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Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government

Posted by ObjectiveAnalyst 9 years, 3 months ago to Books
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Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government

Authors, Yaron Brook and Don Watkins Economics, 221 pages. ISBN 978-1-137-27838-8

A great introduction and collection of Ayn Rand’s most powerful arguments in support of free market capitalism and small government: this book should be distributed to those with limited time but open minds. For those well read in these matters, there will be little new material, but this book has compiled the most powerful excerpts into one modest volume.

With supporting arguments from notables from various schools of economics, the founding fathers and prominent objectivist thinkers it makes the moral case for capitalism. Also included are the errors of past supporters that facilitated the inroads of the statists. The thrust of the book is the failure of utilitarian argument persuasion of the masses. For too long the arguments have been focused on lack of superior alternatives, practicality, greater good, general welfare and a multitude of platitudes and half measures designed to placate the mixed market crowd which was a recipe for slow demise. These arguments have largely fallen on deaf ears and been ineffective. The moral argument must be made. The altruists have made an effective emotional argument and not been well countered. It is time to force the issue… to make the moral case and point out the lack of morality in the redistributive policies of the big government statists, as well as the harm and failures.

Politically, the majority of self proclaimed supposed proponents of capitalism have been weak. There is little difference between them and their opponents. It has only been lip service or matters of degree. They have been facilitators acquiescing and folding under the altruist’s arguments and political pressure. The outcome has been predictable. The State has gained power and the individual has lost sovereignty, rights and liberty.

“To visualize the predicament of America, imagine passengers riding on a train which, they have been told, is taking them to a distant utopia. At first it seems well, but as the train moves closer to its destination, the scene outside the windows becomes ominously bleak. Finally, the passengers catch sight of the destination in the distance. Instead of utopia, they see hungry children, chain gangs, and, in the far distance, the barbed wire and sentry posts of a concentration camp. Frightened, angry, they attempt to negate their forward motion by running back inside the train. The attempt, of course, is hopeless; to save themselves, the passengers must get off the train altogether.” Harry Binswanger

The moral case: One’s need is not a license to steal or legitimate claim to the property or wealth of others. Forced redistribution is theft.

“…misfortune is not a claim to slave labor; there is no such thing as a right to consume, control, and destroy those without whom one would be unable to survive.” Ayn Rand “Does that sound harsh? Consider your own case: Would you regard your hardships as a claim on your neighbor’s paycheck? Would you march into his house waving your need around like a gun and helping yourself to his food or his medicine cabinet? Would you think very much of a neighbor who did that to you?” pg. 189

The prescription:
“. The ultimate abolition of all entitlement programs including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and public education
. The abolition of all government controls on business
. The privatization of all property, including public lands, utilities, and roads
. The repeal of all business subsidies and other forms of corporate welfare
. The resurrection of private money (i.e,, a gold standard), the abolishment of the Federal Reserve, and the establishment of free banking
. A restoration of freedom of trade and sanctity of contract

In short, our goal must be the total separation of state and economics.” Pg. 217

A little socialism is like a little untreated cancer.

Some of the arguments did give me pause to reconsider my dedication to particular predilections. Some were reinforced while others have taken a lower place in my hierarchy. The compact, concentrated arguments in this volume can be persuasive.

Definitely a handy book worthy of a place in your library and one worthy of offering to those open minds looking for arguments and options to a failed system.

Happy reading!
O.A.


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  • Posted by $ jlc 9 years, 3 months ago
    I think that the important point in the above excerpt is that it is critical, absolutely essential, to have a strong conceptual reply to the ideal of altruism. There are few people I know who can even entertain the thought that altruism is ethically wrong. We have to be able to say, with complete conviction, "The right of a sapient individual entity to absolutely own the fruits of his labor is a right that should have been amongst those listed in the Bill of Rights. This oversight needs to be remedied."

    I am willing to discuss all subsidiary aspects, such as whether roads and schools should be privatized or whether they should be owned by the government and tolls paid by people who use them...but the conversation has to begin with the individual and his rights.

    Jan
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    • Posted by 9 years, 2 months ago
      Hello jlc,
      "I think that the important point in the above excerpt is that it is critical, absolutely essential, to have a strong conceptual reply to the ideal of altruism."

      Exactly. We must make the moral case for capitalism and demonstrate the lack thereof of altruism. We must not shy away from the moral argument and stop stressing the practical alone. We must provide favorable arguments on all fronts thus appealing to not only the intellect, but the emotion. Many people must be convinced and some, unfortunately, are emotionally driven. Only after they are reached in this way can some see the logic...
      Happy New Year,
      O.A.
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    • Posted by Robbie53024 9 years, 3 months ago
      Actually it is, or rather by virtue of it not being specifically addressed by omission it is retained by the people - to whit:

      Amendment IX
      The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

      and
      Amendment X
      The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
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      • Posted by $ jlc 9 years, 3 months ago
        I do not think that is enough, and the evidence supports me. It needs to be there in real ink on parchment. My wording is far from perfect, but this clause is important enough for detail status.

