needed to constrain their democracy from acting on whim. This talk will be taken from a forthcoming article, "Constitution and Fundamental Law: The Lesson of Classical Athens," to appear next fall in the journal Social Philosophy and Policy.

About Dr. John Lewis

John David Lewis received his PhD in Classics from the University of Cambridge. He is visiting associate professor of political science at Duke University. He has been a senior research scholar in history and classics at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center, and an Anthem Fellow for Objectivist Scholarship. A writer for The Objective Standard, his books are Solon the Thinker: Political Thought in Archaic Athens, and Early Greek Lawgivers.

For the full details, including the cost and RSVP information, please see the announcement.

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The Tweenbot Principle

Here's another example of what I'll call "the Tweenbot principle" in action:



The onlookers are downright thrilled to witness this unexpected, engaging, and benevolent performance -- and rightly so. As I said about the Tweenbots:

... many people are eager for some fresh novelty in their lives. They want to experience interesting things outside the ordinary humdrum of their daily tasks. To a benevolent person, such experiences brighten the mood. They make a day particularly memorable and pleasant. They highlight the simple joys of being a human creature living in a hospitable world.

I need to encapsulate the basic idea here into a single, brief sentence. Any suggestions?

(Via Richard Bramwell.)

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Wednesday Open Thread #53

Here's yet another Open Thread for your thoughts:

For anyone in the fiery grip of a random question, comment, joke, or link they'd like to share with NoodleFood readers, I hereby open up the comments on this post to any respectable topic. (Please refrain from posting personal attacks, pornographic material, and commercial solicitations.)

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The End Is Near! The End Is Near!

I'm in the final push of editing my dissertation, so please don't e-mail me -- until, say, Monday, May 4th -- unless you have a darn good reason for doing so.

Darn good reasons include:

• "NoodleFood was just mentioned on CNN."
  
• "Hey Diana, your house is on fire. Bummer."
  
• "I've decided to give you a million dollars as a graduation present."
  
• "Wow, did you hear that Yaron Brook has become a Catholic nun?"
  
• "Giant tortoises have invaded New York City."
  

You get the idea, I hope!

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Against the Drug War

An old student of mine recently wrote me asking my views about the drug war. Here's what I wrote in reply:

Like you, I'd like to live in a society of rational, productive, and interesting people -- as opposed to stoners, addicts, and the like. However, I would argue that drug prohibition actually undermines that goal, as well as endangers innocent people. You simply cannot force people to be rational, productive, and interesting people -- and the costs of attempting to do so are enormous.

Drug prohibition creates more serious drug problems. Due to the legal risks of using drugs, people are more inclined to seek stronger and shorter highs. That, plus the unknown nature of most street drugs, promotes overdoses, addiction, and other medical problems. As the price of drugs rises hugely with the risks, drug addicts turn to stealing to support their habit. Moreover, the scum of the earth have a strong incentive to become drug dealers. Then, because those drug dealers operate outside the law, gang warfare becomes a way of doing business. Ordinary people simply attempting to live their lives are caught in the crossfire.

Even with all those problems, the drug war has been completely ineffective: illegal drugs are as plentiful and easily available as ever. We have no reason to think that greater brutality in the drug war -- like executing drug dealers -- will make much of a difference. (Such people often have little regard for their own lives, I think.) Plus, the costs of an overzealous police force are quite severe. No-knock raids on wrong houses are quite common these days. People are routinely killed as a result -- not just innocent residents but also police officers. (The homeowner often reasonably thinks himself to be in the midst of a violent home invasion, and so shoots a police officer.) The result is that ordinary, law-abiding people are abused and endangered by the police, rather than protected by them.

Moreover, once you accept the principle that the state ought to force people to do or not do something for the sake of some supposedly greater social good, then that's the end of all individual liberty. Someone can always make a case against anything that a person might do. So if a majority of people think that the world would be a better place if you didn't read certain controversial books, watch certain violent television programs, marry certain kinds of people, and so on, then laws could be passed and law-breakers hunted down. The world would be a much poorer -- and more frightful -- place as a result.

Even if drug prohibition could stamp out drug use, I would regard it as too much of a cost to bear. However, given that drug prohibition makes the drug problem worse, I think the only sensible thing to do is repeal it. Sure, just like with alcohol, gambling, sex, food, and every other pleasure, some people will abuse drugs. They would be welcome to ruin their own lives, but in a capitalist society no one else would be obliged to associate with them, pay for their medical care, or whatnot. Absent some danger to others, like driving drunk or high, the law would not intervene. They could quietly destroy themselves, if they pleased. You could avoid such people entirely -- unless you chose to associate with or otherwise help them.

All of that is probably more than you needed or wanted to hear from me! However, you might find the following writings from the Cato Institute on the drug war of interest. I don't agree with Cato on lots of things, but I think they're pretty good on this issue.

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Today's X-Ray Case

This one isn't really a diagnostic dilemma. Instead, I'm presenting it because of the history:

"During seizure, patient's friend placed nail clippers in friend's mouth because he was worried patient would bite tongue."

I'm sure you can guess what happened next:



I think this qualifies as a "Want to Get Away?" moment... (Via K.D.)

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Happiness in College

Some months ago, Miranda Barzey -- now of the blog Ramen & Rand -- wrote to me about her disappointment in college. I offered some advice, largely based on my own experiences. The result was this delightful blog post: Depression in College: Getting Out of my Own Way. Here's the opening paragraph:

I had always expected college to be awesome. High school felt more like a daycare than a place to learn (albeit a few classes). So senior year, I was so excited to finally get out, to move onto bigger and better things at college, to study what I wanted and leave all the immaturity behind. Coming to college, I expected stimulating conversations with interesting people. I expected people who really loved what they were doing, who were passionate and intellectual. I expected... more.

