Let’s start with a quote from Rand on the nature of Rights:

There is only one fundamental right (all the others are its consequences or corollaries): a man’s right to his own life. Life is a process of self-sustaining and self-generated action; the right to life means the right to engage in self-sustaining and self-generated action—which means: the freedom to take all the actions required by the nature of a rational being for the support, the furtherance, the fulfillment and the enjoyment of his own life. (Such is the meaning of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.)

The concept of a “right” pertains only to action—specifically, to freedom of action. It means freedom from physical compulsion, coercion or interference by other men.

Thus, for every individual, a right is the moral sanction of a positive—of his freedom to act on his own judgment, for his own goals, by his own voluntary, uncoerced choice. As to his neighbors, his rights impose no obligations on them except of a negative kind: to abstain from violating his rights.

And now, the Carnival:

Jenn Casey presents An Announcement about the Objectivist Round Up posted at Rational Jenn saying “The Objectivist Round Up will wrap up on July 19, 2012 after five straight years of nearly weekly editions. It’s been a fun activism project and I have enjoyed running the carnival for most of its life. Please contact me if you are interested in hosting during these last few weeks.”

Darius Cooper presents Where did all the Stimulus Go? posted at Practice Good Theory, saying, “See what Obama promised and what he delivered”

Paul Hsieh presents Hsieh Forbes OpEd: Who Should Control Your Healthcare Spending? posted at We Stand Firm, saying, “My first OpEd at Forbes asks: ‘What simple health care reform has reduced medical costs by up to 30%, while preserving quality of care?’”

John Cox presents Objectivism and Constitutional Law posted at Sacred Ego saying “Here’s one from Sacred Ego’s archives – a discussion of the competing theories of judicial interpretation.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of The Objectivist Round Up using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Up first is this <sarcasm> fantastic </sarcasm> article on how the GOP is finally rallying around Mitt Romney over the issue of Gay Marriage over at the Politico. Here’s a quote from someone particularly fired up about it:

“What I’m hearing from folks around the country is: ‘Game on, we’re in, we will do whatever is necessary to elect Mitt Romney now because Obama has shown where he really stands,’” Brown said

I read this crap and it makes almost (*almost*) want Obama to win just to shut the thumpers up. With all the truly important issues facing us over the next president’s term, THIS is what rallies you to get out and support the defeat of a committed socialist? Repealing Obamacare isn’t enough to fire up the GOP to vote for Romney. Avoiding the largest tax increases in history isn’t enough to get them fired up. The prospect of standing by while Iran becomes a nuclear state isn’t enough. No, what REALLY fires up the base is that TWO MEN WHO LOVE EACH OTHER might actually be allowed to marry each other! THE HORROR!!!

Next, is Paul Hsieh’s first op-ed for Forbes.com. It’s a fantastic piece on the flawed notion that the fee for service system is responsible for the increased costs of Health Care.

Suppose you received part of your salary in the form of a tax-exempt “food plan” which covered your meal expenses except for a nominal co-payment. If your out-of-pocket expense for a steak dinner was only 10% of the actual cost, you’d likely consume more steak than if you paid the full cost yourself. How many of us would be prudent diners if we ate out every night on the boss’s expense account? Similarly, it’s no surprise that patients covered by tax-exempt employer-based health insurance spend more than patients with HSAs. (The special tax exemption on employer-provided health plans explains why Americans typically receive health insurance through the workplace, but not their car or homeowners insurance.)

This popped up on Facebook the other day – it’s a fascinating time lapse video showing the evolution of Europe from 1000 AD to the current day. There’s also a longer version linked in the video that identifies some of the important events that were occurring as the map changes.

Last – there’s a story from Jeffrey Toobin in the New Yorker (it’s an excerpt of his forthcoming book) on the Citizen’s United decision and how it evolved from a case of limited scope to a sweeping precedent overturning years of campaign finance law. I’m a Supreme Court junky, and love reading whatever “inside details” I can on the operations of the court, and this doesn’t disappoint. Some have disagreed (rightly, I think) over Toobin’s characterization of Chief Justice Roberts’ role in the case, but the story is fascinating, nonetheless.