        Jan
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  • Posted by dbhalling 9 years, 3 months ago
    Thanks for posting OA. I would argue that forced redistribution is slavery not theft. Theft implies that the thief knows it is your property he is taking, I don't think any of our politicians believe we have the right to anything.
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    • Posted by 9 years, 2 months ago
      Good morning dbhalling,
      Indeed. We are little more than vassals/serfs. It is the mindset and morality of many that must be corrected if things are to change for the better. I believe the most pertinent premise offered in this book is that the moral case for capitalism must be made and the fallacies of altruism and lack of morality must be exposed.
      Happy New Year.
      O.A.
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      • Posted by dbhalling 9 years, 2 months ago
        Happy New Year. What I find frustrating with ARI is the lack of new scholarship or scholarship that is a straightforward application of Rand's ideas. That said, I did see a book on objectivism and mathematics by an ARI mathematician.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 3 months ago
    I respectfully disagree with Yaron Brook on this one. AR's ideas cannot end big government. Big government must implode on its own, or with a little help from Ragnars and Galts. Atlantis is the only valid option.
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    • Posted by dbhalling 9 years, 3 months ago
      J interesting and I admit that I go back and forth on this. First of all we still need ideas so that when things implode we do not end up with Mao, Hilter, Stalin, etc. Second of all the American revolution did not involve the imploding of big government. Chile's transformation was fairly quick and countries such as New Zealand were able to become much more free without things completely falling apart.

      I was just telling my son that when I grew up no one thought the USSR would fall apart in our lifetime, and then it unraveled very quickly.
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      • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 3 months ago
        The USSR's precipitous fall was mostly from within, but tipped over the edge by a mighty good bluff by President Reagan on "Star Wars" defense technology.

        The American Revolution involved a colony against a government from abroad. That's not really a fair comparison.

        Chile and New Zealand are examples of how things can get better quickly.

        Regarding American government, the number of people empowered by a small government is far too small to outvote those who are empowered by a big government. A country with a small government is metastable, not thermodynamically stable. Such a country like the US in the late 1800s can be wildly successful while it lasts, but there is definitely a thermodynamic driving force toward a tyrannical government. Perhaps you could add something like this to your new book.
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    • Posted by ewv 9 years, 2 months ago
      A relative handful of people going off to another utopia is not going to either reform or bring down the US government, or provide a defense against it.

      The course of civilizations follows the dominant trends in the ideas held by the people. Statism never reforms itself and neither do people who don't know what to fight for. Ayn Rand's philosophy is all that can reverse the trend back to individualism and rationality, but no one means by that that the ideas could do so by themselves. The impact of ideas is though the actions of those who follow them. Ayn Rand's ideas could not simply undo the statism, and neither could a small group of people following them do so directly, but they are the basis of positive progress in humanity. One can't fight against something without knowing what he is for.

      Whether or not the current trends can be reversed peacefully within the means provided by the founders of the nation, as opposed to violence, chaos and destruction as the consequence of the increasingly dominant ideas and irrationality being imposed on us, is a different question for which many of us are not optimistic.

      But whether a new renaissance occurs within this system or -- perhaps in a very far distant future -- following either a sudden or gradual collapse into much more destruction with more 'big government', i.e., statism, a renaissance can occur only by those pursuing the right ideas. And without that there will continue to be more "big government" in various forms. It fails and collapses into more faith and force, but doesn't go away. It remains in different forms among the equivalent of warring tribes. Going off to 'Atlantis' doesn't stop that either.
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      • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 2 months ago
        "Going off to Atlantis doesn't stop that either." That is correct. A few people going off to their own utopia can only hope to not be missed.
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        • Posted by ewv 9 years, 2 months ago
          Yes, and that's all it is: find a better place in which to live. But that is always the case. It is usually why people move anywhere. It has nothing to do with changing the system or spreading better ideas.

          The question becomes more acute when there is increasing, real danger in remaining where you live, whether Cuba, Nazi Germany, etc. The question today is what is possible by moving somewhere else for an improvement given the decline of this country and the increasing threat it poses to its own citizens, what is possible to improve the situation in major or minor ways through the spread of better ideas, and how much of any of it is worth doing at what expense to your own life given what may or may not be possible.
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    • Posted by 9 years, 2 months ago
      Hello jbrenner,
      Yes, but AR's ideas can inspire the would be Ragnars and Galts. They may propagate the conditions for that implosion.
      Just a thought..
      Happy New Year,
      O.A.
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      • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 2 months ago
        The economy is so diversified that removal of a few producers would make a barely noticeable dent. Certainly AR's ideas were meant to propagate the conditions for such an implosion, but there are a lot of pillars that would have to be removed for such a collapse to occur.
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        • Posted by ewv 9 years, 2 months ago
          Yes, it would make no difference and is no way to try to change the world. But Ayn Rand's ideas were and are intended to provide the means for a better life, not to cause an implosion, which without the right ideas already in place makes things worse. The philosophical conditions for implosions are already in place; the conditions for improvement are not. No one should be trying to hasten a collapse.