She quotes my whole e-mail to her, and I really enjoyed her list of the ten things "to make sure life was better this semester." Go read the whole thing. And be sure to check Ramen & Rand regularly.

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Recap #40

This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:

• Monday, April 13, 2009: Good News / Bad News from North Dakota by Diana Hsieh

This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:

• Sunday, April 12, 2009: Schwartz on Colorado HB 1293 by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Monday, April 13, 2009: Ponnuru on Universal Coverage by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Tuesday, April 14, 2009: WSJ on the Public Plan by Paul Hsieh
  
• Wednesday, April 15, 2009: Hard Tax on Soft Drinks? by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Thursday, April 16, 2009: Two NCPA Analyses Worth Reading by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Friday, April 17, 2009: Hannan on UK Health Care by Paul Hsieh, MD

This week on FA/RM, the blog of Free Agriculture - Restore Markets:

• Monday, April 13, 2009: Food Safety Cops Outlaw Lil' Ole Church Ladies' Pies by Monica

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Sunday Open Thread #52

Here's yet another Open Thread for your thoughts:

For anyone in the fiery grip of a random question, comment, joke, or link they'd like to share with NoodleFood readers, I hereby open up the comments on this post to any respectable topic. (Please refrain from posting personal attacks, pornographic material, and commercial solicitations.)

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Tea Party Report

Without further ado... here's the various reports on Objectivist activism at Tax Day Tea Party Protests that I've found:

Colorado

• Ari Armstrong: Denver: report and pictures
  
• Diana Hsieh: Denver: report and pictures
  
• Hannah Krening: Colorado Springs: report

Idaho

• Greg Perkins: Boise: report, pictures, and video

Georgia

• Rational Jenn: Atlanta: report, links to pictures, and video
  
• John: Atlanta: report and pictures

North Carolina

• John Lewis: Charlotte: report and video
  
• John Park Jennings: Columbia: pictures

Ohio

• Brian: Canton and Cleveland: report
  
• rarabecca: Cleveland: pictures

Illinois

• TK: Chicago: report and pictures
  
• Chicago: pictures

Massachusetts

• Jared Rhoads: Boston: report and pictures
  
• Dan McAllister: Boston: pictures

Kansas

• Grant Jones: Manhattan: report and pictures
  
• Darren Cauthon: Overland Park: report with picture and more pictures

Texas

• Joe Reed: Houston: picture
  
• Houston: picture
  
• Dismuke: Dallas: report and pictures

Pennsylvania

• Philadelphia: pictures

New Mexico

• Sylvia Bokor: Albuquerque: report
  
• Albuquerque: pictures

California

• Kyle Haight: San Jose: report and pictures
  
• Haynesbe: San Jose: report and video
  
• Orange County: picture

New York

• Galileo Blogs: New York City: report
  
• Stella Daily: New York City: report
  
• Rosemary Gately: Albany: report and pictures

Florida

• Ardsgaine: Tallahassee: report and pictures

Oregon

• Gaia: Bend: report and pictures

Kentucky

• Miranda Barzey: Bowling Green: pictures

Arizona

• Bill Brown: Phoenix: report

Whew! Amazing! Please post any more reports, pictures, and videos in the comments! And e-mail me if I've screwed something up.

I'd love to see even more activism by Objectivists at the July 4th Tea Party Protests!

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Current Weather Conditions Chez Hsieh

Here in Sedalia, it has been snowing since Thursday night. It's not expected to stop for a few more hours. At this point, we have a bit more than a foot of super-heavy, super-dense snow.

See for yourself:



And here's Paul -- before we ventured out.



After feeding Tara, we ran around with Conrad in the snow for about 20 minutes. (He needed to blow off some steam after being stuck inside most of yesterday.) We did a set of "sprints" up one of the hills in our pasture. It was seriously hard work.

Although a bit of an inconvenience, this snow is very much welcome. Until recently, we've been alarmingly dry all winter. It was particularly hot and dry in late February and early March. As a result, everything was brown. If you didn't know the time of year, you would have thought it was fall. I was worried not only about wildfires this summer, but also about my pastures and gardens. I was feeling much better after some snows we've had in recent weeks, but this storm puts my mind at ease!

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Tea Party Story: Hannah Krening

From pianist Hannah Krening:

I attended the rally in Colorado Springs. I'm not good at estimates, but there were at least 1,000 people. I carried a hand-lettered sign on a stick that said "Atlas will Shrug" on one side and "I (heart) Capitalism...on principle" on the other. Both sides had "www.aynrand.org" at the bottom in red marker (Thanks Ari for that suggestion!). I carried 30 flyers: [Ayn Rand Center's] flyer on one side and Diana's [Front Range Objectivism] flyer on the other (I would have liked to include more, but I figured simpler was better). I only offered flyers to those I spoke to, and I spoke to anyone who made eye contact and who looked interested. Several people came up from behind to ask for a flyer (I kept them visible in my hand). I circulated around as much as I could, which helped; I think most people read my sign.

I came home with 2 flyers left over, and had my picture taken multiple times (no news outlets that I know of took my picture, though two local TV stations were there). I spoke to several people who seemed seriously interested, one of whom commented that she was glad to have the flyer as she is "looking for like-minded people." There were at least 5 signs with reference to Atlas Shrugged (I saw Linda Rogers there; she had a nice one), and I tried to speak to those people (and did to all but one). My hands were full and so I did not get pictures. I had no hostile interactions. I had to leave before 1 PM, as I needed to get back to work (to earn money to pay taxes...).