To get us started, here’s a quote from Galt’s speech in Atlas Shrugged on the Mystics of Spirit and Muscle. For the past 2 years, we’ve seen more than enough of the Mystics of Muscle. Now, we need to be vigilant and make sure we haven’t just reelected the Mystics of Spirit instead of those who will legitimately fight for individual rights:

The good, say the mystics of spirit, is God, a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man’s power to conceive—a definition that invalidates man’s consciousness and nullifies his concepts of existence. The good, say the mystics of muscle, is Society—a thing which they define as an organism that possesses no physical form, a super-being embodied in no one in particular and everyone in general except yourself. Man’s mind, say the mystics of spirit, must be subordinated to the will of God. Man’s mind, say the mystics of muscle, must be subordinated to the will of Society. Man’s standard of value, say the mystics of spirit, is the pleasure of God, whose standards are beyond man’s power of comprehension and must be accepted on faith. Man’s standard of value, say the mystics of muscle, is the pleasure of Society, whose standards are beyond man’s right of judgment and must be obeyed as a primary absolute. The purpose of man’s life, say both, is to become an abject zombie who serves a purpose he does not know, for reasons he is not to question. His reward, say the mystics of spirit, will be given to him beyond the grave. His reward, say the mystics of muscle, will be given on earth—to his great-grandchildren.

Selfishness—say both—is man’s evil. Man’s good—say both—is to give up his personal desires, to deny himself, renounce himself, surrender; man’s good is to negate the life he lives. Sacrifice—cry both—is the essence of morality, the highest virtue within man’s reach.

And now, without further ado, the Carnival:

Joshua John M. Lipana presents 2081: A Movie of the Heroic and a Warning to All posted at NewsReal Blog, saying, “A review of a great movie that serves as a chilling warning against Egalitarianism.”

Edward Cline presents Speechless Speech posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, “To echo Juan Williams, whenever I encounter politically correct speech and action, I get worried and nervous. It means that I am dealing with dishonesty, with corruption, with a consciously shrunken mind that demands that I speak and write on its terms.”

Aditya Pawar presents The Right to Petition Government for Redress of Grievances, Part VI posted at Axiom, saying, “Sixth Installment. I discuss how the “case or controversy” requirement of Article III of the Constitution has been distorted by Congress and the Supreme Court,”

Edward Cline presents Islamic Ambulance Chasers posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, “I sent the following as an open letter of protest to U.S. District Court, Chief Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange, Oklahoma City, in response to the news that she had blocked an amendment to Oklahoma’s constitution that would prohibit state and local judges from factoring Sharia and international law into their decisions.”

Paul Hsieh presents Conjoined Twins with Partially Fused Brains posted at GeekPress, saying, “An interesting article that could have implications for both science and philosophy of consciousness.”

Diana Hsieh presents Last Chance: Pledge for a Webcast on Intellectual Property by Adam Mossoff posted at NoodleFood, saying, “You have one last chance to pledge for Adam Mossoff’s webcast on intellectual property! The project has been green-lit, thanks to to pledges already made, but you need to pledge to watch or hear it!”

Ari Armstrong presents Colorado Election Notes posted at Free Colorado, saying, “What do the election results from Colorado mean?”

Jason Stotts presents Global Warming Continues to Fall From Grace posted at Erosophia, saying, “The AGW movement falls further from grace as CCX falls and greens start to leave the movement.”

Paul McKeever presents Ban the Parka? posted at Paul McKeever, saying, “bikinis and freedom may go hand-in-hand, but it would be wrong to make them mandatory attire at the beach…sadly ”

Kelly Elmore presents Why Reading Medieval Latin Is Central to the Purpose of the Atlanta Objectivist Society posted at Reepicheep’s Coracle, saying, “This post discusses the Atlanta Objectivist Society’s Latin Club and the role of optional value groups in building a strong community Objectivist club.”

Greg Perkins presents Objectivism, Not Social Darwinism posted at NoodleFood, saying, “What is Social Darwinism, and why do people think it has anything to do with Rand’s philosophy? Objectivist Answers has an excellent answer from Robert Garmong.”

Rational Jenn presents Getting the House in Order posted at Rational Jenn, saying, “This is a purely personal post about the steps my husband and I have taken in the last year to get our finances organized and cut expenses. It’s also been the source of good conversations with our kids about money and values.”