          Atlas Shrugged did not advocate collapse. It was an illustration in fiction of the role of man's mind in his existence by showing what happens when the mind is withdrawn. The highly accelerated process of collapse hastened further by the efforts of a few people was a fictional device, not an advocacy of collapse or an advocacy or description of a means to cause or accelerate it.
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        • Posted by 9 years, 2 months ago
          Pillars... Yes, it is a monumental task.
          Herculean perhaps, but worth the attempt...
          I do not know.... I do know I am unwilling to let them win without protest. In the end I can only work for those like you and I so that we might receive what should be our birthright.
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  • Posted by Temlakos 9 years, 3 months ago
    OA, we can all agree these ideas would accomplish nearly every ostensible end politicians say they want to achieve. But how do you get the rank-and-file to believe it?
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    • Posted by 9 years, 2 months ago
      Hello Temlakos,
      The rank and file will not believe it in large numbers until some catastrophe forces them to face reality. Unfortunately, something akin to a major depression or a revolution would be required. However, there does seem to be one other possibility, though much slower; spreading the word one person at a time and creating a new "enlightenment" could work. The question: Do we have the power and will to speak convincingly to enough people to make it happen, though it may take more time than some of us have left?
      Perhaps we must do what we can for our posterity and hope they continue to keep the candle lit.
      Happy New Year,
      O.A.
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      • Posted by Temlakos 9 years, 2 months ago
        They need to do more than face reality.

        They need to get the idea out of their heads that they are "entitled" to any *positive goods,* whether you or I wish to provide them or not.
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        • Posted by 9 years, 2 months ago
          When the systems in place meet there inevitable collapse, hunger and deprivation will smack them in the face. Reality will win out whether they acknowledge it or not.
          Ayn Rand — 'You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.'
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          • Posted by Temlakos 9 years, 2 months ago
            That, of course, was John Galt's endpoint. And I can well believe society would reach that endpoint just as the novel and films show. I won't vouch that he could bring the system down in twelve years, but I won't deny it, either.

            I do say that after the collapse, you'll still have gang warfare for years afterward.
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 9 years, 3 months ago
    OA, I wish it were that easy. Unfortunately, the power structure no longer seeks to provide an environment in which all are given a chance to attain all that they can be, but rather in maintaining a system whereby they get all and prohibit others from infringing on anything that they have already cordoned off.

    The only way to break through is to devise a game changer that is arrogantly overlooked by the power structure. Sometimes that even comes from within, like the digital camera being developed by Kodak, but not exploited by them.
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    • Posted by 9 years, 3 months ago
      Hello Robbie53024,
      Yes. It is a sad reflection of our times. Yet, we must begin somewhere and pointing out that it is immoral to rob Peter to pay Paul is as close to the beginning as one can conceive... Sad indeed that we must start from square one. This is going to take time, but Rome was not built...
      Happy New Year!
      O.A.
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      • Posted by Robbie53024 9 years, 3 months ago
        A happy and prosperous New Year to you as well.

        I live in one of the most conservative counties in the state (I know, not saying much since it's WI). Yet, our county board of supervisors continue to support: a county run taxi service, not one, but two golf courses, and a county run old age home.

