Volume 21, No. 1: Spring 2026
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In this issue:
Departments
The Spring 2026 Issue of The Objective Standard Is Released!
Welcome to the Spring 2026 issue of The Objective Standard, the rational alternative to conservatism and regressivism.
Cover Article
Think and Fly High: Inspiration from Jonathan Livingston Seagull
The life of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the eponymous bird protagonist of Richard Bach’s novella, is a powerful metaphor depicting the virtue of independence and the importance of personal achievement.
Good Living
Walt Disney and the Business of Creativity
When people consider the greatest American entrepreneurs of all time, one name that does not get enough credit is Walt Disney.
“Our Souls Were Mates”: The Inspiring Friendship of James Dean and Eartha Kitt
The friendship between Eartha Kitt and James Dean shows us how people can grow individually from deep connections built on dedication to purpose, a passion for life, and honesty as a guiding principle.
The Subversive Art of a Classical Education by Michael S. Rose
The Subversive Art of a Classical Education is, without question, one of the most important, valuable, and well-written books on the subject.
The Arts
Character Arcs and the Arc of Your Life
Many of us tend to think of fiction as primarily fun or entertaining. Good stories are fun and we should enjoy them. However, we can also get other benefits from good stories that are less obvious but no less valuable.
The Inspiring Individualism of 2112
Rush’s “2112” is no ordinary rock song. Released in March 1976, it’s a twenty-one-minute epic composed of seven movements telling a complete story about the mind-destroying natures of tyranny and collectivism. It’s a song that wouldn’t exist if not for the band’s dogged dedication to their artistic integrity.
Can Robots Bring Back Beautiful Buildings?
Arka Serezh is the founder of Gondor Industries, a company pioneering robotically cut stone for architecture and sculpture.
Mercy, Directed by Timur Bekmambetov
Mercy follows the “trial” of LAPD detective Chris Raven, who must fight for his life after being accused of murdering his wife. His opponent is the AI “judge, jury, and executioner” created as part of the Mercy Program, which Raven advocated and spearheaded.
Eleven Soaring Poems about Flight
Including works by Edmond Rostand, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Philosophy and Politics
Two Perspectives on Stopping Trump and Other Tyrants
Trump is not a bulwark against cultural decline but its embodiment; he is evasion of reality, resentment, and abandonment of principle concentrated in a single person.
The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology, and the Scientific Revolution by Carolyn Merchant (Review)
The Death of Nature was a turning point in ecology and “gender studies.” The comparison between women and nature presented in the book inspired leftwing thinkers to link the two under the banner of “ecofeminism.” Since the 1980s, the study of women’s history in academia has focused largely on the history of “the environment.”
The Enlightenment: The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680–1790 by Ritchie Robertson (Review)
The Enlightenment was a cultural current almost everyone has heard about—yet modern scholarship about it and popular attitudes toward it are full of misconceptions and misleading stereotypes.