Amy Mossoff presents Rules posted at The Little Things, saying, “We don’t have many rules in our house for our daughter – mostly rules are for transitions and they can end up being quite silly.”

Atul Kapur presents Q&A on Oil posted at Wit Lab, saying, “I answer three common questions about oil.”

Rachel Miner presents Imperative vs. Experience Sharing Communication posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, “A brief post about these two forms of communication and why it’s so easy for parents to switch the ratios in favor of a friendly, but more directive approach.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of The Objectivist Round Up using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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To get us started, here’s one of my favorite quotes from Ayn Rand, regarding the nature of the Universe:

Although accidents and failures are possible, they are not, according to Objectivism, the essence of human life. On the contrary, the achievement of values is the norm—speaking now for the moral man, moral by the Objectivist definition. Success and happiness are the metaphysically to-be-expected. In other words, Objectivism rejects the view that human fulfillment is impossible, that man is doomed to misery, that the universe is malevolent. We advocate the “benevolent universe” premise.

The “benevolent universe” does not mean that the universe feels kindly to man or that it is out to help him achieve his goals. No, the universe is neutral; it simply is; it is indifferent to you. You must care about and adapt to it, not the other way around. But reality is “benevolent” in the sense that if you do adapt to it—i.e., if you do think, value, and act rationally, then you can (and barring accidents you will) achieve your values. You will, because those values are based on reality.

And now, without further ado, the Carnival:

Rachel Miner presents Video Games: In the Screen Zone posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, “I process through some concerns with screen time by identifying the questions bothering me and addressing them for myself. There’s always the parental challenge of when to impose a limit!”

Amy Mossoff presents I Could Be a Murderer posted at The Little Things, saying, “If you’re reading the Objectivist Round Up, you’ve probably already heard about Ari Armstrong and Diana Hsieh’s policy paper opposing Colorado’s Amendment 62 and the “personhood” movement. This issue is extremely important to me, given my history with abortion, infertility, and as a potential IVF patient. Read my post to find out how this law would condemn me as a murderer.”

Jane Eisenhart presents The Fountainhead Reloaded: Audition Results posted at Hometown Grotesque, saying, “With Atlas Shrugged the Movie garnering all kinds of buzz lately, my mind has turned to casting. Not that movie. The Fountainhead, if it were remade utilizing current figureheads to whom we could all relate. By that standard, here’s my cast list for The Fountainhead Reloaded.”

Diana Hsieh presents The ‘Personhood’ Movement Is Anti-Life: Part 14 posted at NoodleFood, saying, “This section of Ari Armstrong’s and my new policy paper explains the philosophic basis for abortion rights — meaning why rights can only begin at birth.”

Miranda Barzey presents My Life in Atlanta So Far, Part 1: Nannyland posted at Building Atlantis, saying, “A post about my stint as a nanny, why it didn’t work, and what I’ve learned.”

Sean Saulsbury presents Senh Duong: Rotten Tomatoes, Wopular (Ep. 1) posted at The Independent Entrepreneur, saying, “I’ve launched a new podcast called The Independent Entrepreneur (available at www.indybizshow.com), where I interview people who run or have run small businesses. My first show is with Rotten Tomatoes founder Senh Duong.”

Sean Saulsbury presents The Social Network, Freakonomics posted at The Movie Film Show, saying, “I play the ‘Mr. Movie’ character in this, and this week we reviewed the much anticipated Social Network movie. Those interested in the show might also want to check out the review for Never Let Me Go from a couple of weeks ago. It’s a very good movie, but, I think, morally revolting, and I gave it a very conflicted A-.”

Ari Armstrong presents Salazar Wants Economic Controls, Personal Liberty posted at Free Colorado, saying, “A CO congressman is relatively pro-liberty on church/state issues and abortion, but he voted for the “stimulus” and ObamaCare.”

Earl Parson presents Day 50: Drywall Goodness posted at Creatures of Prometheus, saying, “My latest house design, which is under construction in Tennessee, has had the drywall installed. This is my latest blog update on the progress.”

Zip presents A Tale of Two Moralities posted at UNCOMMON SENSE, saying, “A Judge in Ontario recently struck down the laws concerning keeping a Bawdy house, and communication for the purpose of prostitution. Predictably the religious and other moral busy-bodies have come out in opposition to the ruling and are promising an appeal.”

