The Objectivist Newsletter, 1962

30 Pages·1962·3.266 MB·English

by  Ayn Rand

TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOLUME 1-JANUARY TO DECEMBER, 1962
Books: NINETY-THREE by Victor Hugo, reviewed by Ayn Rand.
THE GIRL HUNTERS by Mickey Spillane, reviewed by Ayn Rand.
January LA.D. Does man possess instincts?-by Nathaniel Branden.
War and Peace-by Ayn Rand.
Choose Your Issues-by Ayn Rand. "Through Your Most Grievous Fault" -by Ayn Rand.
Books: PLANNED CHAOS by Ludwig von Mises, reviewed by Barbara
November
Branden.
Intellectual Ammunition Department: Reason and Emotion - by
Social Metaphysics-by Nathaniel Branden.
Nathaniel Branden.
Books: EAST MINUS WEST = ZERO by Werner Keller, reviewed
The Crisis Over Berlin-by Alan Greenspan.
by Edith Efron.
February The Esthetic Vacuum of Our Age-by Ayn Rand.
Women and the Industrial Revolution-by Robert Hessen.
Antitrust: The Rule of Unreason-by Ayn Rand.
December
Books: ECONOMICS IN ONE LESSON by Henry Hazlitt, reviewed by
Robert Hessen.
LA.D. Ethical hedonism-by Leonard Peikoff. The Monument Builders-by Ayn Rand.
LA.D. Individual rights versus society-by Nathaniel Branden. Books: THE ROOSEVELT MYTH by John T. Flynn, reviewed by
Barbara Branden.
LA.D. Property rights-by Nathaniel Branden.
LA.D. The obligations of parents and children-by Nathaniel
March Branden.
"Have Gun, Wi/J Nudge"-by Ayn Rand.
VOLUME 2 -JANUARY TO DECEMBER, 1963
Books: PROSPERITY THROUGH FREEDOM by Lawrence Fertig, re
viewed by Edith Efron.
LA.D. Capitalism and religion-by Barbara Branden.
January
LA.D. The psychological meaning of man's "need" of approval
by Nathaniel Branden.
Collectivized Ethics-by Ayn Rand.
April
"The Stolen Concept" -by Nathaniel Branden.
LA.D. Capital punishment-by Nathaniel Branden.
Counterfeit Individualism-by Nathaniel Branden.
LA.D. Are certain things unknowable? -by Nathaniel Branden.
Books: TEN THOUSAND COMMANDMENTS by Harold Fleming, re
viewed by Ayn Rand. February
Child Labor and the Industrial Revolution-by Robert Hessen.
LA.D. Leading a rational life in an irrational society-by Ayn Rand. The Ethics of Emergencies-by Ayn Rand.
May Books: REASON AND ANALYSIS by Brand Blanshard, reviewed by
Nathaniel Branden.
Who Will Protect Us from Our Protectors?-by Ayn Rand. March
Books: THE ANTI-CAPITALISTIC MENTALITY by Ludwig von Mises,
reviewed by Edith Efron.
Mental Health versus Mysticism and Self-Sacrifice-by Nathaniel
LA.D. The "first cause" argument-by Nathaniel Branden.
Branden.
June "How not to fight against Socialized Medicine" -by Ayn Rand.
April
"The National Interest, c'est mai"-by Ayn Rand.
LA.D. Monopolies and laissez-fake capitalism-by Nathaniel
Branden. Man's Rights-by Ayn Rand,
LA.D. Agnosticism-by Nathaniel Branden.
Doctors and the Police State-by leonard Peikoff (Special Sup
plement).
May
July
The Contradiction of Determinism-by Nathaniel Branden.
Benevolence versus Altruism-by Nathaniel Branden. Books: ARISTOTLE by John Herman Randall, Jr., reviewed by
Ayn Rand.
Books: THE DECLINE OF AMERICAN LIBERALISM by Arthur A.
Ekirch, Jr., reviewed by Robert Hessen.
June
LA.D. Doesn't life require compromise?-by Ayn Rand.
"Account Overdrawn"-by Ayn Rand.
Collectivized "Rights" -by Ayn Rand;
August LA.D. Public education-by Nathaniel, Branden.
I.A.D. Inherited wealth-by Nathaniel Branden.
The "Conflicts" of Men's Interests-by Ayn Rand. LA.D. "Right-to-work" laws-by Barbara Branden.
I.A.D. Depressions and laissez-faire capitalism-'by Nathaniel
Branden. July
Introducing Objectivism-by Ayn Rand.
The New Enemies of "The Untouchables"-by Ayn Rand. Vast Quicksands-by Ayn Rand.
Soptember Books: THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE by Betty Friedan, reviewed by
Edith Efron.
The Pull Peddlers-by Ayn Rand. LA.D. Demonstration and irrationality-by Nathaniel Branden.
Books: PLANNING FOR FREEDOM by ludwig von Mises, reviewed
by Nathaniel Branden. August
I.A.D. Isn't everyone selfish?-by Nathaniel Branden.
Ootober "The Divine Right of Stagnation" -by Nathaniel Branden.
Books: THE LANGUAGE OF DISSENT by lowell B. Mason, reviewed
by Ayn Rand.
"To Young Scientists"-by Ayn Rand.
The Assault on Integrity-by Alan Greenspan.
September October
be the first recipient of our handouts. When the statists set
Racism-by Ayn Rand. Psycho-Epistemology-by Nathaniel Branden. THE up a "Peace Corps" to send young Americans into unpaid
Books: HUMAN ACTION by Ludwig von Mises, reviewed by Books: THE GOD OF THE MACHINE by Isabel Paterson reviewed (though tax-supported) servitude to foreign nations-"con
Nathaniel Branden. by Ayn Rand. ' servative" youth rush to propose an "effective Peace Corps."
Book Report: DAY OF THE GUNS by Mickey Spillane, a commen When certain stat.ist groups, counting, apparently, on a total
October tary by Ayn Rand. OBJ ECTIVIST collap.se ,of AmerIcan. self-esteem, dare go so far as to urge
Amenca s surrender mto slavery without a fight, under the
The Goal of My Writing-by Ayn Rand. November slogan "Better Red Than Dead"-the "conservatives" rush to
LA.D. The psychological appeal of altruism-by Nathaniel Branden. proc.laim that they prefer to be dead, thus helping to spread
Introducti?n to THE VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS-by Ayn Rand. the Idea that our only alternative is communism or destruc
November Psycho-Epistemology (Part Ill-by Nathaniel Branden. tion, forgetting that the only proper answer to an ultimatum
NEWSLETTER of that kind is: "Better See The Reds Dead."
The Goal of My Writing (Part Ill-by Ayn Rand. December While I?ublic attention is distracted by headlines about the
Books: TA TA, TAN TAN by Valentin Chu, reviewed by Robert latest whim of Khrushchev or of some other tribal chief
Hessen. "It Is Earlier Than You Think" -by Ayn Rand. while the "co~servati~es" gallop obediently down any sidetrack
LA.D. Labor unions and the standard of living-by Nathaniel A Report to our Readers-1964-by Nathaniel Branden. set u~ by their enemies, t,:"o enormously dangerous issues are
Branden. sneakmg up on us, undlscussed, unopposed and unfought.
Edited and Published by AYN RAND and NATHANIEL BRANDEN
LA.D. Capitalism's practicality-by Nathaniel Branden. VOLUME 4-JANUARY TO DECEMBER, 1965 They seem. to be a double move planned by the statists, one
to destroy mtellectual freedom, the other to destroy economic
December
January VOL. 1 NO.1 JANUARY, 1962 freedom. The chief means to the first is the Federal Com
munications Commission, to the second-the Anti-Trust laws.
The Nature of Government-by Ayn Rand.
When a government official-Mr. Newton N. Minow,
A Report to Our Readers-by Nathaniel Branden. Bootleg Romanticism-by Ayn Rand. CHECK YOUR PREMISES Chairman of the !' .c.c.-cynically threatens "those fe\:1l.c_of
February you who really believe that the public interest is merely what
VOLUME 3 -JANUARY TO DECEMBER, 1964
By AYN RAND interests. the. public," the principle (and precedent) he seeks
Rogues' Gallery-by Nathaniel Branden. ~o establish IS de.ar: that the public is not the judge of its own
January I.A.D. Who is the final authority in ethics?-by Ayn Rand. Choose Your Issues mter~st, .b!lt he IS; tha~ the people's vote of approval, freely
and mdlvldually cast m the form of preference for certain
The Anatomy of Compromise-by Ayn Rand. March telev!s~on pr~grams, is to be superseded by his edict; that
Books: ROOSEVELT'S ROAD TO RUSSIA by George N. Crocker, Objectivis~ is a philosophi~a~ movement; since politics is a televIsIOn statIOns are not to be guided by their viewers' wishes
reviewed by Beatrice Hessen. Art and Moral Treason-by Ayn Rand. br~n~h of phI!o~ophy, Objectivism advocates certain political (he calls them "the nation's whims") nor by their own wishes
LA.D. The Objectivist concept of free will versus the traditional Rogues' Gallery (Part Ill-by Nathaniel Branden. principles-specifically, those of laissez-faire capitalism-as but by his-under penalty of having their licenses revoked fo;
concepts-by Nathaniel Branden. the consequence and the ultimate practical application of its unspe.cified and unspecifiable offenses (which action, some
fundamental philosophical principles. It does not regard politics
February April as ~ separate or primary goal, that is: as a goal that can be . howO,n eIS c/laont teoa sbiely r esgeaer dwehda ta sw ao uwldh imha)p. pen to our entire com-
achieved without a wider ideological context.
TLhAe.D P. syGchoovleorgnym oefn tP flienaansucirneg-b iyn Na afrtehea nsieolc Biertayn-dbeyn .A yn Rand. TAh Me ePsssyacgheo -toE poisutre mRoelaogdye ros-f bAy rNt-abtyh aAnyine l RBarnadn.d en. mePtaoplihtiycssI. csis, ebpai~setde moonlo gthyr eaen do theethr. icpsh-iloonso ap htihceaol ryd isocfi pmlinaens':s mweurnei. caactcioenpste idn dinu sotrnye (oinfc iltusd binrga nthceh epsre-sasn)d i fo snuec hw oa upldre cexepdeecntt"
the mtellectuals of a free country to raise their voices in
March May nature and of man's relationship to existence. It is only on such such a protest that it would sweep Mr. Minow out of Wash
a base that one can formulate a consistent political theory
ington. Instead, most of the press congratulated him on his
How to Judge a Political Candidate-by Ayn Rand. The New Fascism: Rule by Consensus-by Ayn Rand. and ~chieve ~t. in p;actice. When, however, men attempt to "courage"-the courage of an armed bureaucrat who threatens
Books: THE TYRANNY OF TESTING by Banesh Hoffman, reviewed Books: ECONOMICS AND THE PUBLIC WELFARE by Benjamin M. rush mto polItiCS without such a base, the result is that em t~e .livelihood, property and professions of legally disarmed
by Joan Blumenthal. Anderson, reviewed by Martin Anderson. barrassing co~gl.omerat~on o~ impotence, futility, inconsistency VIctims.
~nd supe~ficl~!lty .wh~c~ IS loosely designated today as The Anti-Trust laws-an unenforceable, uncompliable
April June conservatism. Objectivists are not "conservatives." We are unjud!cable ~ess of contradicti?ns-have. for decades kept
radicals .lor capJta?ism; ,:"e are fighting for that philosophical
AmerIcan busmessmen under a silent, growmg reign of terror.
The Property Status of Airwaves-by Ayn Rand. base which capitalIsm did not have and without. which it was
The New Fascism: Rule by Consensus (Part Ill-by Ayn Rand. Yet these laws were created and, to this day, are upheld by
LA.D. The psychological primacy of the choice to think - by From the "Horror File." doomed to perish. the "conservatives," as a grim monument to their lack of
Nathaniel Branden. A change !n ~ country's political ideas has to be preceded political p~ilosoph~, of economic knowledge and of any
LA.D. The moral meaning of risking one's life - by Nathaniel July by a change m Its cultural trends; a cultural movement is the concern With .p~mclples. Under the Anti-Trust laws, a man
Branden. necessary prec~)l1dition of a p,olitical movement. Today's becomes a cnmmal from the moment he goes into business
May Th.e Ca~hing-In: The Student "Rebellion'''-by Ayn Rand. culture IS dommated by the philosophy of mysticism (irra no. matter what he doe~. For instance, if he charges price~
Alienation-by Nathaniel Branden. tion~lism)-altrui~m-coJ\ecti,:ism, the base from which only WhICh some bureaucrats judge as too high, he can be prosecuted
Pseudo-Self-Esteem-by Nathaniel Branden. statL~'In can be derived; the statists (of any brand: communist, for monopoly. or for a successful "intent to monopolize"; if
Books: THE GREATEST PLOT IN HISTORY by Ralph de Toledano August fascist or welfare) are merely cashing in on it-while the he charges pnces lower than those of his competitors he can
"conservatives" are scurrying to ride on the enemy's premises
reviewed by Edith Efron. ' be prosecuted for "unfair competition" or "restraint of trade'"
I.A.D. Patents and copyrights-by Ayn Rand. Th.e Ca~hing-In: The Student "Rebellion" (Part Ill-by Ayn Rand. and, somehow, to achieve political freedom by stealth. It and if he charges the same prices as his competitors, he ca~
Alienation (Part Ill-by Nathaniel Branden. can't be done. be prosecuted for "collusion" or "conspiracy." There is only
June . Neither a man nor a nation can have a practical policy
one difference in the legal trea.tment accorded to a criminal
September without any basic principles to integrate it, to set its goals
or to a businessman: the criminal's rights are protected much
The Cult of Moral Grayness-by Ayn Rand. and guide its course. Just as the United States, having
more securely and objectively than the businessman's.