Thanks for the flyer, Diana! It came in handy, as I mentioned the local group to everyone I spoke to. I would have loved to have heard or even given the kind of speech I printed off the [Ayn Rand Center] website, but there was no way to even approach the speaker's platform. There was the usual Colorado Springs religious contingent (evidenced by response to some talking points from the podium), which is one reason I wanted to go there. But the vast majority of the signs had no religious reference at all. One referred to immigration, but most were anti-Tax, anti-Obama, anti-Big government, etc. Lots of flags (American and Don't Tread on Me).

Whew! It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It was a good chance to try some verbal communication, and I gained some confidence. I will try to attend future tea parties.

Way to go, Hannah!

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Tea Party Story: John Lewis

From historian Dr. John Lewis:

On April 15 I had the pleasure of addressing a tea party at Charlotte, North Carolina. Attendance was probably 3,000 people, and they were well equipped with signs, placards and tee shirts bearing messages of outrage against the present state of government. Every individual came not by some orchestrated plan, but by a desire to support liberty.

The event was non-partisan. There were lots of anti-Obama signs, but not a one pro-Bush that I saw. Nor did I hear any religious right propaganda; the only mention of abortion was the assertion that a doctor who does not want to do an abortion should not be forced to do it. The overriding message was outrage against the growth of government power.

My own talk focused on the moral aspects of the crisis. I contrasted the elevated view of man and his rights that is enshrined in the American founding documents, versus the cancerous view of man and the phony rights that dominate today. I noted that those who think that such events must be financed by billionaires have no conception of autonomous individuals with independent minds, and thus cannot understand people who come together out of love for liberty.

The video of my talk is here:



[And here's the interview:]



My mention of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" brought cheers. Afterward, at least two dozen people told me that Atlas was their favorite book. The crowd was hungry for ideas; I passed out hundreds of pieces of literature, and talked to dozens of people about the nature of this crisis.

These tea parties are expressions of an emotion, outrage, that is directed against a rising tide of taxation and increasing government coercion. But emotions are not guides to life, and will not tell a person either how to oppose a motivated socialist movement, or how to formulate a rational alternative. Unless some intellectual focus is brought to these events, they are likely to fade into irrelevance.

Thanks go to Andy Clarkson for the video, to Matthew Ridenhour for organizing the event, and to Lin Zinser and Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights.

Dr. John David Lewis
Visiting Associate Professor of Political Science, Duke University
Author, Solon the Thinker and Early Greek Lawgivers
www.classicalideals.com
esse quam videri

Thank you, John Lewis!

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Tweenbots

Via Flibbertigibbet and The Crucible, I recently discovered the fabulous little experiment of the the tweenbots. Here's the basic idea, as described by its creator, Kacie Kinzer:

Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal.

Given their extreme vulnerability, the vastness of city space, the dangers posed by traffic, suspicion of terrorism, and the possibility that no one would be interested in helping a lost little robot, I initially conceived the Tweenbots as disposable creatures which were more likely to struggle and die in the city than to reach their destination. Because I built them with minimal technology, I had no way of tracking the Tweenbot's progress, and so I set out on the first test with a video camera hidden in my purse. I placed the Tweenbot down on the sidewalk, and walked far enough away that I would not be observed as the Tweenbot--a smiling 10-inch tall cardboard missionary--bumped along towards his inevitable fate.

The results were unexpected. Over the course of the following months, throughout numerous missions, the Tweenbots were successful in rolling from their start point to their far-away destination assisted only by strangers. Every time the robot got caught under a park bench, ground futilely against a curb, or became trapped in a pothole, some passerby would always rescue it and send it toward its goal. Never once was a Tweenbot lost or damaged. Often, people would ignore the instructions to aim the Tweenbot in the "right" direction, if that direction meant sending the robot into a perilous situation. One man turned the robot back in the direction from which it had just come, saying out loud to the Tweenbot, "You can't go that way, it's toward the road."

The actual robots are quite adorable, so I definitely recommend checking out the pictures on the web site.

Regarding the significance of the experiment, Kendall writes:

There is an idea that I've heard repeated at various times in my life, that there is not enough charitable feeling in naturally "self-centered" man to be of meaningful help to those in need. When I respond that there is ample benevolence in man, and in a capitalist society, ample surplus of productive resource (time, money, etc) that we should not make it a forced duty to be charitable, but rather allow man's natural benevolence to take its course, most people tell me that resources have to be aggregated and centrally directed to be effective.

Kendall then observes that the tweenbot experiment shows the dismal view of man to be false. He's right.

I'd say something in addition, however. As Flibby's own hope to see a tweenbot illustrates, many people are eager for some fresh novelty in their lives. They want to experience interesting things outside the ordinary humdrum of their daily tasks. To a benevolent person, such experiences brighten the mood. They make a day particularly memorable and pleasant. They highlight the simple joys of being a human creature living in a hospitable world.

Many such experiences are mere happenstance -- yet a person can also seek them out for himself. He can visit places he's never seen, attend to the small features of his surroundings, and pause to consider bright spots therein. The happy little tweenbots offer much reward to people who do that. So to offer the tweenbots a little help in return seems like a very reasonable trade.

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Objectivist Roundup

Tito has the latest Objectivist Roundup. Go check it out!

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Request: Tea Party Report

I'm going to put together a quick report collecting various pictures and commentary from Objectivists about their local tax day tea parties. So please post the relevant links in the comments of this post by tomorrow at 4 pm MDT, so that I can compose and post the report tomorrow evening. Oh, and be sure to note the city.

Feel free to post links to random pictures of signs mentioning Atlas, Ayn Rand, etc as well. Nothing beats this gem though!

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Denver Tea Party

Yesterday, I was able to stop by the Denver Tea Party for about 45 minutes on my way to Boulder. I was surprised and pleased by the large turnout. A Denver Post article estimates a crowd of "more than 5,000 people" in attendance. Ari Armstrong has more details, including a slew of great pictures. From what I saw, he's right to call the event "a limited success," I think.



