The Church of St. Ayn Deconsecrated
Ayn Rand pursued two vocations in her long career: first, that of a writer, novelist, screen writer and second, that of the founder and subsequent leader of a philosophic movement. It seems to me, then, that any commentary on her life’s work must deal separately with each-or, as Hollywood would have it, with the two faces of Ayn. AYN RAND THE NOVELIST As judged by the longevity and popularity of her novels, Ayn Rand was a first rate novelist. ... [Read More...]
Academy Awards Night in Tehran
Reprinted from the Tehran Telegraph, February 27, 2011 Not to be outdone by Hollywood, Tehran staged its own Academy Awards which clearly outshone its American counterpart in every respect. From the very beginning, the two-block-long line of black BMW’s arriving at the city’s auditorium bearing the highest clergymen in the land made Hollywood’s scattering of limos looked amateurish by comparison. And the slapdash entrance of... [Read More...]
The Path to World Government, Part I
“We live in an era of great transformation. Citizens everywhere can feel the ground shifting from under them, from terrorism to pandemics to job insecurity, but we do not yet have a road map of the changes, let alone a blueprint for how to address them.” Anil Hira, Ph.D. Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada in “The Futurist” May-June 2007 “Still, even with Israel’s atomic honesty and America’s... [Read More...]
The Path to World Government, Part II
STEP 1. GETTING STARTED A central committee of some sort is needed to run things and it’s up to you to form one. I picture a group of thirteen or so voting members each with an alternate to serve as a backup and/or replacement if needed. Such a group could, I believe, best be formed by some sort of self-organization process-people stepping forward as candidates and deciding who among them are the best qualified. Once the group is formed,... [Read More...]
The Path to World Government, Part III
STEP 3. MAINTAINING WORLD PEACE RESOLVING CONFLICT RESOLUT ION: A world government that depended solely on negotiations to resolve conflicts would be impotent and doomed to fail. It might as well not even be attempted. This globe of ours is such a troublesome, contentious place that it is too much to hope that the unbroken chain of violent outbreaks, going back to the very beginnings of recorded history, could be interrupted by the mere intercession... [Read More...]
The Path to World Government, Part IV
STEP 4. ENTER THE ECOPOLOGISTS The creation of a constitution would be a decisive step forward, but given our species’ ability to go astray on the slightest provocation, another element will be needed to keep the movement for a world government on track. Whereas I cannot predict what obstacles will arise, it’s a safe bet that arise they will and you must be prepared for them. Entrenched segments of society wedded to the status quo... [Read More...]
Episode 9 of “Homage to Luxenben”
Now if the reader will indulge me in a bit of literary license, I must throw my narrative into chronological reverse, as it were, and return to the beginning of the pageant. My reason for doing so is that, from my perspective, what happened during the intermissions was as action-filled as the show itself. By the conclusion of the first act of the pageant, Matilda’s mood had considerably improved. On her earlier aerial junket, she had noticed... [Read More...]
Rich Man, Poor Man
HOW TO MAKE CAPITALISM WORK IN THREE EASY STEPS SYNOPSIS The expression, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” all too accurately reflects the economic truth in many countries around the world today including, unfortunately, the United States. The traditional way to ameliorate the disparity that results from the relentless exercise of this rule is by means of governmental income redistribution and/or progressive tax rates both... [Read More...]
Trouble Down Below
As a junior naval officer in the US Navy Reserve, I was stationed on a destroyer during the Korean War. I came back home with a number of memories of my tour of duty, but none more vivid than an experience in the port of Oran, Algeria. We were nested alongside a dock with two other destroyers when a mistral struck unexpectedly sending cascades of water over the breakwater along with powerful gusts of wind and rain hitting the side of the ships. ... [Read More...]
Confidential Poll Reveals Top Ten Wishes for 2011
1. THAT AN INDEPENDENT RISK-ASSESSMENT BODY BE ESTABLISHED TO REVIEW PENDING LEGISLATION [87.9 % approval] Our ever-alert congressmen are good at wagging their forefingers at miscreants who have abused our laws and, in the process, have reaped millions of ill-gotten gains at taxpayer expense. Unfortunately, these same congressmen are not nearly as good at crafting laws that anticipate fraud and spare us the expense to begin with. Time after time... [Read More...]