Pseudo-Self-Esteem (Part Ill-by Nathaniel Branden. Th.e Ca~hing-In: The Student "Rebellion" (Part IIIl-by Ayn Rand. ~bandoI?ed its o,:"n ,Principles, is floundering aimlessly in The full, brutal injustice of that legislation has now come
July Alienation (Part IIIl-by Nathaniel Branden. mternatl.onal affairs, IS unable. to act and is merely reacting into the open: seven distinguished businessmen (in the so
to the Issues chosen and raised by Soviet Russia-so in
October domestic affairs, the "conservatives" are unable to act 'and called "~Iectrical Co,nspiracy" case) were sentenced to jail
The Argument from Intimidation-by Ayn Rand. for br~akmg a law which they could not avoid breaking without
Social Metaphysical Fear-by Nathaniel Branden. The Obliteration of Capitalism-by Ayn Rand. satraeti.s mtse, rethlyu sr eaaccctinelpJ.t mtog atnhde hiseslup~ms gc htoo sepnro .paangda trea itsheed sbtyat isthtse' br~akmg a num?er of other laws. To my knowledge, no public
vOices were raised to defend them. Instead, the headlines
August Bbyo oJkosa:n TMHEe ltzDeErM. OCRAT'S DILEMMA by Philip M. Crane, reviewed preWmhiseens . the statists proclaim that their slave-system will swchreoa mweedre abduepseri. vaet dh eelpvleens s,o fle gthalely otphprootrttluendi,t ym aorft ysreeldf- dveicfetinmses
achieve material prosperity, the "conservatives" concede it
Is Atlas Shrugging? -by Ayn Rand. November and rush to urge people to sacrifice their "materialistic" con (by the threat of treble damages).
In subsequent columns, I shall discuss these two issues at
cerns in order to preserve freedom-thus helping the statists
September WLAh.Dat. IsW Chaatp itisa lispmsy?c-hboylo Agyicna lR amnda. turity? -by Nathaniel Branden. m(aankde sth iet ipr ooswsinb lea ufdoire nmceens )t oto a cehviaedvee~ tmhea tfearciat lt hparot sopnelryit fyr.e Wedhoemn m~r eathteer Fl.eCn.Cgt. ha. nFdo !m, ththee pArenstein-Tt, ruI stw iDlli vmiseiorenl yt hpeo ignot voeurnt mtheantt
"Extremism" or The Art of Smearing-by Ayn Rand. possesses th~ le~al weapons it n.eeds to transform this country
the statists announce that our first duty is to support the
Books: A HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY by W. T. Jones, December entire population of the globe-the "conservatives" rush into mto a totalitanan state-and If the "conservatives" do not
PHILOSOPHIC CLASSICS ed. Walter Kaufmann, A HISTORY OF debates on whether Asia, Africa or South America should (continued on page 4)
PHILOSOPHY by Wilhelm Windelband· reviewed by Leonard What is Capitalism? (Part Ill-by Ayn Rand.
Peikoff. ' A Report to our Readers-1965-by Nathaniel Branden. copyright © 1961 by The Objectivist Newsletter, Inc. 1
'I
BOOKS
The nazi slogan: "The commonweal ranks above private INTELLECTUAL AMMUNITION his demand is: "But what about my irrational wishes?" The
profit," would be unreservedly endorsed by any socialist, and man who knows that the values behind his emotions and
Planned Chaos* by Ludwig von Mises by any advocate of interventionism. This slogan implies, Mises DEPARTMENT desires are rational, does not find his reason clashing with his
states, "that profit-seeking business harms the vital interests emotions and does not regard rationality as an "inhibiting
Reviewed by BARBARA BRANDEN of the immense majority and that it is the sacred duty of restriction." He is the only man capable of experiencing pro
popular government to prevent the emergence of profits by [Subscribers are invited to send in the questions that they find found, intense, undivided emotions-because there are no
Ludwig von Mises, the most distinguished econoI?is~ of public control of production and distribution." If the nazis, themselves unable to answer in philosophical or political contradictions, no conflicts, among the values from which
our age, is an intransigent advocate of freedom and capltalts!? the socialists and the interventionists are agreed in their esti discussions. As many questions as space permits will be they come.
With brilliant lucidity and ruthless logic, Planned Chaos dIS mate of "profit-seeking business," it is not astonishing that answered. No questions will be answered by mail.] If, in any issue, you find that your emotions clash with
cusses the major collectivist ideologies of the twentieth century, they are agreed in their estimate of how the "menace" of • Objectivism advocates the moral principle that man should your reason and you are tempted to reject reason-identify
as they have been put into practice in various countries: profit seeking should be dealt with: the annihilation of the what this means. Reason is your faculty of perceiving reality;
interventionism (the so-called "mixed economy"), fascism, freedom that makes profit seeking possible-that is, the anni be guided exclusively by reason. But what about the emotional to act against reason is to act against reality. To attempt the
nazism, socialism, communism. Originally written as an hilation of freedom. side of human nature? irrational is to attempt to make the impossible succeed.
epilogue to Socialism (an encyclopedic and devastating analysis Those who advocate interventionism deceive themselves To answer this question, one must begin-as in all philo When you hear such bromides as: "The heart is superior
Cofh atohse ifsa nlloawci easv aoifl abcolel leacs tiav isset peacraotneo bmoiock .d octrines), Planned tahnedy! owri lsl eaeckh iteov ed eics eiavney tohtihnegr so tihf etrh ethya np retotetanldit atrhiaant tshtaet iesmnd. sinovpohlivceadl . issues-by giving precise definitions to the <;;,Q~cepts "toM ethne cmaninndo"t -"liTveh erbey isl osgoimc"e-t"hRinagt iohnigahle ra nthalayns isr eaksilolns""
A central point of Planned Chaos is Professor Mises' elo The interventionist aims at the substitution of governmental Reason is the faculty that perceives, identifies and integrates remind yourself of what reason is, then translate these bromides
quent refutation of one o.f the most. dis.astrous myt.hs. of the force for the choices of individuals dealing by voluntary the evidence of reality provided by man's senses. Reason is into their actual meaning, as follows: "The heart is superior
twentieth century: the belief that capItalism and socIalism are agreement on the free market. As Professor Mises points out: man's tool of cognition, the faculty by means of which he to realitY"-"There is something higher than reality"-"Men
not the only alternative economic systems, that there is a "If a man were to say: 'I do not like the mayor elected by acquires knowledge-the knowledge he needs in order to act cannot live in accordance with realitY"-"Knowledge of
"third way." This alleged "third way" is interventionism, the majority vote; therefore I ask the government to replace him and to deal with existence. reality kills." Then remember that the most consistent ex
hampered market economy, in which the state "seeks to in by the man I prefer,' one would hardly call him a democrat. ponent of these beliefs is a schizophrenic.
An emotion is the psychosomatic form in which man ex
fluence the market by the intervention of its coercive power, But if the same claims are raised with regard to the market, Emotions do not have to be your enemies, your torturers
periences his estimate of the relationship of things to himself.
but it does not want to eliminate the market altogether." most people are too dull to discover the dictatorial aspirations and your destroyers-which is what they become when you
Professor Mises demonstrates that interventionism, politi involved." An emotion is a value-response. It is the automatic psycho follow them blindly. Emotions are the means of experiencing
logical result of a man's value-judgments.
cally and economically, is unstable, impractical and. futile. For the reader who seeks to untangle the twisted pretensions the enjoyment of life. But they offer that experience only to
Unless it is abandoned and the free market restored, It leads of interventionism and to understand the fundamental political Just as love is man's emotional response to that which he the man who does not substitute his emotions for his mind.
necessarily to full socialism. As one illustration, he cites the economic alternative now confronting the world, Planned values-so fear is his response to that which threatens his
futility of government enforced minimum wage rates: if Chaos offers invaluable material. In an age when men are told values. Just as desire is the consequence of love: man's wish -NAtHANIEL BRANDEN
minimum rates are fixed at the market level, they are useless; that all extremes are evil, that one must neither demand to achieve and possess that which he regards as his good-so
idfe ttehremy inarecd ,r atihsee dr easbuoltv eis tpheer mleavnele ntht eu nfreeme pmloayrmkeetn tw oofu lad ghraevaet ac o"mmpildedtel ef roefe dthoem r onaodr, "a cMceispets fduellm solnavsterrayt,e sb uthta tm nuostt heinngd obrsuet ohfa trtehda t isw thheic hc oennsedqaunegnecrse ohfis f egaoro: dh. isJ uwsits ha sf ohr atphpei ndeessst ruisc titohne An excerpt from Nathaniel Branden's forth
part of the potential labor f?rce, whi.ch .cannot be absorbed one or the other extreme is possible. "The issue," he writes, consequence of fulfilled, desire, the emotio~ th~t results fr?m coming book, Who is Ayn Rand?
liantttoe r thcea sem, atrhkee tg oavt erencmoneonnt lltchaellny huansj unsotI ficehdo icwea gbeus.t tIon atdhde "nios tahliwrda ysso ltuhtei osna.m" Te:h eth ceh ogiocvee irsn mcoeenrt coior nth-oe rm vaorlkuentt.a rTyh terraed eis; tthhea t acrheiseuvltesm efnrot mo f tohnee sf rvuastlruaetiso-ns o osfu ffoenrme'sg IdS esthiree emoro tItOhne (see Objectivist Calendar, p. 4)
new regulations in the hope of making its initial regulation slavery-or freedom. destruction of one's values. The Objectivist ethics is especially significant fOIi the
Man's value-judgments are not innate. Having no innate
work. Since any interference with the free mark~t pr~duces knowledge of what is true or false, man can have no in psychotherapist because it is the first psychological morality.
harmful economic consequences, a government whIch will not It ,is the first morality to define the issue of good and evil
Excerpts from Ayn Rand's lecture, America's nate knowledge of what is good or evil. His values, and his
abandon interventionist policies faces the constant necessity in terms of the actions of one's consciousness-thllt is, in
emotions, are the product of the conclusions he has drawn or
of taking further measures in the attempt to eliminate the Persecuted Minority: Big Business terms of the manner in which one uses one's consciousness.
accepted, that is: of his basic premises.
consequences of past measures-until all economic freedom It ties virtue and vice to the action directly subject to man's
has been legislated out of existence and socialism has replaced (see Objectivist Calendar, p. 4) A man's basic premises and values may be rational (that is, volition: the choice to think or not to think. The evils that
p"cTaapShtitoeteac rlioinasnlm-ieis .sm p ,pa uitnrtee lrtyhn i-sbw ucreee namutucarryya ,t iccha.al lsA ilttla ketheceno nMtowmaori cxd iaeI. fnnft eeroreprn rtiR sfeuossr smaiarsne. mdeinTnyoh reit iisnemdsi.av lildeusta lm irnigohrittsy, ocna• ne narotth •ics l atihme intod ivbideu adl.e fTehnodseer sw hoof ccathoonenndmss co sineoilanufnds-ldtey epw,f eeintaehdtx ietpnnhlgteil;c y fit ahlcyaet n s domo raf b yryi em ahdploieltliyldci)i bt eltoyhrr,ae tmiirhor enac t ioomonnrsa acylai, ob cuhsoosalnrvybte re aoddc rih ctohstsoueebrmny teoahv nemal ysaig onbon yo,m d tt ahhyteeh acproter mifamu msamairlty a tenoex v imtishlt aeicnynokt im,aa lcmtlhhyiie,te tvierneed j aeiicscn ttsiiimoodnnea, d ohaefir s ep r coemosasnasisdobcelnie o- pujobusysnss eti hbsasilsse:
departments of the government just as the administration of uncritically from the assertions of others, by a process of choice to think, to identify, to integrate, to accept reason as
the army and the navy or the postal system .... The second Every ugly, brutal aspect of injustice toward racial or cultural osmosis. But whatever the case, it is a man's basic an absolute.
pattern-we may call it the Gern::an or !-wangs,,:,irtschaft religious minorities is being practiced toward businessmen. premises that dete.rmine what. he will r~gard. as good o~ evil, The Objectivist morality does not require infallibility or
system-differs from the first one Ill. that It, seemIngly and For instance, consider the evil of jUdging people by a double desirable or undeSIrable, for hIm or agamst hIm, condUCIve or omniscience of man: it merely requires that he choose to be
nominally, maintains private ownershIp of the means of pro standard and of denying to some the rights granted to others. inimical to his welfare. Thus a man's values-and his emo conscious-that is, to perceive reality. The issue is a moral
duction, entrepreneurship, and market exchange .... But the Today's "liberals" recognize the workers' (the majority's) tions-are the product of the thinking he has done or has one, because man is a being who has to be conscious by choice.