I was frazzled and overwhelmed, so I didn't spend much time passing out the fliers I brought with me. (Next time, I'd like to make that my primary purpose.) Instead, new doggie Conrad and I walked about, being petted by and chatting with people on occasion. (I'll leave you to figure out who was petted and who was chatting!) Although one of many dogs at the event, Conrad attracted quite a bit of attention because he was the only dog smart enough to wear his own sign:



Here's a close-up:



And here's the other side:



As you can tell, I didn't prepare these signs carefully in advance. The idea only really occurred to me as I was driving to Denver. I was able to buy the requisite paper at Kinko's, then make them hurriedly in the car with some markers I brought with me.

Despite that lack of good preparation, I was happy with the results. Many people noticed my signs: we got lots of friendly comments. Conrad definitely attracted far more attention than I would have carrying my own sign. Next time, I'll make better signs and attach them more securely to him. It helps to have a gimmick for these kinds of events, I think.

Oh, and in light of Flibby's well-justified scolding about the use of "tea bag" as a verb, I couldn't help but take a picture of this unfortunate sign:



Um, wow. And, uh, no thanks...

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My 3.5 Minutes of Fame at a Tax Day Tea Party Protest

Here's a great example of what the Ayn Rand Center is enabling around the nation.

They made some excellent material available, and I thought it would come in handy for any tea party protests that might happen here in Boise. When I found out that there was indeed one being organized here, I quickly put together a single-sheet front/back handout and printed several hundred in full color to distribute. Quick and easy cultural activism!

And then Tammy suggested that I offer myself as a speaker, on the off-chance that the organizers might be receptive to an Objectivist and find a way to fit me in. So I sent them a note the night before and heard back the morning of that they would like to have me speak! I cribbed and customized the backside of my handout, and voila, a 3.5-minute speech ready for delivery with almost no notice.

They ended up using me as their opening speaker! You can see me above in the lower-right, a while before I took the stage (it was cold and drizzly, and my papers were getting soggy). By the time I had the mic there were thousands of people in the audience, and I was surprised at how vocal and receptive they were! Tammy was off handing out the flyers (likewise, surprisingly popular) and didn't expect me to take the stage so early, but she nonetheless managed to capture a nice chunk of my performance on her little point-n-shoot camera:



Lots of people expressed gratitude and enthusiasm after I left the stage. The crowd was mostly stock conservative folks unhappy with the current situation and filled with all sorts of mixed, inconsistent, disintegrated ideas. And of course (ugh) there was the inevitable handful of crackpots. One conspiracy nutter buttonholed me to let me in on the secrets of the Federal Reserve, and we moved on pretty quickly. I was also pulled aside by a couple of far-Left media people looking to confirm that I was some crank trying to rewrite history or something -- I just responded pleasantly and explained more about what I was saying. We'll see what shows up in their outlets, if anything.

Quite a day for a guy who simply didn't have the time to design a flyer or write a speech from scratch. Thank you, ARC!

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Big Black Dogs

Given that my family rescued three excellent big black dogs over the years, I find the idea that they are significantly harder to adopt quite disconcerting. What could make people indifferent to or uninterested in them? Poor doggies!

(Via The Agitator.)

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Wednesday Open Thread #51

Here's yet another Open Thread for your thoughts:

For anyone in the fiery grip of a random question, comment, joke, or link they'd like to share with NoodleFood readers, I hereby open up the comments on this post to any respectable topic. (Please refrain from posting personal attacks, pornographic material, and commercial solicitations.)

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Time Travel Cheat Sheet

In case you've gone back in time:



(Via Gizmodo.)

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Amit Ghate: Ayn Rand as Prophet?

Congratulations to Amit Ghate for his recent essay on Ayn Rand which was just published by PajamasMedia. Here's the introduction:

Ayn Rand as Prophet
April 13, 2009 - by Amit Ghate

In recent months there has been a surge of interest in Ayn Rand's works. Fifty-two years after its first publication, her novel Atlas Shrugged is once again topping best-seller lists. As businesses are "bailed out" and quasi-nationalized; as one regulation leads inexorably to the next; and as the productive and innocent are increasingly burdened with the sins and failures of the guilty -- many people recognize the haunting resemblance to the world depicted in Atlas. Some now characterize Rand as a "prophet.”" Others, as seen on placards at "tea parties" nationwide, simply observe: "Rand was Right." But that she was right is, in some respects, less important than why she was right...

Read the rest here.

I'm glad to see Rand's ideas receiving the attention they deserve. And I'm glad to see Objectivists stepping up to help promote those ideas in venues like PajamasMedia.

Here's the comment I left in response:

Thanks for a terrific essay, Amit!

The original Tea Party protesters were not just fighting against higher taxes but *for* something positive -- the idea of individual rights. And in the process they helped create the greatest nation on earth.

Similarly, today's Tea Party protesters need to do more than just oppose bad government bailouts. They also need to support the positive case for limited government and capitalism. Fortunately, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged provides us with precisely the positive case we need -- a philosophy that defends the morality of rational self-interest and the importance of freedom in allowing honest men and women to pursue their own happiness.

Ayn Rand's ideas provide the necessary intellectual foundation that Americans need to save America. Let’s hope more people read her books and debate her ideas. The future of our country may well depend on it!

Once again, Amit -- thank you!

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Renewal

Here's a scary but potentially useful resource on religious environmentalism: the documentary Renewal. Here's how the film's web site describes the project:

Across the nation, people of faith are standing up for the environment. Evangelical Christians are fighting mountaintop removal, a coal mining process that is decimating Appalachia. Muslims are supporting sustainable farming. Jews are helping children experience the bond between nature and spirituality. Interfaith Power and Light is mobilizing people of all faiths in a religious response to global warming.