John Drake presents Career versus family posted at Try Reason!, saying, “Where do your hierarchy of values lie? In this post, I explore two very important values in my life, my career and my family. Ultimately, one must come on top. Read on to see which and why.”

Rational Jenn presents PD Tool Card: Mirror posted at Rational Jenn, saying, “Sometimes when I’m trying to make a point to my kids without wanting to get involved, I use this observational technique. It’s a great way to give children a hint about what they might need to do without being overly involved in their problems. (And it works well with spouses and coworkers, too!)”

Joseph Kellard presents Why Communists Have Largely Escaped Justice posted at The American Individualist, saying, “That communists have largely escaped justice and condemnation is due, in part, to the anti-communists, who have failed to indentify the fundamental issues involved in communism vs. Nazism.”

David Lewis presents not-so-guilty pleasures posted at david in real life, saying, “Sometimes the only way to really understand how a person thinks is by reading their personal diary. Well, here’s your chance. This week, I write about “not so guilty pleasures”.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of The Objectivist Roundup using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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The right to life is the source of all rights—and the right to property is their only implementation. Without property rights, no other rights are possible. Since man has to sustain his life by his own effort, the man who has no right to the product of his effort has no means to sustain his life. The man who produces while others dispose of his product, is a slave.

Bear in mind that the right to property is a right to action, like all the others: it is not the right to an object, but to the action and the consequences of producing or earning that object. It is not a guarantee that a man will earn any property, but only a guarantee that he will own it if he earns it. It is the right to gain, to keep, to use and to dispose of material values.

Below, you’ll find articles discussing a wide range of subjects, all written by students of Objectivism and based on the core principles of that philosophy. If you’d like to read in more detail on Ayn Rand’s philosophy, the Ayn Rand Institute’s website is a fantastic online resource.

And now – the Roundup.

Ron Pisaturo presents Update to an Old Proverb—Obama Supporters Take Heed posted at Ron Pisaturo’s Blog saying, “Rob a man who fishes, and you feed yourself for a day. …”

Ramandeep Girn presents Is America Still the Land of Opportunity? posted at The Undercurrent Blog, saying, “Writing in the New York Times, Thomas Friedman applauds a recent event honoring the finalists of Intel’s national science talent search. “If you need any more convincing about the virtues of immigration,” he says, “just come to the Intel science finals”. But how much longer can America provide haven to these industrious people?”

Jared Rhoads presents Smith’s rules of taxation posted at The Lucidicus Project, saying, “With tax day upon us, here is a revisiting of Adam Smith’s four rules of proper taxation.”

Edward Cline presents A Malice That Dares Not Show Its Face posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, “I ended my July 5th, 2009 commentary, “Parsing Obama,” with reference to a remark made by Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post, that, to understand President Barack Obama, one must pay attention to what he does, not to what he says. On March 23 we paid attention to what he both said and did: he conscripted the medical and insurance fields into government service, and claimed he looked up into the sky and saw no asteroids hurtling toward the earth as punishment for enacting such a law.”

John Drake presents Singularity posted at Try Reason!, saying, “Some futurists make extraordinary claims with regards to artificial intelligence. Ray Kurzweil, in The Singularity is Near, claims that machines will be duplicate human intelligence within 20 years. Is his claim valid?”

Cogito presents A Truly Worthy Cause posted at Cogito’s Thoughts, saying, “A fellow valuer has been struck by tragedy, and I want to help. If you value the work of Jennifer Iannolo, please consider contributing.”

Diana Hsieh presents Uncle Sam Wants Your Savings posted at NoodleFood, saying, “The government is considering assuming control over our 401K accounts. They’re seeking comments. Will you protest?”

Rachel Miner presents Book Gems posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, “Sharing a slew of playful book recommendations, I was up late, but I think this will be a great resource for parents and those looking for kid gifts. Also, there’s a surprise at the end! I think this is a fun one for anyone with kid connections and maybe anyone that could use a smile today too ”

Andrew Miner presents Makers vs. Managers posted at On Coding Style, saying, “A discussion of how “makers” and “managers” use time differently, and a few specific techniques on how to help them get along better.”