government tells these seeming entrepreneurs what and how right to their livelihood (their wages), but deny the business failed to do. I This approach to morality is reflected in the Objectivist
to produce, at what prices and from whom to buy, at what men's (the minority's) right to their livelihood (their profits). Reason and emotion-thinking and feeling-are not two treatment of desires. Altruistic moralities tell man to sacrifice
prices and to whom to sell. The government decrees at what If workers struggle for higher wages, this is hailed as "social contradictory or mutually inimical faculties, but their func his desires. Hedonistic moralities tell man to indulge them.
cagtwehroareaamg nle,seg s bq etuu lhaatise bl ol oybncr ulaeyp"tr sliiet anaf s lthsitiseshottcaus"h m;ln ds.i ht"qhwo ueuToeylshr d ku do seif fan fnitsemordrcu, p i~ltatneol mo I.tstwhe mpe~~Ilt IroaI n tmIaf~Oz ual~nsasd.i.nm scd. pauMnrnI.dnad crek~Irpae lstwe c .lhesoxam rt gttamhhas eeeinni "r"ss l"eai;mlb tfitieafesr rhmbak luepsgs"ttris en bteeoladsa ns.m"imdm eeIp tnfiort o stohvterneenu lgtawthghrelogee reib krf u oetserrhi scneh'o e ingssfostihnammenareind cnpca ;rir aoedblff fuiitotcrs ef,ai tcftul hyitri,vh nsie snti o sgb odueifassx i mnptlhenaosenewsiddr , ftictirreooruegenlelnis nei ovgtiaasro r nnetfth. a altnWsote o o,htt nh areetiin gpoqtheeuntrr eeccso ehttiraIev oneewngls ser ooraeinbfna gl lwe.ir .th yeIeg.tE ta hmriesdo r t ntioooon nte ~s nb syy a'J rumefda gecnmat oneostn rt ot oiofso fslo usIn ~t eoI~'Sssf oHtOBonuut ehtmm ea.eerc l dl,o sinoacKsfthue aot lnhotastelm, ss eoPB onlseafgcn th otmhoh,io aoslm rEsda ,ples iishtcNiyaru erireestute zsalals, n cfduhmA netau dhngoae umr st ooteDti nhnesteeaew,rl e eckpCyl ra:aea ilmm vthcisinso ee,umy ,p pHwoarlnoohl ,bme hbtiiihemsmese r.,,
The American New Deal and the Fan Deal (and, one may enterprises, thus making higher wages and lower prices pos In the psychology of a rational man, the !elati(;>Dship of plicitly or explicitly,regard desires and emotions as irreducible
add the New Frontier) have followed the pattern of the sible the same "liberals" denounce it as "commercialism." cognition and evaluation-of reason and emotIOn-IS that of primaries, as the given-then proceed to tell man what attitude
nazi or fascist variety of socialism. Many New Dealers con If a 'non-commercial foundation-that is: a group which did cause and effect. Irrationality consists of the attempt to reverse to take toward them. The Objectivist morality recognizes that
sciously and admittedly adopted Mussolini's corporate state not have to earn its funds-sponsors a television show, advo this relationship: to let one's emotions-one's wishes or fears man's desires and emotions proceed from and are caused by
as their model. Today, the state is not moving in the direction cating its particular views, the "liberals" hail it as "enlighten determine one's thinking, guide one's actions and serve as his premises, that his premises are the result of his thinking
omfe mnta, kibnugt aliln ectohneo mdiirce cetnI.Otenr proisfe s mdeapk~Irlltgm ·epnr!Isv aotef thoew gnoevrsehrI?p mmeannt ,s"p "oendsourcsa tiao nte,"le v"aisrito"n anshdo w"p uabnldic wsearnvtisc ei"t; tiof ar ebfulescint ehssis ojundeg'se swtahnadta rids otrfu eju dogrm feanlst,e wbhyi chth em esatanns:d atrhde oaft tewmhpatt tI?S aanndd tehmaot ttihoen si ss(uweh oicfh m aorrea loitnyly i s an coot ntsoe qbeu efnocueg)h, t bouvt eor vdeers itrhees
nominal, of telling "seeming entrepreneurs what and how to views, the "liberals" scream, calling it "censorship," "pressure" "pleasant" or "unpleasant." Philosophically, this attempt is thinking a man has done or has failed to do. Objectivism
produce, at what prices and}rom v.:hom to buy, at what and "dictatorial rule." When three locals of the International the cause of mysticism; psychologically, it is the cause of teaches man that his mind and his emotions do not have to
prices and to whom to sell. (ConsIder, for example, the Brotherhood of Teamsters deprived New York City of its neurosis. be antagonists, that his consCious convictions and his desires
government's farm policy, or President Kennedy's recent milk supply for fifteen days-no moral indignation or con The man who asserts that reason and emotion are antagonists do not have to clash; it teaches man how they are to be
efforts to dictate steel prices.) demnation was heard from the "liberal" quarters; but just is merely confessing that his emotions are the product of integrated, how to bring them into non-contradictory harmony;
imagine what would happen if businessmen stopped that milk values which he knows to be irrational and which he does it teaches man how he can determine the content of his desires
• Published by F.E.E., $2.00. Available from NBL BOOK SERVICE, INC., supply for one hour-and how swiftly they would be struck not care to change. When, in response. to the statement that and emotions. (It defines the principles involved; to develop
165 East 35th St., New York 16, N.Y. (N.Y.C. residents add 3% sales down by that legalized lynching or pogrom known as "trust men should be guided by reason, a man demands: "But what their full implementation is the task of the science of psy
tax; outside the U.S., add 15¢.) busting." about the emotional side of human nature?"-the meaning of chology.)
2 TH~ OBJECTIVIST NEWSLETTER JANUARY, 1962 3
The Crisis Over Berlin The story of West Berlin is at once a salute to the efficacy THE stitutes "restraint of trade" or "intent to monopolize" or any
of the othet, similar "crimes." No one can tell what the law
of a free economy and a tragic commentary on the destructive
By ALAN GREENSPAN ness of compromise, of mixed premises and mixed purposes, forbids or permits one to do. The interpretation is left entirely
up to the courts. "The courts in the United States have been
of an ostensible fight for freedom by Western leaders who do
Over a piece of real estate scarcely a tenth the size of Rhode not wish to know or have anyone else know what is being OBJ ECTIVIST engaged ever s!nce 1890 in deciding case by case exactly what
Island, the Russians have brought the world to the brink of fought for. West Berlin is a symbol of crisis for both the East the l~w proscnbes. No broad definition can really unlock the
war. One would reasonably conclude from the Soviets' unre meamng of the statute ..." (A. D. Neale, The Antitrust Laws
and the West.
lenting pressure on West Berlin that they fear the city is a of the U.S.A,! Cambridge University Press, 1960, p. 13.)
threat which can overrun the whole communist empire. As Thus a busIn.essman has I?-0 way of knowing in advance
absurd as it may sound, the Russians are right: West Berlin Choose Your Issues (from page 1) w~ether t~e actIOn he takes IS legal or illegal, whether he is
is a threat to the whole communist system. But the threat is gUll.ty or Innocent. Yet he has to act; he has to run his
not military; it is ideological. The city, with its broad boule know it, the present administration seems to know it. The NEWSLETTER bUSIness.
vards, new buildings and prosperous industries, stands as a "trial balloons" are being sent up with growing frequency. Retroac~ive la"Y-;-which means: a law that punishes a man
monument to freedom and free enterprise amid the drabness Any person who claims to be an advocate of freedom and for an actIOn whlcn was not legally defined as a crime at the
of East Germany. It is hardly imaginable that the communists who wonders what practical action he can take, should choose ~ime. he com~itted it-is. a form of persecution practiced only
can vaunt the wonders of their "workers' paradise" while the these two issues as his first concern: they involve the funda ~n dIctatorshIps and fo~bld.den by every civilized legal code. It
glitter of West Berlin makes a mockery of their pretensions. mental principles of our culture. He should study these issues, Edited and Published by AYN RAND and NATHANIEL BRANDEN IS n?t supposed to eXIst In the United Statefl and it is not
West Berlin must be destroyed, threaten the Soviets. The city watch their developments and make himself heard in public, apphed to anyone-except to businessmen. A case in which
must be reduced to the level of its surroundings. Its spirit must on any scale open to him, great or modest, from private dis a man cannot know until he is convicted whether the action
be broken. Communism cannot stand the comparison. cussions to national forums. It is with these two issues that VOL. 1 NO.2 FEBRUARY, 1962 he took. in the past was legal or illegal, is certainly a case of
This is the cause of the Berlin crisis. The Russians will not, the "practical" fight for freedom should begin. retroactive law.
and cannot, let up until they have brought the city under CHECK YOUR PREMISES At firs!, Antitr~st was merely a potential club, a "big .stick"
communist rule. The Soviet allegation that West Berlin is a ove,r busl?essmen s heads; but it soon became actual. From
OBJECTIVIST CALENDAR
military threat because of the Western garrison stationed theIr . heSitant, slug.gish beginnin~s in a few vaguely semi
there is too absurd for rebuttal. The city is surrounded and By AY N RAN 0 p.lauslble c~ses, AntItrust prosecutIOns accelerated by a pro ores
militarily indefensible. The charge that West Berlin is a base • In June, 1962, Random House will publish Who is Ayn s.lOn of 10g.lcal steps to such judicial decisions as: that e:tab
for spies should be-but probably is not-true. The claim that Rand? by Nathaniel Branden. This book discusses: the moral Antitrust: the Rule of Unreason hsh.e? b~sInesses have to share with any newcomer the
West Berlin harbors hoodlums who kidnap East Berliners revolution of Atlas Shrugged, and the relevance of Ayn Rand's fac~l~t~es ~t had taken them years to create, if. the lack of such
cannot really be taken seriously. The Russians will never philosophy to the cultural and political crisis of our time; the l.t is a grave error to suppose that a dictatorship rules a faclhtl~s Imposes a real hardship on the would-be competitor
aacnkdn othwreleadtsg et otwhea rdre aWl erseta sBoenr lifno.r Tthoe iarc kcnoonwtinleudagl ep irto vwoocualtdio bnes athpep leicstahtieotinc opfr inOcbipjelecsti vuinsmde rtloy inbga sAicy np rRobalnedm'ss noofv eplssy, cahnodlo hgeyr; ennaftioornc ebdy W li!thle an~gs oorof usst,r imct~l Ir.rtiagriyd plreaCw~IS I.Ownh. icShu cahre a orbuelyee dw oaunldd (nAos sroigc.hwt te!do pPoroesl s thceaisre ,p a1te9n4t5s )a-nthd atth abtu stihnee sps encaolntcye rfnosr hsuacvhe
to admit that communism is a failure in the area in which it concept of man's relationship to existence, which holds the be evil, but almost bearable; men could endure the harshest pools IS eIther the compulsory licensing of their patents to any
vociferously avers superiority: the ability to achieve material kBeayr btaor ah Berr alnitdeeranr-yi sm ae bthioogdr.a pThhicea lt istlteu deys, scaoyn-cceornnetrdi bpuritmeda riblyy ~d~cts, provided these edicts were known, specific and stable; and .all com.ers or the outright confiscation of the patents;
proHspisetroirtyy. rarely offers so controlled an experiment in rival with Ayn Rand's intellectual and artistic development. dIt.I cISta bnloet. tAhe d~Icntoawtonr sthhipa t hbarse atkos bmee nc'asp rsipciiroituss,; biut t htahse tuon prurele aa ncdo mI~f eat I~tloUrS IwnehSoS mhaans, I.wnfhrl?In gise da hIJIS.? epmabteern to, ft hseu ccho ma ppeotoitlo, rs nueost
economic systems as has been seen in Berlin during the last • Nathaniel Branden Lectures has incorporated under the by mean~ of. the .unexpected, the incomprehensible, the only WInS the case, but collects treble damages from· the man
decade. In the late 1940's, when the rest of Western Europe new name of NATHANIEL BRANDEN INSTITUTE. In addition to wantonly IrratIOnal; It has to deal not in death, but in sudden whose patent he ha~ infringed (Kobe v. Dempsey Pump Com
was sinking under a morass of socialistic experiments, West offering lecture courses, the Institute will publish papers and death; a state of chronic uncertainty is what men are psycho pany, 1952)-that If a would-be competitor's efficiency is so
Germany, including West Berlin, turned instead to free enter essays on the Objectivist philosophy and its application to logically unable to bear. low that he is unable even to pay a royalty on the patents
pr,ise (at least predominantly). The results were dramatic: the social sciences. The first of these. published in December, The American businessmen have had to live in that state owned by stronger companies, he is entitled to such patents
from a country defeated and devastated by war, it arose to 1961, is "The Objectivist Ethics" by Ayn Rand, a paper for ~eventy years. They were condemned to it by that judicial royalty-free (General Electric case, 1948)-that business con
become spectacularly prosperous. Meanwhile, East Germany originally given at the University of Wisconsin 1961 Sym verSIOn ~f the .doct!ine of Original Sin which presumes men c~rns must, not merely make a gift of their patents to any
and East Berlin barely emerged from the rubble. posium on "Ethics in Our Time." (This paper is now available to be gUIlty WIth lIttle or no chance to be proved innocent nval, but must also teach him how to use these patents (I.C.!.