For the first time, the combined energy of these diverse activists is the driving force behind a feature-length documentary, entitled RENEWAL. Veteran film producers Marty Ostrow and Terry Kay Rockefeller have crisscrossed the country to capture these exciting stories of people whose passion and deep moral commitment are making a difference in a time of grave ecological threats.

The RENEWAL Project has been designed to make the documentary and its inspiring stories available to people and organizations who want to be a part of this growing movement to protect life on our planet and reverse the damage that humans have done to the environment. Learn how you can get involved today!

You can view a trailer on their web site. (Via Ari Armstrong.)

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Objectivist Greeting Cards

Tod, the creator of the popular Isaac Newton Christmas cards has expanded his line of offerings. Check them out here!

Here's his description:

Last Christmas, I sold a greeting card celebrating Isaac Newton instead of Jesus. It turned out to be unexpectedly popular. So I've designed some more, all on an Objectivist theme. You can actually use these for activism. A birthday or a holiday can be an excuse to send someone a positive message. It's passive and easy.

I get a bit weary writing what seems like the same letters, giving the same speeches, and grudgingly being drawn into debates I don't want to have. The thought of giving someone a colorful card with a shocking message in it really is exciting. Of course a greeting card does not replace detailed exposition on philosophy. It's just a small, and different, way of reaching people.

The culture is sending us insidious messages about ourselves and what our values should be. We can hear it in all forms of media, the language of our politicians, and even social customs. You can't even have a movie hero who isn't an alcoholic these days.

So often, in trying to build a culture of individualism, we focus on the horrible things spewing out of Washington. That's an important battle to have, but it's only part of a larger whole. We need a culture in which people are not automatically suspicious of anyone with a profit motive, and in which the mystical is mocked and ridiculed and not taken seriously, among other things.

How do you create that? I mean, just think of all the self-deprecating little phrases that people utter to themselves every day. Altruism has crept into absolutely everything.

One way to change it is to be a fearless example of your values. You have to live them, every day, consistently. You have to keep sending the same message, and the right message, tirelessly.

Philosophical messages do not need complex prose to be expressed. An image of a proud man, in the proper context, affirms that the achievement of one's values is real and possible. And we have very few of those grand images on TV or in the news today.

The future of this culture matters enough to me that I want to use every tool I have to change its course. These cards will start conversations. They will get attention. Find excuses to send them to people you barely know. Wear down the layers of cynicism and apathy and hopelessness drop by drop, like water. Greeting cards are a very small thing, but small things can add up. Like drops of water.

He has cards suitable for birthdays, "Get well soon", and Christmas. And more designs are on the way.

Thank you, Tod, for your artistry and creativity!

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Traditional Easter Celebration

Some of you may be surprised to learn that I am a committed traditionalist about Easter. The Easter holidays should be focused on bunnies, eggs, and other symbols of fertility -- not that newcomer "Jesus."

So, in the spirit of that glorious tradition, I bring you two delights:

See the best entries of the Peeps Diorama Contest. They're even better than last year, I think. My favorites are #4 and #40.

It's about time that someone created an Easter Turducken. It consists of Cadbury cream eggs wrapped in Peeps, then stuffed into a hollow chocolate rabbit. The linked page has a very useful set of illustrative pictures of the assembly process, but don't miss gems like the following in the description:

Many children wonder around Easter how it is that bunnies lay eggs. As a side benefit, Easter turducken illustrates clearly that this "theory" is wrong. Obviously bunnies lay chickens, which then lay the eggs. Mystery solved.

Indeed. Even more importantly, this Easter turducken -- a.k.a. the "bunpeepegg" -- shows that the "chicken or the egg" controversy is a vicious false alternative. Clearly, the chicken and the egg come into the world simultaneously: the chicken is "born" from the bunny already containing the egg!

It's just all so obvious now.

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Recap #39

This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:

• Monday, April 6, 2009: The Meaning of Animal Husbandry by Diana Hsieh

This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:

• Monday, April 6, 2009: Warnings about Obamacare by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Tuesday, April 7, 2009: It's All About the Control by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Wednesday, April 8, 2009: Ralston: Federal Health Board Is Hazardous to Your Health by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Thursday, April 9, 2009: IBD on the Public Plan by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Friday, April 10, 2009: Rhoads on "Comparative Effectiveness Research" by Paul Hsieh, MD

This week on FA/RM, the blog of Free Agriculture - Restore Markets:

• Monday, April 6, 2009: Unfortunately, NOT an April Fool's Joke by Guy Adamson
  
• Saturday, April 11, 2009: Smaller Farms = Higher Prices? by Diana Hsieh
  
• Sunday, April 12, 2009: HR 875 by Monica
  
• Sunday, April 12, 2009: Freedom of Speech Abridged in Kansas by Monica

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Sunday Open Thread #50

Here's yet another Open Thread for your thoughts:

For anyone in the fiery grip of a random question, comment, joke, or link they'd like to share with NoodleFood readers, I hereby open up the comments on this post to any respectable topic. (Please refrain from posting personal attacks, pornographic material, and commercial solicitations.)

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Smaller Farms = Higher Prices?

Why is food purchased from local farms often so damn expensive? I recently ran across two interesting essays on the topic via the blog Food Renegade, both focused on livestock.

First, in Unfair Fare, part-time New York farmer Bob Comis argues that the problem stems from a failure on the part of many small farmers to take advantage of economies of scale. Instead, these farmers tend to rely on the willingness of some not-so-bright folks to pay exorbitant prices for locally-produced food. Undoubtedly, many consumers do need to be smarter shoppers.

Second, in Why Local Food Is More Expensive, farmer Joel Salatin argues that the high prices are largely the product of massive government controls. These controls are not merely ill-suited to the workings of the small farm; they also entail fixed costs that burden small farms far more than large farms.

