The Objective Standard Blog
Topics: Events
Friday, October 21, 2011
Send a Student to the NYOS Conference
The New York Objectivist Society is seeking contributions to fund worthy students to attend its conference in NYC on Nov 4-6. Speakers include Dr. Andrew Bernstein, Dr. Yaron Brook, and Dr. Eric Daniels. The cost for a student to attend is $300, but contributions of any amount are welcome. For details about the event, visit the NYOS website. To make a contribution, mail a check payable to New York Objectivist Society to A. Benlian, c/o NYOS, PO Box 939, Bronxville NY 10708.
Image: Wikipedia Commons
Posted in: Announcements, Events
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Support the Center for Industrial Progress
Alex Epstein’s excellent new organization, the Center for Industrial Progress, has launched a campaign to raise money in support of the Center’s activities, including a forthcoming debate with Greenpeace, “The Green Energy Economy: Economic Savior or Economic Suicide?” If you value the fruits of industry and can afford to contribute to CIP’s efforts, please enter your donation amount below and click “join.” Thank you for your consideration. —Craig Biddle
Image: Wikipedia Commons
Posted in: Announcements, Business and Economics, Environmentalism, Events
Friday, September 30, 2011
Ayn Rand’s Theory of Rights at Students for Liberty Conference
What: A lecture by Craig Biddle, editor of The Objective Standard and author of Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It
Where: Students for Liberty Dallas Regional Conference, University of North Texas
When: Saturday, November 12, 2011
Admission: FREE and open to the public (but space is limited, so register early)
Description: What are rights? Where do they come from? How do we know it? And what does this imply? Ayn Rand’s answers to these questions form the indispensible foundation of a fully free, fully civilized society. In this talk, Craig Biddle elucidates Rand’s theory of rights, examining its essential principles, showing why it is true, and differentiating it from traditional theories, including “God-given” rights, “government-granted” rights, and “natural” rights. Attendees will expand or fortify their understanding of the source, nature, and meaning of rights, thus enhancing their ability to engage in intellectual activism toward pure, laissez-faire capitalism.
Posted in: Announcements, Ayn Rand and Objectivism, Education, Events, Individual Rights and Law
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Ayn Rand’s Theory of Rights: The Moral Foundation of a Free Society
What: A lecture by Craig Biddle, editor of The Objective Standard and author of Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It
Where: Medford Oregon, at the Rogue Valley Country Club, 2660 Hillcrest Rd.
When: September 3, cocktails & hors d’oeuvres 5:00-7:00pm, lecture with Q&A 7:00-9:00pm
Admission: $35
Description: What are rights? Where do they come from? How do we know it? And what does this imply? Ayn Rand’s answers to these questions form the indispensible foundation of a fully free, fully civilized society. In this talk, Craig Biddle elucidates Rand’s theory of rights, examining its essential principles, showing why it is true, and differentiating it from traditional theories, including “man-made” rights, “God-given” rights, and “natural” rights. Attendees will expand or fortify their understanding of the source, nature, and meaning of rights, thus enhancing their ability to engage in intellectual activism toward pure, laissez-faire capitalism.
Posted in: Announcements, Ayn Rand and Objectivism, Events, Individual Rights and Law
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Altruism vs. America: Ayn Rand Solves the Problem
Here’s a video of the talk I recently gave at UW-Madison and U Minnesota. As is usually the case when I speak on college campuses, the active-minded students and their excellent questions left me optimistic about the future. Enjoy!
Posted in: Ayn Rand and Objectivism, Events, Individual Rights and Law, Philosophy
Monday, April 18, 2011
On April 22, Celebrate Exploit-the-Earth Day

Because Earth Day is intended to further the cause of environmentalism—and because environmentalism is an anti-human ideology—on April 22, those who care about human life should not celebrate Earth Day; they should celebrate Exploit-the-Earth Day.
Exploiting the Earth—using the raw materials of nature for one’s life-serving purposes—is a basic requirement of human life. Either man takes the Earth’s raw materials—such as trees, petroleum, aluminum, and atoms—and transforms them into the requirements of his life, or he dies. To live, man must produce the goods on which his life depends; he must produce homes, automobiles, computers, electricity, and the like; he must seize nature and use it to his advantage. There is no escaping this fact. Even the allegedly “noble” savage must pick or perish. Indeed, even if a person produces nothing, insofar as he remains alive he indirectly exploits the Earth by parasitically surviving off the exploitative efforts of others.
According to environmentalism, however, man should not use nature for his needs; he should keep his hands off “the goods”; he should leave nature alone, come what may. Environmentalism is not concerned with human health and wellbeing—neither ours nor that of generations to come. If it were, it would advocate the one social system that ensures that the Earth and its elements are used in the most productive, life-serving manner possible: capitalism.
Capitalism is the only social system that recognizes and protects each individual’s right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. Under capitalism, people are fully free to choose their goals, to identify the means of attaining them, and to act on their best judgment. Accordingly, those who recognize that in order to live well they and their loved ones need abundant energy, clean air, clean water, and the like tend to use the available resources rationally, with an eye to the distant future. Further, under capitalism, if a person (or corporation) spews toxins onto someone’s land, or poisons his water supply, or in any other way violates his property rights, the offender is held accountable in a court of law. But, so long as a person does not violate anyone’s rights, he is free to act in accordance with his basic means of living: the judgment of his mind.
Environmentalism, of course, does not and cannot advocate capitalism, because if people are free to act on their judgment, they will strive to produce and prosper; they will transform the raw materials of nature into the requirements of human life; they will exploit the Earth and live.
