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http://voyager.gaia.com/blog/2008/10/society_without_god This blog plus comments, from Albert Klamt, presents various viewpoints on a topic rarely discussed: whether morality, ethics, and a society that works for everyone, is possible without a specifically religious foundation or orientation. And to... More »
a silent revolt by becoming less and less productive = exactly the story in Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. Addresses pretty much all the issues here, quite clearly illuminating the fundamentals of it all, and... More »
I suggest you stop whatever you were doing and immediately order a copy of The 99th Monkey: A Spiritual Journalist's Misadventures with Gurus, Messiahs, Sex, Psychedelics and Other Consciousness-Raising Adventures by Eliezer Sobel. It... More »
I suggest you stop whatever you were doing and immediately order a copy of The 99th Monkey: A Spiritual Journalist's Misadventures with Gurus, Messiahs, Sex, Psychedelics and Other Consciousness-Raising Adventures by Eliezer Sobel. It... More »
I suggest you stop whatever you were doing and immediately order a copy of The 99th Monkey: A Spiritual Journalist's Misadventures with Gurus, Messiahs, Sex, Psychedelics and Other Consciousness-Raising Adventures by Eliezer Sobel. It... More »
Is Corporate Fascism integral? Perhaps come back to this message after you have apprised yourselves of the information at the above link... Now, welcome back. ;o) Basically we are speaking about forced economic congruency. If... More »
I thought I'd refresh this one. The whole thread is about me struggling to formulate what I had just vaguely understood. And now, after reading in the new ILP book (or parts of it), after... More »
Evil as the Absence of Empathy by Ernest Partridge--The Crisis Papers Fri Jul 25, 2008 9:05 am (PDT) Excerpt from the clarifying article below... Evil as the Absence of Empathy by Ernest Partridge--The Crisis Papers. Sent via Scoop... More »
Hello there! I am a newbie to this site, but the last person was accurate. They have a great listing of books to read. I am just going to go thru the list. I just... More »
Illusions by Richard Bach The Bridge Across Forever by Richard Bach The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (and the Hobbit) by J.R.R. Tolkien A complete collection of Calvin... More »
Alexa
"I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine" These words, by Ayn Rand, are... More »
Brian
“Now, I came to this idea of bliss because in Sanskrit, which is the great spiritual language of the world, there are three terms that represent the brink, the jumping-off place to the ocean of... More »
rugged_gurl1
Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result... More »
Justin
Cross-posted from my blog at http://gnosticexperience.wordpress.com/ I watched this video by Belzebuub today. It’s about the search for truth, and largely about the impediments to that the search and the difficulty of that search. In... More »
Michael
To learn who I am. To love who I am. To discover what I love. To love unconditionally. To reach my highest potential. To fully manifest all the glory of god that lies within me. _________________________________________________________________ For... More »
Anand
And then the world changed. I look back at 2008 and see it as if it were a million years ago. We seem to have crossed over into something new - something frightening but new... More »
Michelle
Sitting down and reading a thought provoking book has always cured my from any anger, or saddness. Right now I am especially enjoying Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead.
Michael
Discipline, and the idea of prosperity that I am writing about and will live. The fact that I can make this life a heaven or hell through philosophy, which is the love of wisdom. The comfort... More »
Brian
Just committed to getting all these babies done by the end of the year. Gonna be busy. :) Will be releasing the PDF, MP3 and LIVE! discussions on all these as part of my membership... More »
Ukumbwa, African Condor
"Environmentalism and Revolutionary Energetics: Monadnock, Oxbow and a Very Sad River in Chicago" Part One This is an 'article' (I'm not sure what to call it) I wrote about issues of environmentalism and spirituality. ... More »
[He] stood motionless, not turning to the crowd, barely hearing the applause. He stood looking at the judges. There was no triumph in his face, no elation, only the still intensity of contemplating a vision with a bitter wonder that was almost fear. He was seeing the enormity of the smallness of the enemy who was destroying the devastation, past the ruins of great factories, the wrecks of powerful engines, the bodies of invincible men, he had come upon the despoiler, expecting to find a giant - and had found a rat eager to scurry for cover at the first sound of a human step. If this is what has beaten us, he thought, the guilt is ours.
I am rich and proud of every penny I own. I made my money by my own effort, in free exchange and through the voluntary consent of every man I dealt with - the voluntary consent of those who employed me when I started, the voluntary consent of those who work for me now, the voluntary consent of those who buy my product. I shall answer all the questions you are afraid to ask me openly. Do I wish to pay my workers more than their services are worth to me? I do not. Do I wish to sell my product for less than my customers are willing to pay me? I do not. Do I wish to sell it at a loss or give it away? I do not. If this is evil, do whatever you please about me, according to whatever standards you hold. These are mine. I am earning my own living, as every honest man must. I refuse to accept as guilt the fact of my own existence and the fact that I must work in order to support it. I refuse to accept as guilt the fact that I am able to do it and do it well. I refuse to accept as guilt the fact that I am able to do it better than most people - the fact that my work is of greater value than the work of my neighbours and that more men are willing to pay me. I refuse to apologize for my ability - I refuse to apologize for my success - I refuse to apologize for my money.
Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a bandage for their wounds. I am not a sacrifice on their altars.
Since a rational man's ambition is unlimited, since his pursuit and achievement of values is a lifelong process - and the higher the values, the harder the struggle - he needs a moment, an hour or some period of time in which he can experience the sense of his completed task, the sense of living in a universe where his values have been successfully achieved. It is like a moment of rest, a moment to gain fuel to move farther.
Competition is a by-product of productive work, not its goal. A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.
It is not as late as you think. It is merely early - in the age of the rebirth of individualism.
I am speaking to those among you who have retained some sovereign shred of their soul, unsold and unstamped: '- to the order of others'. If, in the chaos of the motives that have made you listen to the radio tonight, there was an honest, rational desire to learn what is wrong with the world, you are the man whom I wished to address. By the rules and terms of my code, one owes a rational statement to those whom it does concern and who are making an effort to know. Those who are making an effort to fail to understand me, are not a concern of mine.
The difference between animals and humans is that animals change themselves for the environment, but humans change the environment for themselves.
When I disagree with a rational man, I let reality be our final arbiter; if I am right, he will learn; if I am wrong, I will; one of us will win, but both will profit.
Hello, I want to get this out to the masses....its pro health, its positive, its changing lives....please... More »
This POD is a discussion on the truths and/or falsehood of Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand.... More »
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