As the discrepancies in freedom and material well-being from THE OBJECTIVIST NEWSLETTER, INC. Price $1. N.Y.C. and which is known as the Antitrust laws. and duPont case, 1952)-that a business concern must not
between the two halves of Germany grew, the exodus from residents add 3 % sales tax.) N,? business-hating collectivist could have gotten away with anticipate increases in the demand for its product and must
tshheo wEpalascteer no f sfereceto er ntbeerpcraimsee, aan dt othrree netx.i t Wtoe fsrte eBdeormli.n Fwinaasl lya, tIiI viTshme" nwexiltl Nbeew g iYvoenrk aste rtiehse oHf o"tBela siRco oPsreinvceilpt,l es4 5otfh OSbt.j ec& ccarepaittamligs ms oa ndp etrhfee cdte liavne ryi nosft rbuumsiennets smfoern itnhteo tdhees ttroutcatli opno woerf ontohte brse pernetperaerded t htoe mfieeeldt ,t"h ebmec bauys eex tphains dminigg hitts dcaispcaocuirtyag "eb enfeowre
sinh udte stpheer aetisocna,p teh eh agtacuhl eiatenrds obfu Eilta sta Bweralliln wcyhniiccha lltyu rsnlaemd mthede eMvaedniinsogns, Abevgei.n, naint g7 :F3e0b rPu.aMry. o1n3; tRweegnitsyt ractoionnse cisu tnivoew Toupeesnd. ay aolfl etgheed gdoevfeernndmeresn to. fI tc atpoiotakl itshme, stoo· ccarleleadte "tchoen sAenrvtiattriuvsets'l"a wthse. co.mIs e!rhs e( AbaLsCicO lA.in ec acslee,a r1?9 4D5o) . you observe the nature of the
"workers' paradise" of East Germany into a huge concentra And it takes the intellectual superficiality of today's "con pnnclple that dIctated the decisions in these cases?
tion camp. • Barbara Branden will speak on N. Y.C. radio station WBAI serva~ives" to continue supporting these laws, in spite of their A. D. Neale identifies it as follows: "There is an element
While the communists have been quick to grasp the ideo PM (99.5 on the dial) on Friday, January 5, at 7 P.M. Her meanmg, record and results. of pure 'underdoggery' in the law; an element of throwing the
logical significance of Berlin, the "global strategists" of the topic: "The Moral Antagonism of Capitalism and Socialism." The .a~leged purpose of the Antitrust laws was to protect ,,:elght of the enforcement authorities into the scale on the
West evidently cannot, or will not. The welfare statists both This program will be rebroadcast on Saturday, January 6, at competItIOn; that purpose was based on the socialistic faJ1acy SIde of .the weaker parries, which has little to do with the
in this country and abroad, who are responsible for the 9: 15 A.M. that a free, unregulated market will inevitably lead to the economIc control of monopoly." (P. 461).
formulation of Western foreign policy, have laboriously evaded • Ayn Rand gave a lecture at the Ford Hall Forum, Boston, establishment of coercive monopolies. But, in fact, no coercive I ident~f~ it as: the penalizi nl? of ability for being ability,
coming to grips with the meaning and nature of the issue at on Sunday, December 17. Her topic: "America's Persecuted monopoly has ever been or ever can be established by means the penalIz.Ing of ~uccess for beIng success, and the sacrifice
stake. Their mental block is not difficult to understand: West Minority: Big Business." of free trade on a free market. Every coercive monopoly was of productive gem us to the deman.ds of envious mediocrity.
Berlin is more than an affront to the communist world-it is a crea~ed by. government intervention into the economy: by Who were the profiteers of AntItrust? Many businessmen
slap in the face to their own socialist programs at home. They II In mid·September, New American Library brought out speCIal pnvIleges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed supported it from the start: some innocently, some not. These
are caught betwcen their fear of a communist victory-and The Fountainhead with a new jacket design; a second printing the entry of competitors into a given field, by legislative action. last we~e the. ~ind who seek to rise, not by free -trade and
their terror of identifying that capitalism is the only alternative, of this edition, in October, brought the total number of paper (For a full demonstration of this fact, I refer you to the works productIve ~bIlIty, but by political favor and pull, which means:
and that that is the issue at stake in West Berlin. The contra back copies in print to over 1,000,000. New American Library of the best economists.) The Antitrust laws were the classic not by ment, but by force. They are the typical products of a
diction they refuse to resolve or acknowledge has paralyzed also published a paperback edition of Anthem, in September; exa~ple of a moral inversion prevalent in the history of "mixed economy" and their numbers multiply as the economy
them and madc them blusteringly ineffectual against the the first printing was over 300,000 copies; six weeks later, a capItalism: an example of the victims, the businessmen taking grows more "mixed."
Russians. second printing was announced. the blame for the evils caused by the government, ~nd the ~he other group of profiteers was the bureaucrats and the
West Berliners, sensing compromise and abandonment in g,?vernment using its own guilt as a justification for acquiring stat~sts. As th~ trend toward statism grew, the statists found
our overeagerness to confer with the Russians-and knowing Published monthly at 165 East 35th Street, New York 16, N.Y. WIder powers, on the pretext of "correcting" the evils. an Invaluable Instrument for the persecution and the eventual
whose are the lives we are willing to "negotiate"-are begin Subscription rate: in United States, its possessions, Canada Since. "tree ,competition enforced by law" is a grotesque ensl~vement of businessmen. Observe that the most outrageous
ning to leave in droves. The flow of new capital investment and Mexico, $5 for one year; other countries, $6. contradICtIOn m terms; Antitrust grew into a haphazard Antitrust cases date from the 1940's. Power, in a statist
in the city is slowly drying up. To make matters worse, the acc~mulation ~f non:objective laws, so vague, complex, con sense, means arbitrary power. An objective law protects a
West German government is offering subsidies to keep people Ayn Rand and Nathaniel Branden, Editors and Publishers tradIctory and mconsIstent that any business practice can now country's freedom; only a non-objective law can give a statist
from leaving. The subsidies, contemptuously labeled "jitter Barbara Branden, Managing Editor be ,construed as ille~al, and by complying with one law a t~e ch~n.ce he. seek~:. a cha~c~ to impo~e his arbitrary will
bonuses" by the people, serve only to accelerate the exodus. Elayne Kalberman, Circulation Manager busmessman opens hImself to prosecution under several others. h~s poh~res, hIS deCISIOns, hIS mterpretatlOns, his enforcement,
No two jurists can agree on the meaning and application of hIS pUnIshment or favor-on disarmed, defenseless victims.
Mr. Greenspan is President 0/ Townsend·Greenspan & Co., Inc., New PRINTED BY CARNEGIE PRESS, INC., NEW YORK CITY these laws. No one can give an exact definition of what con- (continued on page 6)
York, economic consultants.
4 Copyright © 1962 by The Objectivist Newsletter, Inc. 5
,
1
I
J
BOOKS increase in production. "It is . . . no trick," he writes, "to INTELLECTUAL AMMUNITION
one individual to another individual, it is evil to sacrifice him
employ everybody, even (or especially) in the most primitive
to two individuals or two hundred or two billion. Numbers
Economics in One Lesson* by Henry Hazlitt economy. Full employment-very full employment; long, DEPARTMENT do not change the moral principle involved. If one man has
weary, back-breaking employment-is c~aracte.risti~, of pre
no claim to the life of another, neither does a group of men
cisely the nations that are most retarded mdustnally.
------------ Reviewed by R. HESSEN have such a claim. As Kira, the heroine of We The Living,
These are a few random samples of Hazlitt's critical acuity. [Subscribers are invited to send in the questions that they find
observes: "If you write a whole line of zeroes, it's stiII
Economists most notably Professor Ludwig von Mises, have I suggest that before sending any economic quer!es to o~r themselves unable to answer in philosophical or political nothing."
Intellectual Ammunition Department, you read thIS book; It discussions. As many questions as space permits will be
repeatedly de:nonstrated that the only ec~nom~c sy~tem c~n­
sonant with a free and prosperous sOcIety IS laissez-faIre will give you most of the basic answers. answered. No questions will be answered by mail.] • Why do Objectivists maintain that without property rights,
capitalism. But the influence of statist theorists and historians • Why does Objectivism reject ethical hedonism? DO other rights are possible?
in the past few decades has resulted in the medley of errors, Antitrust: the Rule of Unreason (from page 5) Ethical hedonism is the doctrine that pleasure is the standard The right of property is the right of use and disposal. If
half-truths, misconceptions and misrepresentat~on~ which co? of moral value, the criterion to be used in determining good one is not free to use that which one has produced, one does
stitutes most laymen's "knowledge" of capItalism and Its He does not have to exercise his power too frequently nor too and evil, virtue and vice-that the right action in any situation not possess the right of liberty. If one is not free to make the
history. . . openly; he merely has to have it and let his victims know that is the action which produces the most pleasure (and/ or the products of one's work serve one's chosen goals, one does not
It is the extraordinary ment of Henry Hazlitt to have he has it; fear will do the rest. least pain). <, ~~. possess the right to the pursuit of happiness. And-since man
detected the central fallacy involved in most of the popular In the light of this, consider the new phase of Antitrust Hedonists disagree about many questions, such as: Should is not a ghost who exists in some non-material manner-if
errors and to have patiently presented and. refuted scores .of enforcement. In February of 1961, in Philadelphia, seven one pursue short-range or long-range pleasure? Should one one is not free to keep and to consUme the products of one's
the standard arguments against free enterpr!se. In E~onomlcs businessmen representing some of America's greatest industrial pursue one's own selfish pleasure (egoistic hedonism)-or "the work, one does not possess the right of life. In a society where
in One Lesson, he has written the finest pnmer available for concerns, w~re sentenced to jail in the "Electrical Conspiracy" greatest happiness of the greatest number" (the Utilitarianism men are not free privately to own the material means of
students of capitalism. Clear, vigorous, logical and thorough~y case. This case involved twenty-nine companies manufactur of Bentham and Mill)? But the doctrine of pleasure as the production, their position is that of slaves whose lives are at
engrossing, the book has richly earned its status as a classIc ing electrical equipment. The charge against them was that ethical standard is the fundamental uniting them all. the absolute mercy of their rulers. -NATHANIEL BRANDEN
in the literature of freedom. they had made secret agreements to fix prices. and rig bids.
The feeling of pleasure, however, like any emotional re
"The whole argument of this book," writes Hazlitt, "may But without such agreements, the larger compames could have sponse, is not a psychological primary; it is a consequence, an
be summed up in the statement that in studying the effects of set their prices so low that the smaller ones would have been effect, of one's previously formed value-judgments. To say, An excerpt from Nathaniel Branden's forth
iamnym egdiviaetne erecsounlotsm bicu tp trhoep orseaslu lwtse .I nm uthset tlorancge rnuont, mnoetr emlye rtehlye wunhaebrleeu ptoo nm thaetc lha rtgheerm c oamnpda nwioesu lwd ohualdv eh agvoen efa coeudt porfo sbeucsuin!ieosns,, sthtaenredfaorrde ,o ft hwaht amt geinv ess htohuelmd pdleetaesrumrein, eis tthoe isra yv:a lMueesn bshyo uthlde coming book, Who is Ayn Rand?