Whether you will ever buy food direct from a farm or not, I heartily suggest reading this second article. The inanity, burden, and expense of these government controls on farmers is worth glimpsing in its concrete details. It's not a pretty picture.

Notably, while these two explanations for high prices of locally-produced food differ, they are not mutually exclusive. However, in the long run, the government controls over farms are clearly far more significant than the poor judgment of some farmers and consumers. The market can and will weed out inefficient farms via competition over time. In contrast, government controls can only be remedied by a massive cultural and political u-turn toward free market agriculture. Given the general confusion about and hostility to free markets today -- and given that large farms often support such controls as a means of suppressing their competition -- that u-turn will be no easy task.

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Saturday Open Thread #49

Here's yet another Open Thread for your thoughts:

For anyone in the fiery grip of a random question, comment, joke, or link they'd like to share with NoodleFood readers, I hereby open up the comments on this post to any respectable topic. (Please refrain from posting personal attacks, pornographic material, and commercial solicitations.)

Update: Whoops! I mistakenly scheduled this Sunday Open Thread for the wrong day. Hence, it's now the Saturday Open Thread. Feel free to use it as you please. I'll post another open thread at midnight on Sunday.

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That Wise Man Jesusophile on Sex

I can't properly express my great amusement at this two videos, found via Andrew Sullivan. They're done by one Jesusophile -- a brilliant satirist, I think. Behold, and prepare to wonder and laugh mightily! (Just don't do it at work; the descriptions are too explicit.)

First, we have proof that condoms don't protect against AIDS using spoiled milk, a strainer, and a glass. (Seriously!)



Next, a rambling bit on why the pleasure of the woman doesn't matter in sex:



Everything about that video is beyond compare, but I'm particular taken with (1) the repeated mis-pronunciation of "vaginal," (2) his explanation and demonstration of how sex works using the orange and the spoon, (3) his befuddlement about lesbianism, and (4) his uncertainty about how Jesus feels about the clitoris.

Here's another gem -- albeit from real Christians: the world's worst movie ever. You simply must watch the trailer. You think it's bad enough -- and then it gets much, much worse.

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Against Public Works

On a mailing list, someone recently asked about Adam Smith's "third duty of government," namely:

... the duty of erecting and maintaining certain public works and certain public institutions, which it can never be for the interest of any individual, or small number of individuals, to erect and maintain; because the profit could never repay the expense to any individual or small number of individuals, though it may frequently do much more than repay it to a great society.

The person asked, and reasonably so:

How is this determined; and to what extent is the benefit of the majority a reasonable argument for the forced expense of any individual? (i.e., National defense)

Here was my reply:

Adam Smith's view puts us on a slippery slope, I think. It concedes the moral superiority of the collective over the individual.

If you grant that it's acceptable to forcibly tax people to provide for "public works" and "public institutions," then you'll soon be forcibly taxing people to satisfy the demands of narrow special interests. Why? Because the mechanism of doling out such public funds can and will be used by the special interests that stand to gain so many unearned dollars from it.

That's certainly has happened in American history, to such an extent that we're now spending billions on special interests with barely any discussion thereof. Everyone expects their slice of the government pie, they demand it at other people's expense, and they get it. While many people question the legitimacy of this or that project, few people question the legitimacy of the basic principle. They accept that some people should be forced to part with their money for the sake of projects of no interest to them -- or even projects contrary to their values. But that's wrong.

If some project is truly of great benefit to humanity, then either (1) the users of that project should be willing to pay for the benefit they get (e.g. by paying to visit the museum, attend the opera, drive on the road, attend the school, or use the open space) or (2) benefactors, whether large or small, must be found to fund it (e.g. to endow the school, museum, or opera). Often, some combination of those two methods is perfectly workable -- as history itself shows. (The National Gallery of Art, for example, was created and endowed by Andrew Mellon and other private collectors.)

If some grand project cannot be funded by either of those two voluntary methods, then it's clearly not valued by the public. And in that case, to force people to spend their hard-earned dollars on it is utterly indefensible. It's a sham, in fact.

As a side note, I regard the military, the police, and the courts as a different kind of case than "public works": they are legitimate functions of government. Yes, they do benefit everyone, and they are necessary to the existence of a civilized society. Yet even in their case, coercive taxation is morally wrong -- and practically dangerous. All government should be financed by voluntary contributions. If we can have an all-volunteer military -- where men and women put their lives on the line for too-low pay in order to protect America (and more, unfortunately) -- then citizens voluntarily contributing their part in taxes is hardly far-fetched.

Thoughts?

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Yaron Brook Lecture On Environmentalism

At the recent Heartland Institute 2009 conference on climate change (featuring dissent views to the environmentalist orthodoxy), Yaron Brook gave a lecture on the reasons people keep accepting bad environmental science.

He dissects the bad moral premises that Americans unwittingly accept (and must be challenged) in order to defeat the underlying anti-man ideology.

You can listen to his lecture here.

(Via VfR.)

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Objectivist Roundup

Titanic Deck Chairs has the latest Objectivist Roundup. Go check it out!

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The Obligation to Render Assistance

Right around the time of the CU Boulder "Think!" debate on Ayn Rand's ethics between Onkar Ghate and Mike Huemer, I listened to a very interesting discussion of the obligation to offer minimal aid to a person in distress in one of Leonard Peikoff's podcasts.

Kevin McAllister -- of the blog Logical Disconnect -- was kind enough to transcribe the question and answer for me. Here it is:

Episode 41: 10:25 - 11:37

Q: Am I morally obligated to call for help if I see someone in a car accident or experiencing a heart attack?