Roderick Fitts presents Part 3: On Moral Judgment posted at Inductive Quest, saying, “Presents my view of Objectivist moral judgment, and compares it to Peikoff’s and Kelley’s–to the detriment of Kelley’s position. We begin to see how far from Objectivism Kelley really is.”

Rational Jenn presents Unearned Guilt and the Mommy Wars posted at Rational Jenn, saying, “Don’t fight the Mommy Wars! Don’t accept unearned guilt or refuse to judge. Do what you think is right and be proud of it. ”

Paul McKeever presents What You Ain’t Ain’t What You Is posted at Paul McKeever, saying, “here is some discussion that, hopefully, will provoke you to reconsider the propriety of the word “atheist”, to refer to a person who does not “hold” a false belief in a supernatural being.”

Kelly Elmore presents What I’ve Been Reading Lately posted at Reepicheep’s Coracle, saying, “A list of the books I have finished so far in April and a brief remark about each”

Paul Hsieh presents The Deadly Tax on Medical Innovation posted at NoodleFood, saying, “My latest OpEd on PajamasMedia was on ObamaCare, death, and taxes. (This one even got Instapundited!)”

Julia Campbell presents saag paneer posted at the crankin’ kitchen!, saying, “Easy, classic Indian recipe!”

Ari Armstrong presents Kid Planning and Mountain Midwifery posted at Free Colorado, saying, “My wife and I are planning to have a kid. We visited Mountain Midwifery Center, and we liked what we saw.”

Sandi Trixx presents Job Creation Basics? posted at Sandi Trixx, saying, “The government does need to create the conditions for more hiring, by getting out of the way, protecting individual rights and nothing more.”

David C Lewis, RFA presents The Pedagogic Nature Of A Financial Advisor posted at A Revolution In Financial Planning.

Amy Mossoff presents Concierge Medicine posted at The Little Things, saying, “Just as no rational person should depend on Social Security for retirement, we all need to be prepared to view money spent on “health insurance” as money down the drain, and start looking for options. If ObamaCare doesn’t kill concierge medicine, this might become one way to get actual health care. I’m looking into it now.”

Amy Mossoff presents Optional Values posted at The Little Things, saying, “Here’s a little random musing about a part of parenting that seems natural to me.”

Gus Van Horn presents A 900-Word Concession posted at Gus Van Horn, saying, “A conservative’s response to Obama’s lengthy babbling on taxation is itself a 900-word concession to the President.”

Jennifer Iannolo presents The Power of People | Food Philosophy posted at Food Philosophy.

Jeff Montgomery presents How The Health Care Bill Will Violate Our Rights posted at Fun With Gravity, saying, “Some on the Left wonder why advocates of freedom are up in arms over the health care bill. After all, it “just provides coverage for everyone”, right? I compiled this list from the bill to provide evidence of its extensive violations of our individual rights.”

Doug Reich presents A Message to the Tea Party posted at The Rational Capitalist, saying, “A message to the Tea Party on how to deserve success.”

Doug Reich presents Not Just a Thought: Under ObamaCare, Nurses will become Doctors posted at The Rational Capitalist, saying, “Another tidy example of how pragmatism is literally killing us.”

Doug Reich presents The Bogus Charge of Chinese “Currency Manipulation” posted at The Rational Capitalist, saying, “The specter of mercantilism analyzed.”

Trey Givens presents On Love and Marriage posted at Trey Givens, saying, “The title of my post this time is a little bit of a misnomer because I really didn’t talk much about marriage as such. Instead, this post is really about the state of being single and the way people often regard it as some sort of character flaw or failing.”

Sandi Trixx presents The Constitution is Not a “Living” Document posted at Sandi Trixx, saying, “Anyone who uses the “living” document argument has one goal: control of your life.”

Jared Rhoads presents Tea Party Express in Boston posted at The Lucidicus Project, saying, “A detailed report of the April 14th Tea Party extravaganza in Boston, MA, with plenty of photos!”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of The Objectivist Roundup using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags:
objectivist round up, blog carnival.

What do we have instead? A president who refuses to take sides on the issue, in the process granting the genocidal maniacs in control of that regime moral equivalency with the civilian protesters seeking to throw off the bonds of tyranny. As I, and other objectivists have argued for quite some time now, we need a foreign policy based on rational self defense that unshackles us from the self imposed chains we’ve donned in the name of altuism.