tseahifndfedWey c ,pt hnsare oi onmmt n aipm nreeeyivrom ~epc~urlyoeym on c nstwleheaqe.am"u g eoeenf rfl ceafecwostr s, boao urnp ta r ostfhtoaeemrc mtesi vepsecnp o.cetnacedri-iaasflrfu ,y pg aprcnooo u:netp sxl,ep aqwobur,ue tt nw scuthehbase ,t ucIthton eniIds tc ev eoriisdc b ttesihescmve eistsnloe eh e,sa bnauveomne ud ngeneo horAn -tswnooutb aciityjhmre uctlposatiotw v cselseoa,, mwrtcouspo,i l ninymfot orwuparso di ts"ihfecii,nn t ojetlaeasri ywnl u tss an etwnnoddt ehem rin cucolhnaen dwsoee svpof ieonnwrl ayImhzboielecne.nhe". hhcadaoalersvnte eetater odmna ytcci- qnloveueusa insrlute tmh deoe..o nirrT awhlviihtasyal ut mweevshee aircnb hrsy a cntathdhnaoe tdm ehs fvtienaadnelou dnneaiosrs dmva an loyiusf e m saw a onhrc a ivhrteciarvupteulpareer sn tsaah nnetoddy opaVhniOeTl .Ihwdoeeshd oi ppc~mhryi n thocthiefpe Ala edey tvhnooi.Cfc R Saj atuenossdft i ,oc afeils t,ar Ultwt~Irseuhm iipcs.mh ri Tn cichsl ieep aclqreel unymet rspoatrilseo tf niecn ro o nntfsh opjetui ctsoeutito chhueiesc alaiysrl
Wtwhoehryak tes retseh eoiysr offanailrlym tteohr es s eiwme hmoisem dt ihatahtete bsnoeenmweef iltta atwxo p tiashy eed reb,s uicsgmonneesdsu smmtoee nra ioodrr. orpeefs apdcoihsnatsibinlbgel uem isaho etradasl kac cahhsai reiavncedtmuerse,t nriwta, lh oopu rthosadtadun cdstiiponengn. t atbhileiitry liavneds. uonni mso thheedIinor n dipesrmsairc,e tisec xaec,n edpm ta evbney rs hitaoavnkesi, n ntgho e tihwre laiory v aeoslr fea anoddby e fyefioanrrgms -etahdse ftteheeen legitnisvg eson ,f dtrrheaoimaestsee dwmn.e obTate lhrhthsea ivdrwe orh eetaostti cnbaeoeln ttcre uheaia rsinvsm eend toa .odt. vb.doei.fc feaicateursnlt.e tdJo,u ssuton daiset rtsaetlaatcrnuhdie,ss m wt hhtaeetna cloohnveees
pirpgnerrodsoovtifpreviietricarndtbtmiuyolae-enlo n ;wf twa tnhrmhmeaoert s a meenaovsur resn trtheyi nde bdrd eeuoia tslr;i lts ar ttihrhoe esant atec kw o"leeistnlestl s m~ mednpi dotoht larlebaxarurer y rsmtd" o eae snnrbue delbo y sfss i ppdtdeheieennelsatt dybtb ooyyl te hutt erhho:i.eerr faainucrdeltB i uvvtusoietttr r ydbti haieacil sn tt,.rd pepI ratteoht rdechadrutae cpabatsstiu,e o sdcniisrn iietmnihss si etnmh saceeoll sunmp.e, u ebbt oylI s. ctot? hsree t m.iP rol m!nfr dapt soutishnreeie so tI.aefm nrt pdhr auepStnr SoddIfe.OelrsSnwgS rI?taOhrclaend t, ootpahsfor a scitietr o. rcneoatdfur uasmcedidiobc rlttaeohl reiyptsy,re i, cm foeraeenrglsiiaoenrsngd aslt nehaste rs we s oiartftahi t swirfoeahnacealtitlith oyoen rro orit rfhir neaw tfivhloaaincglauhrlae ,n-i sjct u odtdnhegsefmi isapetnenucntrest FdceorvomOommntemeee ro cofwi fat hhlZ"oee , v nfoi werBweitum hod ofdis hhmti uscpmmorena satnseni mvrdee pl aaocntrio aoanrndyssiv hssoitppeconsak ctieeyss ,mp osfiesy ntch hafe oo lrtsoh otgehcioiisasrtl yi"Es ntrto hicnahat
psctoraolTtldiahsuptescs 'etb ie loiconnord n mloyleme aitrdihrc oe sttdohps eo oanor srii pebosel ferc ,m saruanarn npbegelnuest-st o bsfgeu-ot bohisldeliu-dsm.si ztoraamttieoednn tb onyf a tthuinere eff ofoilcflo itewhne-t stttoohil aeStrtnhue twelc,e headd nseweetff aeeosnann lsslt ee hi loneeof sf ots ht bahevmne iyipoer run hes ros ewsmip.m hriTeocpsishldseieeca dalps t radihoomiafnpeet srs ooeshmfdiu o tamnhan enaiw anddcia i,tssm a gdrau!bildasuin tcsinseinn ogewto s nhhsh .ooe wsS Te~ilvtuhianesatnghet mrmaaatOinno'b nsij ase nlc tatmoitv uosirsrueamr lvi aitsvyh e,o a,l a dh sscep o etdncheeiafe itodc fs s tvuytachplheeu egasou fib pdaloaisvlneiicdcney go oniosf r agansanudn i ciodsibemdjraei,l vc; teaidnvth edfa ratot nhmidef !ab"llordelevaien kesag eelss rlah vnaoperyuadel r"d dt i i dfoabfefneen rdOtle iincbntcaeehel;re, a"w wt e"hhedueo na mfddrre oeew cmsOleea r nsrlveeoue.svc d heT.i."n h"u inTFs" shIrpbnoeie m riAientmsugrs at ec slno orcic,ft oe iic,Lnt i cozsaevehlpislon tscugh al.adu ps" mi tWntaaholne et
secinturigomm( dapuui)noll aagptt Tuievl thaeheer ecl oofnannplogoulat-mrirccoaiihcnnea s gs:ge itrn hoegafw fte tphcaot.s w Wole.Inrtht leseaon .vf .mmw mgfal.srao,nt nlepOednyn. .c )t ehIsSa h ,taa rs:II- .ndl fcel:acavet~lIsagO~emansr,.iy t o(~buhtyoes ttcTihoviemne s"leie sfptmterinesatstg .sp a?rBz eiTunsstae k;ww ewho auaitt lh dli o s eiotnosk jn oseayt to t iorttyh, t eihsa ibFnuoeknub dtore uf.rt ashttrehay en v d1eaa~7ldbl,el l.cge1te 9,ad 6n 1T"d,lc,.I oinasn~tss ulepeer~a vsboat­f , a"annIna yyt(u wrvseeua ,br oijteefht cyetty.hi v)e i swut niseihvth ei.rcs.se. " ti hnWa tw hbhiceihcgh imn she,e a nnlosiv:t e iswt. irtOeh-Ljb eEfjcOeatcscN ttisAhv,eR idsDbmo un tPi rEsewImKjeiO tchFotF:sf sfHcIaosamiecpr ini etweftayoslrs.i ris t .eemwst.h,:h . ihac "etIs I n hthi s oe pmtl rdhe(asec-,y c opt arhaperraevitttceia cmtnllui ysal)btak eres t soee sctrthaihmeiiedctsi a eplsitr th,acs ac ottthn" ifetcatr ehiie breoxnu fcetd h"isJoesao nvnve dego toeshf opi occ mdasfi.p ef"ginf tiotaIco tluid olstissft.
inflationists shrug it off with the Keynesians mSlpld wise lished photographs o~ si~ of the ~ictlms-slx faces w~th. m • What is the Objectivist answer to those who claim that the
crack: "In the long run we will all be. dead." Hazlitt retort.s: telligence and determmatlOn as their common charactens~lc­ rights of the individual must be subordinated and sacrificed to was determined either by direct force, by tradition, or by
"Today is already the tomorrow which the bad economist and under them, the caption: "A drama that U.S. busmess the interests of society? personal bonds of love and friendship. In capitalism the all
yesterday urged us to ignore." . . will long remember to its shame." There is no term that has been used more indiscriminately determining factor is the exchange on the market. . .' . If our
(b) The notion that machines are a threat to the lIvelIhood The same humanitarians of the press who clamor that than the term "society," and with so total a lack of under whole social and economic organiZation is based on each one
of workers and that the unions and the government should penitentiarit;s are a us.eless, veng.eful for~. of "cruelty to standing of its meaning. seeking. his own adVantage, if it is governed by the principle
halt autom'ation in the name of maintaining or achieving juvenile SWitch-blade killers questmg for kicks and that "Society" is an abstraction; in a political context, it denotes of egotIsm tempered only by the ethical principle of fairness,
full employment. In answer, Hazlitt cites the. fact that in these sensitive victims of society should be "given a chance" a group or number of individual men who live in the same whoowrk coafn e oxinseti ndgo sboucsieintye sasn, dh oatw t hcea nsa omnee tiamcte wpriathcitnic eth leo vfera?m ..e.
England in 1760, 7900 people were engaged m the .home and should be sent to garden rest-homes f.or reha,?ilitati~n-:­ geographical area and who deal with one another. Society is The principle underlying capitalist society and the principle
production of cotton textiles. If the workers or a short-sighted these same humanitarians have remained sIlent while a bIll IS not a separate entity endowed with some sort of autonomous of love are inc~mpatible." It is socialism, he argues, that will
government had been able to bar the introduction of Ark proposed in Congress to the effect that an executiye convicted existence, apart from the individual men of whom it is com make· love pOSSible ...
wright's cotton-spinning machinery, they would have barred of an Antitrust violation may not, thereafter, be given employ posed. Society as such does not exist; only individual men exist. Here one may observe, in unusually explicit statement the
the day, just 27 years later, :vhen. 320,000 pe:sons were ment by any business concern and is thus to be deprived of What, therefore, does it mean to declare that man must live dia~etric~l opposite of Ayn Rand's view of proper hu'man
employed in the newly-mechanIzed Industry, an Increase of the right to earn a living. . . for society? It means that one individual must sacrifice him relatIOnships as expressed by the "trader principle." Ayn Rand
4,400 per cent. . . No all this is not the result of a commUnIst conspiracy. self to other individuals. What does it mean to declare that does not believe that fairness (justice) "tempers" or "limits"
Hazlitt demonstrates that technological unemployment IS It is the result of something much harder to fight: the result the rights of society supersede the rights of the individual? self-interest, as Fromm evidently does; she regards fairness or
a temporary phenomenon; that new machines cre.ate more of a culture's cynical, goal-less disintegration, which can benefit It means that some men's rights are to be sacrificed for the justice as indispensable to, and inseparable from, self-interest.
jobs than they destroy; that a ris!ng standard of IIvin~ and no one but the communists and the random little power- sake of other men. What does it mean to declare that public Nor does she think that, in regard to moral worth, "all human
an increase in the general economic welfare can be achIeved, lusters of the moment, who fish in muddy waters. . good comes above individual good? It means that some gang beings are identical." She draws moral distinctions between a
not by an increase in employment as such, but only by an It is futile to wonder about the policies or the int~~tlOns. of of men have a good lobby in Washington, have had themselves hero and a scoundrel, or a murderer and his victim. Nor does
the present administration. Whether the whole admInistratIOn designated as "the public," and are now empowered to swing
she think that "it should not make any difference whom we
* Published by Harper & Bros., $3.75. Available from NBL BOOK or anyone of its m~mbers i~ consciously dedicated to the a club over the heads of other men who, for the time being, love." In her ethics, it should and does make a difference.
SERVICE, INC., 165 East 35th St., New York 16, N.Y., for $2.95 (N.Y.C. destruction of Amencan busmess, does not matter: What are not the public. To love, she states, is to value; love, properly. is the conse
residents add 3% sales tax; outside the U.S., add 15¢). matters is that if any of them are, they have the T?achmery to For precisely the same reasons that it is evil to sacrifice
accomplish it and no opposition: a culture wlthou.t. goals, qu~nce and expression of. admirati0J?--"the emotional price
paId. by one man for the JOY he receIves from the virtues of
Mr. Hessen received his M.A. in History from Harvard University, and values or political principles can offer no opposItIon to Mr. PeikofJ is presently completing his doctoral dissertation in phi. another." Love is not alms, but a Inoral tribute.
is now on the staff of NATHANIEL BRANDEN INSTITUTE. anything. (continued on page 8) losophy at New York University.
. (continued on page 8)
6 THE OBJECTIVIST NEWSLETTER fEBRUARY, 1962
7
OBJECTIVIST CALENDAR • Random House has brought out the fifth printing of Atlas THE area. I want to free expression rather than stifle it. All
Shrugged in its hardcover edition; in paperback, New American sections of the community should be served rather than
Library has ordered its tenth printing (l00,000 copies), to
have them cut out by censorship which decrees they cannot
• Ayn Rand will give her lecture on "America's Persecuted be brought out in February.
see or hear something." (Show Business Illustrated,
Minority: Big Business" at Columbia University, Wollman OBJ ECTIVIST
Auditorium, Ferris Booth Hall, on Thursday, February 15, Antitrust: the Rule of Unreason (from page 6) September 19, 1961.)
8 P.M. The lecture is open to the public, admission free. Let's see whether we can adopt Mr. Minow's concept
Intentionally or not, the purpose achieved by those jail
of censorship: it would mean that the failure of a bad play
• On March 1, Ayn Rand will begin a twelve-week series sentences is: intimidation-or, more precisely: terrorization.
of radio programs for the Columbia University station WKCR The Antitrust laws give the government the power to prosecute is "censorship by the box office"-that the frustration of a
(590 kc AM, 89.9 mc FM). Under the general title of "Ayn and convict any business concern in the country any time it lady who, weighing three hundred pounds, does not get
Rand on Campus," these programs will be broadcast weekly, chooses. The threat of sudden destruction, of unpredictable NEWSLETTER a chance to model filmy negligees, is "censorship by adver
on Thursday, at 8:30 P.M. to 9:30 P.M. The format will be retaliation for unnamed offenses, is a much more potent means tisers"-that the plight of an inventor who finds no backers
as follows: on six alternate weeks, Miss Rand will give one of enslavement than explicit dictatorial laws. It demands more
of the lectures she has delivered at various universities. On than mere obedience; it leaves men no policy save one: to for his perpetual motion machine, is "censorship by
the other six programs, Professor John Hospers of the please the authorities; to please-blindly, uncritically, without bankers"-that the bankruptcy of a manufacturer who
Philosophy Department of Brooklyn College will discuss standards or principles; to please-in any issue, matter or Edited and Published by AYN RAND and NATHANIEL BRANDEN offers us gadgets which we don't buy, is "censorship by
Objectivism and the lecture of the preceding week, with Ayn circumstance, for fear of an unknowable, unprovable ven
consumers"-and that free expression is stifled, whenever
Rand, Nathaniel Branden and Barbara Branden. Professor geance. Anyone possessing such a stranglehold on businessmen,
a manuscript molders in its author's trunk, cut out by
Hospers is the author of: Meaning and Truth in the Arts possesses a stranglehold on the wealth and the material re VOL. 1 NO.3 MARCH, 1962
An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis-Human Conduct: sources of the country, which means: a stranglehold on the "the censorship of publishers" who decree that we cannot
an introduction to the problems of ethics. country. read or hear something. What, then, is non-censorship? Mr.
The schedule of the programs is as follows: Businessmen are already helpless and almost silenced. It CHECK YOUR PREMISES Minow's edicts.
is only the intellectuals who still have a chance to be heard.