This is obviously from someone who does not know what the Objectivist view of selfishness is. Absolutely yes, you are morally obligated. If you have chosen to live in a society of human beings and your mode of survival depends on your trade with them then you have to value human life so far as it's not guilty or criminal to your knowledge. In that case if you know no evil about a person and no sacrifice is involved then only a psychopath would turn away from such cases. And that would mean besides all the psychological things a direct contradiction of the value of human life. You can't value your life and decide to live with others of your species and say, "They're nothing to me, I don't care if they live or die." That's self-contradiction.

Dr. Peikoff's analysis is substantially Aristotelian, I think. (That's a compliment, in this context: Aristotle's moral psychology is superb.) It's not a cost-benefit analysis: the point is not that the person might reward you with cash, that he might be a talented neurosurgeon who might someday save the life of your dear mother, that he might invent some widget that you'd like to buy, or whatnot. Rather, Dr. Peikoff focuses on the kinds of attitudes and dispositions toward other people required to live and live well among other men. That's the right approach to these kinds of cases, I think.

Kevin also transcribed the relevant portion from another of Dr. Peikoff's podcasts -- one I've not yet heard -- on the validity of "lifeboat" scenarios in ethics:

Episode 48: 12:30 - 15:48

Okay, do you know what a lifeboat question is? You know, what do you do when there [are] more people in the lifeboat then there is food and someone has to die, what does Objectivism say? And why those questions are completely illegitimate, because morality is for the circumstances when it is possible for men to coexist. If they can't, then you can't have any morality.

Now, this is a lifeboat question, which I normally wouldn't answer but it's from a high school student from another continent. So I'll read it. This is a really... Okay I won't comment, just listen.

He made this up, it's not true: My wife is extremely sick she is my greatest value, but she will die in 24 hours if I do not acquire a certain medicine for her. I leave the house and go to the pharmacy and find out that the last bottle of medicine has been sold to the man in front of me. There is no other place I can get this medicine. By coincidence the man who purchased the medicine is walking home in front of me. I approach the man and explain to him my situation and request that he give me the medicine. However, he says no, as his wife is in the same situation as mine. He turns around and continues to walk away. I know that if I wanted to I could easily overpower this man and steal the medicine. Now my question is, what is the moral thing to do?

Now, I'd like to know some things about the realistic possibility of this example. For instance, she is only going to live for 24 hours. Who long did you know that? Who told you? And why did you wait? How many other pharmacies have you tried? How many websites? Did you try the manufacturer? I mean this whole thing, point after point, is a completely unreal situation. You are just setting up, two men, for no reason, with no plausibility, want the same thing desperately, should they kill each other? Without the faintest expectation... at least in the life boat, you know that they're there you know and ... but here, there is no reason at all. So, what you have to do, before you ask moral questions, is figure out are they realistic, and what should the characters in them have done, what could have done that would have eviscerated and wiped out the very possibility of the situation.

Notably, Objectivism does not oppose reasoning from lifeboat scenarios in ethics merely because a person is unlikely to ever encounter such circumstances in his lifetime. I'm very unlikely to ever be propositioned with large sums of money by a student seeking an undeserved grade, yet we can certainly say that my accepting that offer would be grossly immoral.

Rather, as can be seen from Dr. Peikoff's remarks, the problem with "lifeboat ethics" is that the proposed scenarios are concocted so as to produce irresolvable conflicts between people. By various artificial constraints, they make life in society impossible. They preclude any rational solutions to the problem at hand. Is it then any wonder that the results are unseemly? Of course not.

The simple fact is that lifeboat scenarios do not reflect the most basic facts about human nature, namely our distinctively human methods of producing and trading the values required to sustain life. Consequently, moral principles cannot be applied to such scenarios, nor induced from them.

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Pat Condell on Free Speech

Pat Condell's argument for free speech as his new religion in this video is similar to the simple reductio ad absurdem of Leon Kass's intuitionist appeal to "repugnance" as grounds for banning human cloning. That reductio says the following:

In his case against cloning, Kass relies heavily on his own moral feelings of repugnance, without any serious attempt to justify them by plausible appeal to facts. Of course, Kass does offer some arguments against cloning, but those arguments are quite laughable. They would imply that we should ban in vitro fertilization, identical twins, and step-parents too.

Unfortunately for Kass, I find his appeal to repugnance itself repugnant. I'm an advocate of solid reasoning based on facts, after all. Heck, I find his pathetic attempts at substantive arguments -- rationalization, really -- quite repugnant too.

So if repugnance is as wise as Kass himself claims, then his whole method of arguing against cloning can and ought to be rejected on that very basis. Heads I win, tails he loses!

Obviously, that's not the strongest argument against mystical theocrats of various stripes, not by a long shot. Nonetheless, it highlights the absurdity of ethical and political claims based on a corrupt epistemology. It's a way of hoisting these folks with their own petard.

Will Wilkinson has more on the question-begging appeal to repugnance. Here's the short version:

...just do the following: Make a list of all the very morally worthy and life-enhancing procedures Kass finds repugnant. Now, declare that what we need to do is re-engineer people so that we don't find those things repugnant anymore, because those kinds of unreasoned sentiments prevent us from improving our lot here on Earth. How can a Kassian respond? The only non-fallacious course is to argue for the moral authority of the human moral sense as it is presently constituted, without assuming its authority in the argument. And that's what I want from Kass, and from all those who argue via "the argument from 'yuck.'" And that's what we never get.

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Wednesday Open Thread #48

Here's yet another Open Thread for your thoughts:

For anyone in the fiery grip of a random question, comment, joke, or link they'd like to share with NoodleFood readers, I hereby open up the comments on this post to any respectable topic. (Please refrain from posting personal attacks, pornographic material, and commercial solicitations.)

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Congratulations, Ari Armstrong!

Wow:

Media Release: Freecolorado.Com Wins Sam Adams Award

The Sam Adams Alliance announced that Ari Armstrong, publisher of FreeColorado.com, has received the 2009 "Modern-Day Sam Adams Award," the organization's top prize, for "his relentless -- and ubiquitous -- defense of free markets and individual liberty in the state of Colorado."