Environmentalism rejects the basic moral premise of capitalism—the idea that people should be free to act on their judgment—because it rejects a more fundamental idea on which capitalism rests: the idea that the requirements of human life constitute the standard of moral value. While the standard of value underlying capitalism is human life (meaning, that which is necessary for human beings to live and prosper), the standard of value underlying environmentalism is nature untouched by man.
The basic principle of environmentalism is that nature (i.e., “the environment”) has intrinsic value—value in and of itself, value apart from and irrespective of the requirements of human life—and that this value must be protected from its only adversary: man. Rivers must be left free to flow unimpeded by human dams, which divert natural flows, alter natural landscapes, and disrupt wildlife habitats. Glaciers must be left free to grow or shrink according to natural causes, but any human activity that might affect their size must be prohibited. Naturally generated carbon dioxide (such as that emitted by oceans and volcanoes) and naturally generated methane (such as that emitted by swamps and termites) may contribute to the greenhouse effect, but such gasses must not be produced by man. The globe may warm or cool naturally (e.g., via increases or decreases in sunspot activity), but man must not do anything to affect its temperature.
In short, according to environmentalism, if nature affects nature, the effect is good; if man affects nature, the effect is evil.
Stating the essence of environmentalism in such stark terms raises some illuminating questions: If the good is nature untouched by man, how is man to live? What is he to eat? What is he to wear? Where is he to reside? How can man do anything his life requires without altering, harming, or destroying some aspect of nature? In order to nourish himself, man must consume meats, fruits, and vegetables. In order to make clothing, he must skin animals, pick cotton, manufacture polyester, and the like. In order to build a house—or even a hut—he must cut down trees, dig up clay, make fires, bake bricks, and so forth. Each and every action man takes to support or sustain his life entails the exploitation of nature. Thus, on the premise of environmentalism, man has no right to exist.
It comes down to this: Each of us has a choice to make. Will I recognize that man’s life is the standard of moral value—that the good is that which sustains and furthers human life—and thus that people have a moral right to use the Earth and its elements for their life-serving needs? Or will I accept that nature has “intrinsic” value—value in and of itself, value apart from and irrespective of human needs—and thus that people have no right to exist?
There is no middle ground here. Either human life is the standard of moral value, or it is not. Either nature has intrinsic value, or it does not.
On April 22, make clear where you stand. Don’t celebrate Earth Day; celebrate Exploit-the-Earth Day—and let your friends, family, and associates know why.
Posted in: Announcements, Environmentalism, Events, Individual Rights and Law, Philosophy, Science and Technology
Thursday, January 13, 2011
“Altruism vs. America” at UCLA
What: A one-hour talk followed by a Q&A
Who: Craig Biddle, editor of The Objective Standard
Where: UCLA, Kinsey Pavillion 1240B
When: Wednesday, January 26, 7:00pm
Admission is FREE and open to the public.
Description: America was founded on the principle of individual rights–the idea that each person has a right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. Since the country’s founding, however, Americans have increasingly accepted a morality that is incompatible with rights, namely, altruism: the notion that being moral consists in self-sacrificially serving others. In this talk, Craig Biddle examines the nature and source of altruism, shows what the morality means in theory and practice, and demonstrates its stark opposition to the principle of individual rights. He then indicates the nature and objectivity of the only morality that is compatible with individual rights: rational egoism, the morality developed and defined by Ayn Rand.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Posted in: Announcements, Events, Philosophy
Monday, November 1, 2010
Craig Biddle’s Appearance on Frank Beckmann Show to be Rescheduled
Craig Biddle’s scheduled appearance on the Frank Beckmann Show this morning (Mon, Nov 1) has been cancelled due to pressing election news. It will be rescheduled as soon as possible.
Posted in: Announcements, Ayn Rand and Objectivism, Events, Philosophy
Sunday, October 17, 2010
“Epistemology is a Moral Matter,” a Talk by Craig Biddle
Craig Biddle will present “Epistemology is a Moral Matter” at the North Texas Objectivist Society (NTOS) on Friday, Oct 22, at 7:00 p.m. The next evening, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Mr. Biddle will participate in a Q&A period about his work and Objectivism. And following the Q&A, NTOS will host its 6th Halloween Party. For details and pricing, visit the NTOS website.
Posted in: Announcements, Ayn Rand and Objectivism, Events, Philosophy
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The Atlas Shrugged Revolution
A message from Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute:
UPCOMING AYN RAND INSTITUTE EVENT—THE ATLAS SHRUGGED REVOLUTION, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

I am very pleased to announce that on Tuesday, September 14, 2010, in New York City we will hold our second annual Atlas Shrugged Revolution fundraising dinner event.
Last year’s event attracted 125 attendees and raised more than $400,000—and we hope that this year’s event will be an even greater success.
Here are the details for this year’s dinner:
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
6:00 p.m.
W New York
541 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10022
John Allison of BB&T Corporation will again join me to discuss the public’s continuing interest in Atlas Shrugged—and the ideas behind it. We will also update attendees on the work being done by ARI to promote Ayn Rand’s philosophy at this critical time in our nation’s history.
For more details and to register, please visit our event Web site.
We hope you’ll be able to join us in Manhattan on September 14, for ARI’s second annual Atlas Shrugged Revolution event!
Sincerely,
Yaron Brook
President and Executive Director
P.S. At this year’s event we will again hold an auction of rare Ayn Rand books and manuscripts. Images and descriptions of the items are available for viewing on the Web.
Copyright © 2010 Ayn Rand® Institute. All rights reserved.
Posted in: Announcements, Ayn Rand and Objectivism, Events
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