March 1-"America's Persecuted Minority: Big Business." That is why I suggest to you the following t-est: if you hear So long as people evade the difference between economic
(This program will be a recording of Ayn Rand's lec an alleged "conservative" who quibbles bravely over taxes, By AYN RA NO power and political power, between a private choice and
ture at Columbia University on February 15.) budgets or school-aid, but supports the Antitrust laws a government order, between intellectual persuasion and
"Have Gun, Will Nudge"
March 8 - Discussion of preceding lecture by Prof. you may be sure that he is futile as a fighter for capitalism. physical force-Mr. Minow has reason to assume that he
Hospers, Ayn Rand and Nathaniel Branden. To combat petty larceny as a crucial danger, at a time when can safely stretch their evasions all the way to the ultimate
March 15 - "The Objectivist Ethics." muWrdheart iss hboeuinldg wcoem dmo?it tWede, iss htoou slda ndcetimona ntdh e am ruer-dexera.m ination Mr. Newton N. Minow, Chairman. of the F.C.C., is per inversion: to the claim that a private action is coercion,
forming a great, educational public service-though not in
March 22 - Discussion by Prof. Hospers, Ayn Rand and and revision of the entire issue of Antitrust. We should but a government action is freedom.
Nathaniel Branden. challenge its philosophical, political, economic and moral base. the way he intends. He is giving the public an invaluable It is true, as Mr. Minow assures us, that he does not
March 29 - "The Intellectual Bankruptcy of Our Age." We should have a Civil Liberties Union-for businessmen. The object lesson on the nature and results of a "mixed propose to establish censorship; what he proposes is much
repeal of the Antitrust laws should be our ultimate goal; it economy." worse. Censorship, in its old-fashioned meaning, is a gov
April 5 - Discussion by Prof. Hospers, Ayn Rand and will require a long intellectual and political struggle; but, in
Nathaniel Branden. the meantime and as a fitst step, we should urge that the jail The basic evil in any theory of a "mixed economy" ernment edict that forbids the discussion of some specific
penalty provisions of these laws be abolished. an economy of freedom mixed with controls-is the evasion subjects or ideas-such, for instance, as sex, religion or
April 12 - "Conservatism: an Obituary."
Businessmen are the one group that distinguishes capitalism of the fact that a government holds a legal monopoly on criticism of government officials-an edict enforced by the
April 19 - Discussion by Prof. Hospers, Ayn Rand and and the American way of life from the totalitarian statism the use of physical force and that political power is the government's scrutiny of all forms of communication prior
Barbara Branden. that is swallowing the rest of the world. All the other social
power of coercion. While a dictatorship rests on a blunt to their public release. But for stifling the freedom of men's
April 26 - "Our Esthetic Vacuum." gurnoduerp sd-iwctoatrokreshrsip, sp, reovfeenss tihoonualg hm tehne,y secxieisnt tiisnt sc, hsaoinlsd,i einr st-eerxroisr,t acknowledgment of this fact, on the motto that "might is minds the modern method is much more potent; it rests
May 3 - Discussion by Prof. Hospers, Ayn Rand and in misery and in progressive self-destruction. But there is no right"- a "mixed economy" rests on pretending that no on the power of non-objective law; it neither forbids nor
Barbara Branden. such group as businessmen under a dictatorship. Their place such distinction exists, that might and right can be safely permits anything; it never defines or specifies; it merely
May 10 - "Faith and Force: the Destroyers of the Modern is taken by armed thugs: by bureaucrats and commissars. So scrambled together if we all agree never to raise this issue. delivers men's lives, fortunes, careers, ambitions into the
World." if you want to fight for freedom, you must begin by fighting
for its unrewarded, unrecognized, unacknowledged, yet best The current policy of the F .c.c. has provided a spectacle arbitrary power of a bureaucrat who can reward or punish
May 17 - Concluding remarks by Prof. Hospers and Ayn representatives-the American businessmen. of not raising that issue, on a grand scale. at whim. It spares the bureaucrat the troublesome necessity
Rand. First, Mr. Minow announces that any television or radio of committing himself to rigid rules-and it places upon
These programs will be available to Educational radio Excerpt from: Who is Ayn Rand? (from page 7) station which does not satisfy his unstated criterion of an the victims the burden of discovering how to please him,
stations and University stations, for cost of tape and postage.
If a station in your community is interested, its representative If love did not imply admiration, if it did not imply an unspecified public service, will lose its license, that is: will with a fluid unknowable as their only guide.
may write to: Bruce E. Goldman, President, WKCR, 208 acknowledgment of moral qualities that the recipient of love be silenced forever. Then, while the victims mumble feeble No, a federal commissioner may never utter a single
Ferris Booth Hall, Columbia University, New York 27, N.Y. possessed--what meaning or significance would love have, and protests, vaguely referring to censorship, Mr. Minow word for or against any program. But what do you suppose
why would Fromm or anyone consider it desirable? Only one
assumes an air of injured innocence and asserts that his will happen if and when, with or without his knowledge,
• In addition to the forthcoming series given in New York answer is possible, and it is not an attractive one: when love
by Nathaniel Branden Institute on "Basic Principles of Ob is divorced from values, then "love" becomes, not a tribute, sole intention is "to nudge, to exhort, to urge those who a third-assistant or a second cousin or just a nameless
jectivism," which begins on February 13, the Institute began but a moral blank check: a promise that one will be forgiven decide what goes on the air to appeal to our higher as friend from Washington whispers to a television executive
a new Tape Transcription series of the same course in anything, that one will not be abandoned, that one will be well as our lower tastes." And President Kennedy declares: that the commissioner does not like producer X or does
Indianapolis on January 20 and in Boston on January 23. taken care of. "Mr. Minow has attempted not to use jorce, but to use not approve of writer Y or takes a great interest in the
Tape series are also scheduled to begin in Los Angeles on
encouragement in persuading the networks to put on career of starlet Z or is anxious to advance the cause of
February 9 and in Washington, D.C., on February 11. Mr.
Branden will .deliver the opening night's lecture of the Wash Published monthly at 165 East 35th Street, New York 16, N.Y. better children's programs, more public service programs." the United Nations?
ington series in person. Subscription rate: in United States, its possessions, Canada and Mexico, No one has stepped forward to ask Mr. Kennedy What makes it possible to bring a free country down to
$5 for one year; other countries, $6. Trial subscriptions: 4 months $2.
• On January 2, Ayn Rand addressed Professor John Hospers' 6 months $3 . whether his word usage is correct; and, if it is, whether we such a level? If you doubt the connection between altruism
class in Ethics, at Brooklyn College; and on January 10, she A10d d-itio9n9a l ccooppieiess, o25f ¢t heisa chN epwluslse ttpeor:s ta'sgineg le(f ocro pfyir s5t-0c¢la s(cso indse,l ivneorty satadmd p.1s)¢; should claim that a holdup man who points a gun, is not and statism, 1 suggest that you count how many times-in
addressed his graduate seminar. The subject of discussion on per copy, for third-class delivery add !/2¢ per copy); 100 or more copies, attempting to lise force, but to use encouragement in per the current articles, speeches, debates and hearings-there
15¢ each plus postage (same as above).
both occasions was the Objectivist ethics. For change of address send old address and new address with zone number suading a citizen to hand over his wallet. appeared the magic formula which makes all such outrages
if any. Allow us two weeks to process new subscriptions and change
II In December, the Presidents' Professional Association, Inc. of address. No one has challenged Mr. Minow's description of possible: "The Public Interest."
(affiliated with the American Management Association, Inc.) censorship: "1 dislike censorship as much as anyone else. What is the public interest? No specific definition has
Ayn Rand and Nathaniel Branden, Editors and Publishers
made a video-tape recording of a talk by Ayn Rand on Barbara Branden, Managing Editor Yet today we have censorship in a very real sense ... ever been or ever can be given by anyone. Since the concept
"Capitalism versus Communism." This recording is to be used
Eiayne Kalberman, Circulation Manager There is censorship by ratings, by advertisers, by networks, is not used in its literal meaning, to designate the personal
on closed-circuit television by the P.P.A.'s educational dis
cussion-groups for presidents of industrial concerns. PRINTED BY CARNEGIE PRESS, INC., NEW YORK CITY by affiliates which reject programming offered to their (continued on page 10)
8 Copyright © 1962 by The Objectivist Newsletter, Inc. 9
BOOKS which would otherwise have been collected by the gov INTELLECTUAL AMMUNITION tional advocate of capitalism can oo-operate with religious
ernment." And it concluded that "the nostalgic hopes .•. people who share his political principles, but only in a
Prosperity Through Freedom* looking toward a revival of the nineteenth century role of DEPARTMENT strictly secular movement, that is: only in a movement
by Lawrence Fertig a capital market are doomed to disappointment." that does not claim religion as the base and justification
The report landed in a German wastebasket. The West {Subscribers are invited to send in the questions that they find of its political principles.
----------- Reviewed by EDITH EFRON German government did precisely the opposite; in the themselves unable to answer in philosophical or political The greatest single threat to capitalism today is the
words of Economics Minister Erhard, it "re-introduced the discussions. As many questions as space permits will be attempt to put capitalism, mysticism and Original Sin over
For fourteen years, Lawrence Fertig has been combating old rules of a free economy, the rules of laissez-faire." answered. No questions will be answered by mail.] on the public as one "package deal." No attacks by collec
collectivism in America by popularizing the basic prin
The result was "the miracle of German recovery." And • Should a rational advocate of capitaIism co-operate with tivists could do more to discredit capitalism than is done
ciples of free enterprise in his column for the Scripps
what happened to the spumed American commissioners? those "conservatives" who base their advocacy of capital by this kind of attempt. Its result can be only to consign
Howard newspapers. His latest book, Prosperity Through
Freedom, applies these principles to a wide range of cur They went home, reports Mr. Fertig, to continue advocat ism on religious faith? capitalism to the "lunatic fringe" of political thought and
ing the same destructive policies for America. One of these to remove it from the realm of serious, civilized discussion.
rent events, and offers a highly readable survey of the Reason is the faculty that perceives, identifies and in
commissioners, Professor Walter W. Heller, is now head A rational advocate of capitalism should repudiate any
economics behind the headlines. tegrates the evidence of reality provided by IIla.:!1's senses.
of President Kennedy'S Council of Economic Advisers. individual or group that links capitalism to the super
The most interesting aspect of the book is journalistic To base one's convictions on reason, is to base them on the
Regrettably, Mr. Fertig is not entirely consistent as a natural. He commits treason to his own cause if and when ;
rather than theoretical. Filled with statistics, quotations facts of reality. Faith is the acceptance of an idea without
from liberal and libertarian theorists, and information gath theorist. His advocacy of capitalism is diluted by an occa evidence or proof, or in spite of evidence to the contrary. he co-operates with the mystical "conservatives," if and i
sional concession to economic interventionism. For in when he sanctions them as creditable spokesmen for the
ered from an impressive number of American and foreign To rest one's advocacy of capitalism on faith, is to con
stance, he challenges particular policies of the Federal cause of freedom. -BARBARA BRANDEN
sources, this book provides an arsenal of factual ammuni cede that reason is on the side of one's enemies. Such a
Reserve System or the specific administration of the Anti
tion for advocates of free enterprise. position implies that a free society cannot be rationally
In a section which examines the myth of Soviet superi trust laws, but he does not challenge the basic principle justified-that there are no rational arguments why men • What is the Objectivist view of the claim, made by many
ority, Mr. Fertig reports in some detail on an important, or the validity of such institutions. It is also regrettable should not murder and enslave one another-that logic is social theorists today, that man's primary psychological
that he did not present his research in a more scholarly
but little known, study of Russian industry published by on the side of dictatorships, firing squads and concentra need is to receive the approval and esteem of other men?
form; more detailed references would have been desirable.
Professor G. Warren Nutter under the auspices of the tion camps, but men should renounce logic in favor of such Before one can make any statement concerning man's
For readers who are swamped by statist-slanted news
National Bureau of Economic Research, in 1957. Ac "irrationalities" as freedom, justice, individual rights, fundamental needs, it is necessary to define precisely the
stories, however, Prosperity Through Freedom will be a
cepting Soviet figures at their face value, Professor Nutter a achievement, prosperity and progress. meaning of "need" in this context. A living organism's
welcome corrective, a lead to better understanding of
shows that in ~uch basic industries as electric power, na current events, and an eminently valuable book. The implications of tying capitalism to faith have come needs are those things which the organism requires, by its
tural gas, steel ingots, cement, freight cars, and others, nakedly into the open in the explicit irrationalism of nature, for its survival and well-being. Thus we can ob
the Soviet time-lag behind the United States was greater "Have Gun, Will Nudge" (from page 9) many "conservative" groups. Intending to bring the mys serve that man needs food, water, air, etc. Such needs are
in 1955 than it was in 1913. In certain instances, the rate tical concept of Original Sin into political theory, they objectively demonstrable, and the standard by which one
interest of every citizen of a country, but is used to imply
of deterioration is startling. In 1913, the Russian time-lag declare that man is depraved by nature, that reason is im judges them to be needs is clear-cut and unequivocal: that
and establish a conflict, the opposition of private interests
behind the U.S. in the production of crude petroleum was potent, that man should not attempt to create a perfect which man's survival in fact requires.
to public interest-its use can convey only one meaning:
only 14 years; by 1937, the lag had widened to 26 years; political system or to establish a rational society on earth The same principle applies to man's psychological needs.
the right of some men (those who, by some undefined
and by 1955, the lag was up to 34 years. Again in 1913, but should settle for capitalism, instead. It can be shown that man has a need of self-esteem-a
criterion, are the public) to sacrifice the interests of other
the Russian lag in the production of freight cars was only The communists allege that their political philosophy need to be confident of his judgment and his capacity to
men (of those who, for unspecified reasons, are not the
33 years; by 1937, the lag had increased to 57 years; and is rational and has been scientifically proved. The mystical deal with reality. Man's mind is his basic means of sur
public). Once that collectivist formula becomes the moral
by 1955, the Russians were behind by 69 years. The "conservatives" concede it and retreat into the world of vival. The absence of confidence in one's own mind results
standard of a society, the rest is only a matter of time.
