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The Morality of the Welfare State

Sep 15, 2011 | Politics

Write the duo of Yaron Brook and Don Watkins in The Entitlement State Is Morally Bankrupt:
Despite the fact that the big three entitlement programs–Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare–have the U.S. government facing upwards of $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, they largely remain a third rail: touch not lest ye be voted out of office.Why are they sacrosanct? Because, whatever else you can say about the entitlement state, no one disputes that it’s a moral imperative. Inefficient? Maybe. Expensive? You bet. But morally questionable? Absolutely not.The problem with the entitlement state is not simply that it is bankrupting this country–the problem is that it is morally bankrupt.The basic principle behind the entitlement state is that a person’s need entitles him to other people’s wealth. It’s that you have a duty to spend some irreplaceable part of your life laboring, not for the sake of your own life and happiness, but for the sake of others. If you are productive and self-supporting, then according to the entitlement state, you are in hock to those who aren’t. In Marx’s memorable phrase: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
Read the rest of The Entitlement State Is Morally Bankrupt.

Post-9/11 World

Sep 12, 2011 | Politics

Richard Salsman quotes Dr. John Lewis on Why Washington Resists Victory In A Post-9/11 World:
“The central ‘evil’ we seek to avoid is to fight for our own self-interest – a motive which is not, in fact, an evil one. We’re ignorant of the morality of rational self-interest, and to maintain what we think is the moral “high ground,” we base every action on the good to be gained for someone, anyone, other than us. Until and unless we recognize that we’re truly fighting for good, and that we ourselves are good, well-worth defending for our own sakes, we’ll continue to hamstring our troops and undercut our own efforts with the apologetics of self-abnegation. Every passing day will bring our enemies closer to the moment when they’ll have the capacity to wreak even greater havoc on us. War is a terrible thing, but is it not far more terrible for an entire generation to grow up watching the slow bleed of a war that we selflessly refuse to win? And isn’t it worse that they see the bloodletting caused solely by the inability of their elders to recognize their own right to defend themselves – and their values – for their own sake?”
Read the rest.

Help Support Capitalism Awareness Week on US College Campuses!

Sep 11, 2011 | Politics

 The Undercurrent is planning a number of programs designed to spark an Objectivist student movement on college campuses. To make these programs possible, they are asking for your support.Foremost among their 2011-2012 programs is an event called "Capitalism Awareness Week." This week-long event will consist of a series of lectures and discussions at different college campuses across the country. Each lecture will be broadcast live via the Internet so students elsewhere may participate. Learn more here. 

Scott Holleran Interview with John David Lewis

Sep 3, 2011 | Business, Philosophy, Politics

From Scott Holleran's blog:
The goal of a war is to defeat an enemy’s will to fight. So argues the author of Nothing Less than Victory: Decisive Wars and the Lessons of History (Princeton University Press, 2010), who makes the case that a strong military offense can win a war and establish lasting peace while playing defense often leads to destruction. This study of six major wars, from the Second Punic War to World War 2, by historian John David Lewis, contrasts the use of overwhelming force, such as the Greek victory over Xerxes’ army and navy, with a lack of reason, purpose, and commitment to fight. On the eve of the 10th year since the worst attack in American history, I turned to my friend John Lewis, a visiting associate professor of philosophy, politics, and economics at Duke University and teacher at Objectivist Conferences (OCON), to discuss today’s war from an historical perspective. Dr. Lewis is the author of Solon the Thinker: Political Thought in Archaic Athens and Early Greek Lawgivers. Scott Holleran: What is the theme of Nothing Less Than Victory: Decisive Wars and the Lessons of History?John David Lewis: That wars are driven and caused by people’s decisions to fight and that those decisions are based on the ideas they hold. This has enormous implications for what victory means, because it means discrediting the ideas we’re trying to defeat. For example, one could never explain Germany’s massive attacks [against other countries] or Japan’s massive attack on America, in which they launched into intercontinental warfare, without understanding the ideals that they held. The theme of Nothing Less Than Victory is that one must defeat the enemy by discrediting his ideas.Scott Holleran: How was Nothing Less Than Victory suggested by your students?John David Lewis: I was teaching a class on ancient and modern warfare and it became clear that a comparative history would be useful. My students posed good questions.Scott Holleran: While writing about the rise of the Nazis, did The Ominous Parallels: The End of Freedom in America by Leonard Peikoff help your understanding?John David Lewis: Yes, because it’s the only book I know of that places philosophical ideas as the lesson of history. It’s not only an explanation of Nazi Germany in terms of ideas but, much more deeply and widely, it demonstrates how ideas move history.Scott Holleran: The current administration supports military involvements in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, as well as other underreported incursions in nations such as Yemen and Pakistan, with something other than, or less than, a purpose let alone a victory. The Oxford English Dictionary defines warmonger as “a person who seeks to bring about or promote war.” As a commander-in-chief who supports and initiates militarism with no purpose or end, is President Obama a warmonger?John David Lewis: I think he’s incompetent but I don’t think Obama is a warmonger. He inherited those wars but he’s simply unable to bring those wars... [Read the rest at Scott Holleran's blog.]

Event: Sept 11—A Decade Later: Lessons for the Future

Sep 3, 2011 | Politics

It has been a decade since the Sept. 11 attacks shocked and angered our nation. What lessons have we learned since then? Join us at a symposium, “Sept. 11—A Decade Later: Lessons for the Future,” on September 8, in Washington, D.C. The program will feature three panel discussions, presenting a range of viewpoints.

  • Upheavals in the Middle East: Assessing the Political Landscape

    What lessons can be drawn from the popular rebellions in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and elsewhere in the Arab-Islamic world? Will these uprisings lead to fundamental changes to the political landscape? Who stands to gain the most from these changes? What impact might they have for U.S. interests in the region?

  • The Islamist Threat: From AfPak to Jyllands-Posten and Times Square

    In the years since the attacks of 9/11, what have we learned about the nature of the enemy that struck that day? What have we learned from the U.S. response, under G.W. Bush and now Barack Obama, that should shape current and future policy? If a failure of pre-9/11 policy-thinking was to neglect ‘connecting the dots,’ what patterns or trends can be identified now about developments in the Middle East, Europe (such as the furor over cartoons of Mohammad) and North America?

  • Iran, Israel and the West

    If—or when—Iran gains nuclear-weapons capability, what would be the impact on the region, on Israel, and on American interests? What lessons can be learned from America’s policy toward Iran—not only in recent years, but going back to the emergence of the Islamist regime in Teheran? What policy options are available to the U.S. for responding to Iran and its Islamist affiliates?
For full details visit here.

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