        I recently had a letter to the editor published demanding that the county open up a high end restaurant, since that's something that I like. You should have seen the responses saying how stupid an idea that was, totally missing the duplicity of the "businesses" the county already runs. So I have little hope.
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        • Posted by edweaver 9 years, 3 months ago
          That is a really good idea, suggesting they open a restaurant. In my WI county, we don't have the golf courses yet but we did just have a referendum on the nursing home that passed by 87%. Of course the question was should the county continue to support the nursing home. Then they did a 3 month long sales job on how good it was for the county and finished it off the week before the election by telling people that if they chose not to support it, it would be closed. :)
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          • Posted by Robbie53024 9 years, 3 months ago
            I made the argument in our local paper earlier this year when our county run old age home sought a $10 million loan to update the facility. I said which of the other 14 privately run facilities would be able to get such an accommodation from the gov't, in fact I ran for the county board seat with that as one of the main issues. It still passed unanimously by the county board, obviously I didn't win.
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        • Posted by amhunt 9 years, 3 months ago
          Nice! I would like a high end restaurant too. I suspect that the irony was not lost on everyone. So please do not stop launching these little gems. In fact I think this is a tactic more and more of us should employ.
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  • Posted by wiggys 9 years, 3 months ago
    I have met Yaron and he is a very smart intelligent fellow, however even though I am more devote to Ayn Rand and Ojectivism than the pope is to jesus I believe as I know she did from what I am reading of her articles in her newsletters that were published in the early 60's that we are to far gone. Yaron may have hope but it is a waste of time. We were a mixed economy with some capitalism still in tact but that is fading fast. All will collapse and it will in my opinion never return to what it was.
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    • Posted by 9 years, 2 months ago
      Hello wiggys,
      You could be right, but I will not go down without a fight. I hope we can raise our voices and show others they are not alone. If things do not change for the better, at least I will be able to keep my self respect. I do not wish to find myself apologizing to my posterity for having done too little.
      It is not much, but it is not in me to be too fatalistic.
      Perhaps I am romantic and nostalgic...
      Happy New Year,
      O.A.
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  • Posted by term2 9 years, 3 months ago
    The only thing that will end socialism is its complete collapse. Until that happens, the leaders of it just press on with more controls to further their own goals. The poor unfortunates who are the recipients of an unworkable system have so little power that they feel the "system" needs to be preserved to prevent utter destruction. Its only when socialism collapses that rank and file people will rise up. THATS what Ayn Rand was saying in Atlas Shrugged.
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    • Posted by Robbie53024 9 years, 3 months ago
      That's just it, it never collapses. Since the people don't know any better (due to gov't censorship and control), they never rise up. The only way to eliminate it is to clean house. Heck, it hasn't been wiped completely from Russia, and is actually making a comeback.
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    • Posted by 9 years, 2 months ago
      Hello term2,
      It does seem that way. Robbie is justified in his skepticism, however, I hold out hope for the rare, but possible revolution like our own (hopefully this time peaceful). One does not know when the last straw has been reached, enough people awaken and question the direction or when critical mass has been reached and political sea change could occur. It only takes a determined vocal minority to change the course of a nation. Unfortunately the progressive, statists have learned this lesson all too well in the last century. Those who wish to fight for the right... for liberty and freedom must once again take the lead and combat the forces of Marxism.
      Happy New Year,
      O.A.
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      • Posted by term2 9 years, 2 months ago
        In this day of emotional manipulation the statists do a much better job of political maneuvering than we do. Libertarians need to learn the tricks of propaganda and get up to speed. AS1 was excellent. AS2 and 3 fell short I think
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      • Posted by Robbie53024 9 years, 2 months ago
        And unfortunately, many of those who otherwise say that they support a similar philosophy, are themselves compromised (see my discussion elsewhere about my fellow county citizens). When even those with generally similar views do not follow through consistently, things truly are lost.
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        • Posted by 9 years, 2 months ago
          Hello Robbie53024,
          Yes they seem to be ubiquitous and winning... Yet, your actions demonstrate that you will keep trying/fighting. I hope together we can eventually wear them out. They must be beaten back. It is the constant struggle between good and evil. Is it not? I will not sanction evil. Neither do you.
          We must gain the upper-hand. Suffering can only go on for so long and then sunlight will disinfect.
          Keep shining the light.
          O.A.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 9 years, 3 months ago
    Keeping to the train example:
    The only way the real Utopia could have been possible is if the train turned around before entering the promised land, dystopia actually, or, kept on gong right through it until coming out the other side and starting over. But it can only work once the occupants of the train, got a large dose of "Utopia" either by observation of actual experience.
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    • Posted by 9 years, 2 months ago
      Hello Herb7734,
      So it would seem. Most people go on blindly pulling the cart like Boxer from Orwell's Animal Farm. I am encouraged that there are many like those that frequent this board, that will be able to offer direction if/when the train goes off the rails. One day the piper will have to be paid.
      Happy New Year,
      O.A.
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 9 years, 3 months ago
    As a ye olde saying goes:"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink."
    It is easy to imagine what would happen if this book was mailed to a Reid or a Pelosi.
    First would come the upturned nose and an immediate transfer to File 13, perhaps at the ends of a thumb and a finger as if it were a dirty piece of trash.
    Then maybe on the same day the libtard politician would deliver a "you didn't build that" speech.
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    • Posted by 9 years, 2 months ago
      Hello allosaur,
      Quite right. We need to move many horses away from the koolaid. The education/indoctrination systems need to be decentralized and returned to local apolitical control. The rewriting of history and ideals must be countered. The least we can do is to work with those still learning and not yet so firmly rooted in statist ideology. The youth are being indoctrinated (they are impressionable) and we must provide proper respect for individual sovereignty and fight altruist ideology. I am encouraged to see that some are waking up, due to the results of past policies. People must be encouraged to be proud of their accomplishments and attainments. They should not be "forced" to sacrifice to the unearned. No more trophies for participation...
      Happy New Year,
      O.A.
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