Nutter study concludes that, according to their own "pub the supernatural, surrendering this world to communism in a state of neurosis characterized by varying degrees of
Mr. Paul Rand Dixon, P.T.C. Chairman, has announced:
lic relations" statistics, the Russians are about 35 years a victory that the communists' irrational ideology could anxiety, ineffectuality, helplessness-that is, of incompe
"Private rights are important but the public interest is a
behind us in quantity of goods produced and about 55 never win on its own merits. tence to deal with existence. Again, the standard establish
greater right."
years behind us in production per capita - and the lags An article entitled "His Master's Voice?" by Shirley Collectivism gained its intellectual influence and appeal ing this need is the requirements of man's survival.
have generally been increasing. Professor Nutter's wry Scheibla in Barron's magazine for January 1, 1962, offers by promising a scientific approach to social problems-a A desire or a wish is not equivalent to a need,' the fact
concluding comment is worth quoting: "It hardly seems the following warning: "The [Communications] Act gives promise which it could not and did not keep. Today, dis that a great many men may desire a thing, does not prove
likely that Soviet authorities have practiced the art of un the [Federal Communications] Commission a broad grant illusioned by the horrors which collectivism has achieved that it represents a need inherent in human nature.
derstatement in heralding their achievements." of authority to regulate broadcasting 'in the public interest.' in practice, people, particularly young people, are seeking No advocate of the theory that man's primary psycho
In another fascinating section of Mr. Fertig's book, Since neither Congress nor the courts ever have been able a rational alternative-which, in fact, only capitalism can logical need is to receive the approval of other men, has
called "How Our Experts Almost Ruined Germany," he to agree on a working definition of what constitutes the provide. But instead of proof, logic or science, today's offered any proof of such a claim; it is generally offered
reveals the details of the fiscal advice given to the West 'public interest,' the commissioners need only decide that mystical "conservatives" have nothing better to offer than as an assertion which, presumably, one is to accept as
German government in 1948 by a commission of American it is served by the way they happen to vote." appeals to faith, revelation and the supernatural. In our self-evident.
economists. The commissioners' report was declassified That such is the ultimate goal of our present treno, is age, in the presence of the triumphs of science, no think Now consider the exact implications of this theory;
only in April, 1961, and one can understand the State indicated in Mr. Minow's "vast wasteland" speech of May ing man will listen to .t he voices from the Dark Ages taken literally, it means: (a) that man's survival, well
Department's reluctance to make its contents known. The 9, 1961. While all the concrete-bound, range-of-the speaking of Original Sin. and the futility of human endeavor; being and mental health require that no other considera
report recommended deficit spending and a cheap money moment modem mentalities have been clamoring over the no thinking man will reject reason and the achievements tion, such as, for instance, truth, facts, reason or reality,
policy. It advocated inflationary measures and criticized issue of Westerns versus spelling-bees, the ominous key of man's mind. If the "conservatives" succeeded in con ever be permitted to take precedence over social approval
Germany's "excessive concern for price stability." It ob sentence of that speech has been passed by in comparative vincing him that he mus.! accept capitalism on faith or not -and that in the event of any clash, it is truth, facts, rea
jected to granting industry high depreciation allowances, silence: the threat to "those few of you who really believe at all, he would, properly, answer: Not at all. son and reality that are to be sacrificed; (b) that if a man
on the grounds that "it was an expenditure of tax funds that the public interest is merely what interests the public." To claim that capitalism rests on religious faith is to sees his fellow men pu<rsuing a course of self-destruction,
Here is an open declaration that the public is not com contradict the fundamental principles of the United States; he should join them - in the interests of his survival
• Published by Henry Regnery Co., $3.95. Available from NBL BOOK petent to judge its own interest. Who, then, is? Who will in America, religion is a private matter which must not rather than risk their opprobrium; (c) that if a man re
SERVICE, INC., 165 East 35th St., New York 16, N.Y., for $3.25 (N.Y.C.
residents add 3% sales tax; outside the U.S., add 15¢). be its guardian and determine its interest, which super be brought into political issues. mains loyal to his own rational judgment, in defiance of
sedes any individual rights? Mr. Newton N. Minow. One need not be an atheist in order to fight for capital the opposition of others, he jeopardizes his psychological
Edith Efron is a journalist whose articles have appeared in such publi·
(continued on page 12) ism-provided one keeps the two issues separate. A ra- (continued on page 12)
cations as Life, Look, and The New York Times MagaZine.
10 THE OBJECTIVIST NEWSLETTER MARCH, 1962 11
OBJECTIVIST CALENDAR Issue at stake in the F .c.c. hearings-not the issue of THE professed supporters: by those who wish to dissolve the dis..:
tinction between an independent judgment and a subjective
whether today's television programs are good or bad (most
whim. These are the alleged "individualists" who equate in
.. On March 1, Ayn Rand will appear on the CBS-TV network of them are atrocious, particularly in the public affairs dividualism, not with independent thought, but with "inde
pr<?gram "The Great Challenge: America's Continuing Revo department)-n~t the issue of whether some cowboys, pendent feelings." There are no such things as "independent
lutIOn." 10 to 11 P.M., EST. (See your local listings.) gangsters and pnvate-eyes should be sacrificed in favor of OBJ ECTIVIST feelings." There is only an independent mind.
.. Ayn Rand will speak at the Massachusetts Institute of Tech mor~ newsreel~,. slante~ documentaries and panel dis An individualist is, first and foremost, a man of reason. It is
nolo.gy, Cam.bridge, Mass., on March 14; and at Brown Uni upon the ability to think, upon his rational faculty, that man's
CUSSIOns of polItIcal tOPICS, with big close-ups of selfless
versIty, ProvIdence, Rhode Island, on March 15. life depends; rationality is the precondition of independence
.. N athanie1 Brand~n will give public readings of three plays public servants from Washington. and self-reliance. An "individualist" who is neither independent
,b:ye rs~ly~mn). RAanp~n.l A9:p nIdl e2a:l . TAhpen !l' li1g6h:t Tohf iJnakn uTawryic e1.6 Tthh o(oseri gwinhaol Intellectual Ammunition (from page 11) NEWSLETTER ninodre pseelnfd-reenlicaen ta,r eis l oag iccoanlltyra idniscetpioanra binle t.e Trmhes ;b iansdici viinddueapliesnmd eanncde
hve m the Greater New York area will shortly receive an well-being, but if he surrenders his judgment in obedience of the individualist consists of his loyalty to his own mind: it
announcement giving them full details. is his perception of the facts of reality, his understanding, his
to widely-held beliefs which he knows to be false he judgment, that he refuses to sacrifice to the unproved assertions
.. Corr~ction:. Ay? Ran~'s series of radio programs for the secures his psychological well-being; (d) that an abject of others. That is the meaning of intellectual independence
ColumbIa Umverslty statIOn WKCR will be broadcast only on
PM (89.9 on your dial). mseec~otnald -hhaenadltehr,, wsuhcehr eaass Pa emtera nK eoaft iinngd, epise nthdeen ecpe itaonmde ion f Edited and Published by AYN RAND and NATHANIEL BRANDEN aanndd tihnatrta ins stihgee netslsye nfcaec to-cfe annte irneddi.v idualist. He is dispassionately
Man needs knowledge in order to survive, and only reason
"Have Gun, Will Nudge" (from page 10) t~gnty, such as Howard Roark, is neurotically self-destruc VOL. 1 NO.4 APRIL, 1962 can achieve it; men who reject the responsibility of thought
~onsider th.e .implications. If the public is not competent tive because he always asks "What is true?" and not "What and reason, can exist only as parasites on the thinking of
do others believe is true?" others. And a parasite is not an individualist. The irrationalist,
to Judge teleVISIOn programs and its own entertainment
To hold.the approval of others as one's primary motive Counterfeit Individualism the whim-worshipper who regards knowledge and objectivity
how ca~ it be competent to judge political issues? Or as· "restrictioos" on his freedom, the nmge-of-the-moment
and goal, IS to be a selfless, mindless, blind parasite in
economIC problems? Or nuclear policies? Or international By NATHANIEL BRANDEN hedonist who acts on his private feelings, is not an individualist.
affairs? And since-on the above premise-the answer is capable of thought and unfit for survival. That a great The "independence" that an irrationalist seeks is independence
that it can't, shouldn't its guardians protect it from those ~any men, who dread the responsibility of independent The theory of individualism is a central component of the from reality-like Dostoevsky's Underground man who cries:.
books and newspapers which, in the guardians' judgment, ~udgment, have chosen this state, is undeniable. But the pOobljieticctaivl isct opnhceilpots oapnhdy . aInn dievthidicuaall-ipssmy chiso loagt icoanl.c eo naen. eAthsi caaln f"oWr hsaotm deo rIe acsaorne, fIo rd itshleik lea wthso osef nlaawtus rea nadn dt haer ifthacmt etthica,t wtwheicne,
mescapa?le result of this state is anxiety, insecurity, the
are not consonant .with the public interest and would only ethical-political concept, individualism upholds the supremacy two makes four?"
confuse the poor mcompetent that's unable to judge? sens.e of Inne~ e!l:ptiness-neurotic symptoms that testify to of individual rights, the principle that man is an end in himself, To the irrationalist, existence is merely a clash between his
Today-~hen rule by precedent has all but replaced the IncompatIbilIty of such dependence with mental health. cnoont cae pmt,e ainnds ivtoid tuhael isemnd sh oolfd so tthhearts .m Aasn asnh oeuthldic tahl-ipnsky cahnodl ojgudicgael whims and the whims of others; the concept of an objective
The normalc!, or healthiness of a psychological condition reality has no reality to him.
rule by law,and nothing protects us from enslavement but independently, valuing nothing higher than the sovereignty of
the fragile parrier of custom--consider the consequences IS not e~tabhshed by its statistical prevalence, but by its his intellect. proRoefb eolfl ioinudsinveisdsu oalri sumnc. oJnuvset natsi oinnadliivtyid ausa sliuscmh ddoo enso tn ocot ncsotnitsuitset
of a precedent such as Mr. Minow is seeking to establish. appropnateness to the requirements of man's survival. At The philosophical base and validation of individualism, as merely of rejecting collectivism, so it does not consist merely
Bear in mind what I said about the issue of Antitrust last one ti~e, .bubonic plague :vas dismayingly widespread, Ayn Rand has shown in Atlas Shrugged, is the fact that in of the absence of conformity. A conformist is a man who
but thIS dId not lead phYSIcians to regard it as man's dividualism, ethically, politically and psychologically, is an declares, "It's true because others believe it"-but an indi
imnog:n tthh,e w ahrteicnl ey o"uH iesv Maluaasttee r'tsh eV osiigcnei?f"ic manecnet ioofn st hteh afto lGloewn ~ormal or healthy condition. If a person declares that gain ovibvjaelc tqivuea rmeqanu,i rqeumae rnatt ioofn aml abne'isn gp.r oItp eisr ismuprvliicviat li, no, fa nmda nne'sc essusri viti.d" uAalins t iins dnivoitd au amliastn dwehcola dreesc,l a"reI s,b e"lIite'sv et ruite bbeeccaauussee II bseeleie vine
eral Electric and Westinghouse have both applied for re ~g ~he .a~proval of others is the dominating concern of tated by, a code of ethics that holds man's life as its standard reason that it's true."
new~l of their broadcasting licenses, and: "Although FCC h~s life, It IS the responsibility of psychologists to recognize of value. There is an incident in The Fountainhead that is worth
offiCials are unable to explain how they would improve hIS state as a disease, and to discover and correct the un The advocacy of individualism as such is not new; what is recalling in this connection. In the chapter on the life and
new is the Objectivist validation of the theory of individualism
derlying premises that cause his fear of independence career of collectivist Ellsworth Toohey, Ayn Rand describes
program quality by forcing these two companies out of the rather than to announce that this fear is an intrinsic at and the definition of a consistent way to practice it. the various groups of writers and artists that Toohey organized:
field, the Commission currently is pondering whether the Too often, the ethical-political meaning of individualism is there was " ... a woman who never used capitals in her books,
tribute of human nature. held to be: doing whatever one wishes, regardless of the rights
applications should be turned down on the ground that and a man who never used commas . . . and another who
both firms have been convicted of antitrust violations." Man's survival and his mental health demand that he of others. Writers such as Nietzsche and Max Stirner are wrote poems that neither rhymed nor scanned . . . There was
sometimes quoted in support of this interpretation. Altruists
place nothing above his own rational judgment. It was not a boy who used no canvas, but did something with bird cages
Do you observe the nature of the pincer-movement or and collectivists have an obvious vested interest in persuading
and metronomes . . . A few friends pointed out to Ellsworth
the squeeze-play-and the nature of the possibilities in the p~rasitical practitioners of "togetherness" who brought men that such is the meaning of individualism, that the man Toohey ~hat he seemed guilty of inconsistency; he was so
herent in non-objective law? ma.nkIn? out of the ca~e. ~nd it is not men of intransigent who. refuses to be sacrificed intends to sacrifice others. deeply opposed to individualism, they said, and here were all
For the special consideration of all those who are ratIOnalIty and sovereIgn Intellect who collapse in anxiety The contradiction in, and refutation of, such an interpreta these writer.s and artists of his,and every One of them was a.