The organization's media release is available here.

Armstrong will receive his "Golden Sammie" April 18 in Chicago. Presenting the awards will be Michelle Malkin, Stephen Moore, John Fund, Jonathan Hoenig, Mary Katharine, and Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher.

In his entry, Armstrong summarized his "food stamp" diets of 2007 and 2009, his fight against political correctness (as with the "bitch slap" controversy of 2008), his work on health policy, and various other projects.

Armstrong said, "I congratulate the other winners and look forward to learning from their example. I thank the Sam Adams Alliance for recognizing the important work for liberty done at the regional level. Finally, I thank my fellow liberty activists in Colorado -- especially my wife -- for teaching me so much about liberty, individual rights, and free markets, and how to advocate those values through intellectual activism. This award is for you, my brothers and sisters in liberty."

Armstrong founded FreeColorado.com (then co-freedom.com) in late 1998, before the term "blog" had been coined.

Congratulations, Ari!

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Jackson, Rest in Peace

Yesterday, I had to put down my horse Jackson. He was quite elderly, likely well past his mid-20s. I'd not ridden him for many years, as he was neither as large, nor as athletic, nor as obliging as my other horse Tara. Consequently, he lived an indolent and easy life as Tara's stable mate.

Jackson had not been himself for the last six months or so, perhaps in part because he developed equine cushing's disease. Something was even more amiss these last few days: he was off his feed and lying down more than usual. I was definitely worried about him on Sunday, but I wasn't sure what the problem was, nor whether it was serious. I called my vet early yesterday (Monday) morning. Shortly before the vet arrived late that afternoon, Jackson was somewhat suddenly and very clearly in the late stages of colic. He was in enormous pain -- too much to be controlled by even vast quantities of drugs. He showed no sign of improvement from the standard course of treatment. As the vet was preparing to leave, we realized that the best thing to do would be to put him down immediately, rather than allowing him to suffer for more hours in the vain hope of recovery.

So that's what we did. It was hard, but I'm certain that was the right choice.

Jackson wasn't my favorite horse. In fact, I'd have to say that I didn't like him all that much. Yet he was a reasonably good fellow, and he performed his part in my life quite well. Still, he was my horse, I did love him, and I will miss him. Tara will miss him far more, I fear.

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The Objective Standard Flier for Tea Parties

If you're going to be attending a Tea Party protest on April 15, you may be interested in this downloadable flier on The Objective Standard website:

Here's the text:

A Tea Party Without Egoism Is like a Republic Without a Chance

America was founded on the individual's rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. But, contrary to the beliefs of many Americans, these rights are, by their very nature, egoistic. The freedom to live one's life as one sees fit, to act on one's judgment, to keep and use the product of one's effort, and to pursue one's happiness is the freedom to act in a consistently self-interested manner. The politics of freedom is the politics of self-interest -- and it is entirely incompatible with the widely accepted notion that self-interest is morally wrong and self-sacrifice is morally right. This -- Americans' acceptance of the morality of self-sacrifice -- is the fundamental reason we are losing our Republic.

Those who want to fight for a return to the Land of Liberty must embrace the morality on which liberty depends: the morality of egoism. And to do so, they must understand its nature and implications; they must grasp what egoism is, why it is true, and what it means in practice. The Objective Standard is a quarterly journal dedicated to elucidating the principles of egoism and applying them to the cultural and political issues of the day. Everyone concerned with the future should be reading this journal today.

As Craig Biddle notes on Principles in Practice:

The flier, which can be printed in black & white or in color, is a great way to start conversations about the root cause of America's problems and the corresponding solution. It also brings peoples' attention to TOS, which is the source for in-depth articles on this and other issues from an Objectivist perspective.

Please distribute the flier liberally at the tea parties -- and feel free to make it available from your own blogs and websites as well.

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Man Detained for Carrying Cash

The Agitator says: "Detained by TSA in town for a conference, a director of Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty is detained by TSA at the St. Louis airport because when asked to explain why he's carrying $4,700 in cash (it was proceeds from book and ticket sales at the conference), he asks the agents to tell him what law requires him to do so. He managed to surreptitiously record his conversations with TSA officers on a cell phone. The audio is infuriating."



Wow. While I'm no fan of Ran Paul, I'm completely horrified by the attitude displayed by these government employees toward a man guilty of nothing more than carrying a few thousand dollars of cash.

The fact is that too many people -- many of them working for government now -- would willing participate in police state, even to the point of inflicting torture and death on innocent persons. Stanley Milgram's famous experiments on obedience to authority prove that with frightening certainty.

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Recap #38

This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:

• Monday, March 30, 2009: A Free Market of Ideas by Diana Hsieh
  

This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:

• Monday, March 30, 2009: WSJ Warning on Massachusetts by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Tuesday, March 31, 2009: Hsieh LTE in NY Times by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Wednesday, April 1, 2009: Crowder on Canada by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Thursday, April 2, 2009: Knope in New York Times by Paul Hsieh, MD
  
• Friday, April 3, 2009: Postrel on the Drug Industry by Paul Hsieh, MD

This week on FA/RM, the blog of Free Agriculture - Restore Markets:

• Sunday, March 29, 2009: Good News on NAIS -- State Laws and Resolutions by Monica
  
• Wednesday, April 1, 2009: Local Farmers Corralled in Sting Operation by Guy Adamson

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Sunday Open Thread #47

Here's yet another Open Thread for your thoughts:

For anyone in the fiery grip of a random question, comment, joke, or link they'd like to share with NoodleFood readers, I hereby open up the comments on this post to any respectable topic. (Please refrain from posting personal attacks, pornographic material, and commercial solicitations.)

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