Auto Atlas Has Shrugged

Mike from The New Clarion in this article talks about the state of the auto industry in America being discussed at the National Summit on the economy in Detroit. He talks about Nolan Finley, editor of the Detroit News who laments the fact that nobody seems to care about business and industry any more. In reponse to his charge that no one in charge is much interested in hearing their ideas for fixing things, Mike highlights the role of media:

Could it be all those past editorials claiming that some taxes, some emission regulations, some fuel economy regulations, some labor regulations and other government mandates were noble and virtuous goals, but we mustn’t over do it by trying to be too noble and virtuous. Could it be that people no longer believe that it’s virtuous to take poison with their food?

Some of the media morons might be having some doubts but the majority still thinks that a little bit of poison will act like a digestive and be good for you. The conference had a CEO wanting reviving business by making it "cool." So it's not the principles involved but the cool factor which is important. In response to this appealing to "feelings", Mike say:

Never mind appealing to anyone’s mind, their reason, or their own moral and constitutional right to make the cars they want to make with the kind of fuel efficiency and emissions people are willing to pay for. No. We must figure out a way to make life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the prosperity it brings, ‘cool’. In a culture where sacrificial emotions take precedence over reason, the more consistent emotionalists will prevail. That’s why Obama, Pelosi and Reid are now in charge.

Mr. Finely also talks of the free market lesson one of the Senators got from a CEO who just ended up extolling the Senator to fine tune his powers to distribute the resources. This is a classic case of "sanction of the victim." Instead of standing up to these leeches, businessmen all over the world are convinced about their mortal sin of being producers, originators of that horrible word, dare I say it - profit. They should listen to Yaron Brook, who said in his keynote speech to the Virginia Republicans," businessmen are the heroes."

I see Industrialists coming on TV every year after the broadcast of that marvel of Socialism - budget, the annual exercise of allocation of resources in India by the Finance Minister. Their companies are in hands of one man and I have yet to see even one business federation give the budget a thumbs down. They just make polite noises (could have been better.) The business schools need to make Ayn Rand's Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal mandatory reading.

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and the World Today

“Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and the World Today”: An Interview with Yaron Brook

"Yaron Brook: In Atlas Shrugged we see a world crumbling under the weight of government interventions and regulations. The economy has ground to a halt. Roads and bridges are breaking down, buildings are falling apart, new inventions are few and far between, and each day more and more businesses are shutting their doors. The government blames greed and the free market, frantically imposes further controls, but the crisis only deepens.

The similarities to today are striking. Since the start of our current crisis, we’ve been told that the free market and “greedy” businessmen are to blame, and that the only solution is to hand progressively more power over to the government. We’re hearing the same charges, and seeing the same policies, with the same destructive consequences that Rand wrote about more than half a century ago.

In Atlas, we even read about a “banker with a heart of gold” who went out of business after lending to borrowers on the basis of their “need” rather than their ability to repay. Anyone who understands how the government’s “affordable housing” crusade led to an orgy of subprime lending can appreciate Rand’s foresight [see Richard M. Salsman, “Altruism: The Moral Root of the Financial Crisis”]. "

Read the complete article.

Yaron Brook at his best

Republican Party of Virginia 2009 State Convention—Keynote Address — ARCTV

Why Democracy does not work- Idea cellular advertisement on TV

Idea sells it's mobile service using democracy as a recurring theme in a series of ads being shown on TV in India. It shows people in certain situations not being able to decide what to do and taking an instant sms poll using their cellphones. The final decision is whatever the majority decides.

One advt. has a pretty girl who is bumped by a street hooligan and when she objects, he says he can do whatever because this is a democracy. Then she polls using her cell (I assume her friends) giving commando or Gandhi (show the other cheek) as options and when majority says commando -she gives him a commando style kick.

Now the problem with this is the same as problem with democracy- what if their was a third option- lets say slit his throat. Would she have done it just because the majority decided that it was what the hooligan deserved?

Instead wouldn't it be better to have a system where the mob or the majority does not have the power to decide the fate of the individual (the smallest minority) and instead certain principles governed the interaction between individuals. Situations like the one in the ad and in a democracy where individual rights are crushed by the majority should not be allowed to take place. Such a system to prevent these from happening does exist- it is called a republic.

Read the following definition from Ayn Rand Lexicon- The American system is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic. A democracy, if you attach meaning to terms, is a system of unlimited majority rule . . . a form of collectivism, which denies individual rights . . . . The American system is a constitutionally limited republic, restricted to the protection of individual rights. In such a system, majority rule is applicable only to lesser details, such as the selection of certain personnel. But the majority has no say over the basic principles governing the government. It has no power to ask for or gain the infringement of individual rights.
Leonard Peikoff, “The Philosophy of Objectivism” lecture series (1976), Lecture 9.

Click here to hear Yaron Brook talk about democracy. (via rationalpassion)