ARC Opening Event in Washington DC, Review of "Capitalism without Guilt" Options

[Paul's Here]

I attended the opening event sponsored by the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. It was an exciting event and wonderful to have many Objectivists in one meeting location. I met several staff members from ARC and many "old" friends. It reminded me of the days when Ayn Rand visited Boston to give her annual talks. This day's subject was Capitalism without Guilt: The Moral Case for Freedom, presented by Yaron Brook. Lin Zinser opened the discussion by welcoming everyone and introducing Dr. Brook. There was a Q&A session after the presentation. I would estimate about 100 people showed up, but it was hard to know how many were non-Obectivists or from other think tanks, which was the main target audience for ARC. Dr. Brook was his usual dynamic self, always enjoyable to listen to and learn from.


Here is my review of the presentation from my notes.
He began by pointing out that these are difficult times for advocates of free markets because of the way the events are being interpreted across the board in TV, newspapers, presidential candidates, etc. What we have today is not capitalism. Today's crisis is in banking and housing, two of the most regulated industries in the country. So why is capitalism taking the blame rather than governmental controls?

For 1/2 century, free market economists have provided good, intelligent arguments in favor of the free market. But the advocates of free markets have failed to convince the majority of people. Why? Note that there is no one advocating for an alternate economic system. But there is something about capitalism that makes people uneasy: making money means pursuing one's interest which means acting selfishly. Yet we live in a culture in which morality is concerned with thinking about others - it is about self-sacrifice.

Note that Bill Gates is given moral credit today because he gives his money away, not because he made a great company. Capitalism = selfish = lying+cheating+stealing. This gives birth to regulations in society. Dr. Brook talked about the need to identify what selfishness really means and how reason relates to rational thinking which gives rise to rational self-interest, i.e., selfishness as defined within Objectivism. Selfishness is about achieving happiness, not just in the monetary realm or the material realm. Egoism is the only morality compatible with capitalism. If we want a swing to the right in this country, we need a moral revolution.

During the Q&A, Dr. Binswanger brought up an extremely important point that needs to be advocated: that acting selfishly is moral and good.

[bborg]

I agree, it was a great talk. I think Dr. Brook had done a good job of demonstrating that egoism is good, but Dr. Binswanger wanted him to "seal the deal" by showing that it is not just a good thing but is the root of all virtues, while it's alternative - selflessness - is evil. Otherwise I think people might be tempted to "balance" the two.

I usually don't like Q&As, because I hate it when people get up and preach instead of ask questions. But there was very little of that, and the questions were generally very good. I have to say, Dr. Brook always impresses me with his professionalism. There was one guy who claimed that there are no black and whites and the free market leads to abundance, which leads (somehow) to disaster. In Dr. Brook's place, I probably just would have told the guy to sit down.

Based on the reactions from the audience and the questions, I think most of them were either Objectivists or people new to Objectivism. Very friendly crowd.

Paul, you went to the panel on terrorism, right? How was that?

[Brad Aisa]

Yaron Brook is awesome!!!

[Rational Ryan]

This seems like a lot of redo from the last edition the the ARC Lecture series.

[Zeus]

Hope to hell ARC posts a video or audio of this event to the Internet fairly soon. If not -- I consider them an unhelpful and incompetent propaganda organization.

[Paul's Here]

This seems like a lot of redo from the last edition the the ARC Lecture series.

Which talked about what? To which audience was it directed?

[Paul's Here]

Hope to hell ARC posts a video or audio of this event to the Internet fairly soon. If not -- I consider them an unhelpful and incompetent propaganda organization.

Why do you make assumptions like that? Do you think it is someone else's responsibility to assist you? Why don't you more properly ask, "Will a video of the presentation be provided on the ARC website?" Such a question would indicate interest and politeness without making and assumption of duty.

[Rational Ryan]

This seems like a lot of redo from the last edition the the ARC Lecture series.

Which talked about what? To which audience was it directed?

"The Resurgence of Big Government". It was a terribly appropriate topic for the time it was put on their website. I enjoyed it a lot, but I don't want to hear a repeat.

[Jack Wakeland]

I attended the opening event sponsored by the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. ...Dr. Brook was his usual dynamic self, always enjoyable to listen to and learn from.

...He began by pointing out that these are difficult times for advocates of free markets because of the way the events are being interpreted across the board in TV, newspapers, presidential candidates, etc. What we have today is not capitalism. Today's crisis is in banking and housing, two of the most regulated industries in the country. So why is capitalism taking the blame rather than governmental controls?

For 1/2 century, free market economists have provided good, intelligent arguments in favor of the free market. But the advocates of free markets have failed to convince the majority of people. Why? Note that there is no one advocating for an alternate economic system. But there is something about capitalism that makes people uneasy: making money means pursuing one's interest which means acting selfishly. Yet we live in a culture in which morality is concerned with thinking about others - it is about self-sacrifice.

Note that Bill Gates is given moral credit today because he gives his money away, not because he made a great company. Capitalism = selfish = lying+cheating+stealing. This gives birth to regulations in society. Dr. Brook talked about the need to identify what selfishness really means and how reason relates to rational thinking which gives rise to rational self-interest, i.e., selfishness as defined within Objectivism. Selfishness is about achieving happiness, not just in the monetary realm or the material realm. Egoism is the only morality compatible with capitalism. If we want a swing to the right in this country, we need a moral revolution.

I would offer my congratulations to Dr. Brook directly, but I don't think he would accept them right now (due to our difference over the war). So I will do it here, instead.

Yaron Brook has been doing a superb job in this crisis for capitalism.

In the past six weeks he's penned 11 excellent press releases and he's presiding over this exxellent series of lectures in Washington D.C.; speaking against statism in the shadow of the tyrants at Treasury, the White House, and Congress. With his clear spoken delivery, quick wit, and ability to field questions on a wide range of topics, Dr. Brook has earned a place on the cable T.V. and radio talk show circuit. He will be very effective in those venues during this crisis.

In the midst of the market crash, no man has stood up to defend capitialism who isn't sure of himself. All who support capitalism for its practical value, but are unsure of the moral ground on which they stand have fallen silent. Today only Objectivists and libertarian conservatives who have read some of Ayn Rand's writings are speaking out against gigantic "emergency measures" that violate our property rights and threaten to derail our personal plans for our persuit of happiness by perpetuating this recession for several more years.

Finance is Dr. Brooks specialty. We who value liberty are fortunate there is such a man to argue our case in this test for Wall Street's -- and our -- freedom.

[bborg]

ARC has made this available to watch on their website. watch it

[Paul's Here]

ARC has made this available to watch on their website. watch it

Thanks for that, Bryson. I saw you and me in the front!!!

[Rose Lake]

ARC has made this available to watch on their website. watch it

Excellent lecture! Thanks for the recommendation. I'd received the notice yet hadn't watched it, but am now glad that I did. I (and probably a lot of other Objectivists) agree with how "really depressing" the banking crisis is, especially its almost universally presumed cause (greed), the supposed 'solutions' to it (bailouts, and government takeover of industry), and the fact that both presidential candidates (and virtually everyone else except for Objectivists) agree with these supposed causes and solutions. Dr. Brook meets the primary issue (morality) squarely, while speaking in a manner that (I think) non-Objectivists can follow; and without simply regenerating depression.