and neurosis, crying that they have no sense of personal tion of individualism is ihw. sinee the only rational ·baseof rabid individualist. 'Do you really think so?' said Toohey
enga8ied in any b~anch of the communications industry, I identity. individualism as an ethical principle is the requirements of smiling blandly." ,
~ubmit the followmg: In January, 1961, in a case involv man's survival qua man, one man cannot claim the moral What Toohey knew-and what students of Objectivism
m~ censor~hip of motion pictures (Times Film Corp v. How would Objectivism answer the person who claims right to violate the rights of another. If he denies inviolate w0l!ld do ':VeIl to .understand-is that such subjectivists, in
CIty of ChIcago), the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the that man's deepest psychological need is to receive the ap rights to other men, he cannot claim such rights for himself; theIr rebelhonagamst "the tyranny of reality," are less in
he has rejected the base of rights. No one can claim the moral
censor, by a majority of one (in a five to four decision). proval and esteem of others? This Objectivist would tell dependent and more abjectly parasitical than the most com
The dissenting opinion, written by Chief Justice Warren him: "Speak for yourself, brother." -NATHANIEL BRANDEN rigIhntd tiov ida ucaolinstmra ddiocetsio nno. t consist merely of rejecting the belief monplace Babbitt whom they profess to despise. They originate
or create nothing; they are profoundly selfless-and they
stated: "The decision presents a real danger of eventual that man should live for the collective. A man who seeks struggle to fill the void of the egos they do not possess, by
escape from the responsibility of supporting his life by his own
censorship for every form of communication, be it news Published monthly at 165 East 35th street, New York 16, N.Y. thought and effort, and wishes to survive by conquering, means of the only form of "self-assertiveness" they recognize:
papers, journals, books, magazines, television radio or Subscription rate: in United S\ates, its possessions, Canada and Mexico, defiance for the sake of defiance, irrationality for the sake of
P?blic s~eeches. '. .. I am aware of no constitu;ional prin $&5 mfoonrt hso n$e3 . year; other countnes, $6. Trial subscriptions: 4 months $2 . rinudliinvgid uaanlids t eisx pal omitianng wohtoh elrivs,e s isf orn ohti s aonw ni nsdaikveid aunaldis tb. y Ahins irrationality, destruction for the sake of destruction, whims
CIple whIch permIts us to hold that the communication of A10d d-itio9n9a l cocop~ieise,s. 2o5f ¢ theisa chN epwiUslSe ttpeor:s tasgineg le(f ocro pfyir s5t·0c¢la s(cso indse,l ivneorty satadmd ps1)¢; own mind,' he neither sacrifices himself to others nor sacrifices forA t hpes yscahkoe tiocf iws hsicmarsc. ely likely to be accused of conformity;
ideas through one medium may be censored while other 1p5e¢r ceoapchy , pflousr tphoisrdta-cglea s(ssa mdeel ivase rya boadved ). l/2¢ per copy); 100 or more copies ' olothoeterrs; taos ha imPrsoeldf;u cheer -dneoalts aws iathn Amtetinl a.a s a trader~not as a but neither a psychotic nor a subjectivist is an exponent of
media are immune .... It is not permissible as I read the For change of address send old address and new address with zone number It is the recognition of this distinction that altruists and individualism.
Constitution, for government to release o~e movie and oIff aadndyr. esAsJ. Jo~ us two weeks to process new subscriptions and change collectivists wish men to lose: the distinction between a trader Observe the common denominator in the attempts to corrupt
the meaning of individualism as an ethical-political concept
refuse to release another because of an official's concept and a looter, between a Producer and an Attila.
of the prevailing need or the public good." Ayn Rand anBda rNbaartah aBnriaenl dBerna,n dMeann, aEgidnigto rEsd aitnodr Publishers If the meaning of individualism, in its ethical-political con iannddi vaisd uaanl iestmhi cfarlo-pms yrcehaosloong.i caBlu ct ointc eisp to: nthlye aintt etmhep t ctoon dteivxot rcoef
text, has been perverted and debased predominantly by its
Th~t i~ the reason why one should fight against the Elayne Kalberman, Circulation Manager avowed antagonists, the meaning of individualism, in its ethical reason and man's needs as a rational being that the principle
terronzatIOn and enslavement of television. That is the PRINTED BY CARNEGIE PRESS, INC., NEW YORK CITY psychological context, has been perverted and debased by its (continued on page 16)
12 Copyright © 1962 by The Objectivist Newsletter, Inc. 13
BOOKS
that some sort of "Freudian" fear is the motive for the per
secution of businessmen. INTELLECTUAL AMMUNITION snap-jUdgment of the moment. Indiscriminate tolerance and
. But he is too good a reporter to let his theory interfere indiscriminate condemnation are not two opposites: they are
Ten Thousand Commandments*
WIth. the facts he is l?resenting ..A nd his book is so good that DEPARTMENT two variants of the same evasion. To declare that "everybody
by Harold Fleming the Inadequacy of hIS explanatIOn can be safely overlooked. is white" or "everybody is black" or "everybody is neither
The facts speak for themselves. white nor black, but gray," is not a moral judgment, but an
[Subscribers are invited to send in the questions that they find escape from the responsibility of moral judgment.
------------- Reviewed by AYN RAND
themselves unable to answer in philosophical or political To judge means: to evaluate a given concrete by reference
Child Labor and the Industrial Revolution
Antitrust is a peculiar underground in American life: it is discussions. As many questions as space permits will be !o . an abstract principle or standard. It is not an easy task;
a secret torture chamber where executions take place in open, By R. HESSEN answered. No questions will be answered by mail.] It IS. not ~. tas~ th~~ can be perfor~ed automatically by one's
public sight, yet remain unseen, rendered invisible by such a feelmgs, ~nstmcts or hunc~es. It IS a task that requires the
screen of unintelligible legal complexities that few laymen The least understood and most widely misrepresented aspect • How does one lead a rational life in an irrational society, most preCIse, the most exactmg, the most ruthlessly objective
of the history of capitalism is child labor. such as we have today?
can hope to see through it. Harold Fleming has split that and rational process of thought. It is fairly easy to grasp
screen-by means of a brilliantly incisive common sense-and One cannot evaluate the phenomenon of child labor in I will confine my answer to a single, fundamental aspect of abstract moral principles; it can be very difficult to apply
England duripg the Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth
has presented a coherent view of the chaos beneath. His book this question. I will name only one principle, the opposite of them to a given situation, particularly when it involves the
and early nIneteenth century, unless one realizes that the
is a primer for laymen, condensed with unusual skill, simplicity the idea which is so prevalent today and which is responsible moral character of another person. When one pronounces
introduction of the factory system offered a livelihood a
and accuracy. If you want to grasp the essentials of Antitrust for the spread of evil in the world. That principle is: Never fail moral judgment, whether in praise or in blame, one must be
means of survival, to tens of thousands of children who wo~ld
its issues, methods and meaning-I suggest that you begin by to pronounce moral judgment. prepared to answer "Why?" and to prove one's case-to oneself
reading Ten Thousand Commandments. No abstract estimates, not have lived to be youths in the pre-capitalistic eras. Nothing can corrupt and disintegrate a culture or a man's and to any rational inquirer.
The factory system led to a rise in the general standard of
such as "injustice," "persecution," "terrorization," can convey character as thoroughly as does the precept of moral agnosti The policy of always pronouncing moral judgment does
!iving, to raI?idly faIJing urban death rates and decreasing
the nature of what is going on, without the shocking facts. cism, the idea that one must never pass moral judgment on not mean that one must regard oneself as a missionary charged
Infant .mortaiity-and produced an unprecedented popUlation
These facts have to be read to be believed. explOSIOn. others, that one must be morally tolerant of anything, that with the responsibility of "saving everyone's soul"-nor that
"The trouble," writes Mr. Fleming, "isn't simply that the good consists of never distinguishing good from evil. one must give unsolicited moral appraisals to all those one
almost every businessman in the United States could now, by milIl~I on1 7i5n0 ,1 8E0n0g laanndd 's1 2p ompUillliaotnio ni n w1a8s2 06, am irlalitoen ;o fi ti nwcraesa s9e It is obvious who profits and who loses by such a precept. meets. It. me~ns: (a) that ~me must know clearly, in full,
the new rules, be haled into court by government officials and without precedent in any era. The age distribution of the It is not justice or equal treatment that you grant to men verbally IdentIfied form, one s own moral evaluation of every
be fined, branded a criminal ... and subjected to treble damage popUlation shifted enormously; the proportion of children when you abstain equally from praising men's virtues and person, issue and event with which one deals, and act accbrd
suits by competitors and customers. It is that the policies and and youths increased sharply. "The proportion of those born from condemning men's vices. When your impartial attitude ingly; (b) that one must make one's moral evaluation known
practices by which American business has grown so phenome in London dying before five years of age" fell from 74.5% declares, in effect, that neither the good nor the evil may to others, when it is rationally appropriate to do so.
nally productive have one and all in recent years been damned, in 1730-49 to 31.8% in 1810-29. (Mabel C. Buer, Health, expect anything from you-whom do you betray and whom This last m.ea?s that one need not launch into unprovoked
discouraged, and suppressed." Welfare and Population in the Early Days of the Industrial do you encourage? ~ora~ denunciatIOn.s or debates, b~t that one must speak up in
Mr. Fleming shows how the alleged crime of "injury to Revolution, p. 30.) Children who hitherto would have died in But to pronounce moral judgment is an enormous responsi SItUatIOns where SIlence can objectively be taken to mean
competition" was switched into "injury to competitors"-by infancy now had a chance for survival. bility. To be a judge, one must possess an unimpeachable agreement with or sanction of evil. When one deals with
au nsduecficneasbsiloe n sotaf tuctoeusr-ta ndedc isiniojunrsy retoin taercptureatli ncgo mnopnet-iotbojresc twivaes, gI.v Be otthhe thh~e rtios intgh ep ocpla~Ilmatsi oonf aSnOdC. Ital~iest raisnidn gf alsifceis te xcprietcictas ncoyf cnhoat raanct eisrs;u eo noef neerreodr sn ootf kbneo owmlendigscei; eonnt eo rn eiendfsa lalinb lue,n barneda ciht eids airgrraeteio nwailt hp eyrsooun"s , isw hseurfefi caiergntu mtoe nnt eigs aftuet ilaen, ya immeprleic a"tIi odno no'ft
switched into injury to potential competitors. The alleged capitalism that the conditions of the laboring classes were integrity, that is: the absence of any indulgence in conscious, moral sanction. Wh~n one deals with better people, a full
crime of abusing an undefined "monopoly power" (the abuse progressively deteriorating during the Industrial Revolution. willful evil. Just as a judge in a court of law may err, when statement of one's VIews may be morally required. But in no
consisting of "excluding" competitors) was switched into the One is b?th. morally unjust al!-~ ignorant of history if one the evidence is inconclusive, but may not evade the evidence bcaes ea ttaancdk eidn onro dseintuoautniocned m, aanyd o kneee pp esrimleintt .o ne's own values to
crime of "intent" to abuse it, and then into the crime of blames. capItalism for the condItIOn of children during the available, nor accept bribes, nor allow any personal feeling,
possessing "an opportunity for abuse," regardless of whether a Industnal .Revolution, since, in fact, capitalism brought an emotion, desire or fear to obstruct his mind's judgment of the Moral yalues are. the motive power of a man's action's. By
business concern ever took that opportunity or not. "Thus it enormous Improvement over their condition in the preceding facts of reality-so every rational person must maintain an pronouncmg moral Judgment, one protects the clarity of one's
seems that a company may now find itself violating the Sher age. The source of that injustice was ill-informed, emotional equally strict and solemn integrity in the courtroom within own perception and the rationality of the course one chooses
man Act even though (1) it 'excludes' competitors only by novelists and poets, like Dickens and Mrs. Browning; fanciful his own mind, where the responsibility is more awesome than to pursue. It makes a difference whether one thinks that one
keeping ahead of them (Alcoa case); (2) it doesn't even keep medieva}ist~, li~e Southey; political tract writers posturing as in a public tribunal, because he, the judge, is the only one to is dealing with human errors of knowledge or with human evil.
ahead of them (Tobacco case); and (3) it doesn't try to economIc histonans, lIke Engels and Marx. All of them painted know when he has been impeached. Observe how many people evade, rationalize and drive their
(Griffith case)." a vague, ro~y picture of a lost "golden age" of the working There is, however, a court of appeal from one's judgments: minds into a state of blind stupor, in dread of discovering
The alleged crime of "conspiracy" was switched from an classes, whIch, allegedly, was destroyed by the Industrial objective reality. A judge puts himself on trial every time he that those they deal with-their "loved ones" or friends or
actual secret agreement into a presumed "meeting of the Revolution. Historians have not supported their assertions. pronounces a verdict. It is only in todflY'S reign of amoral business asso.ciates or politica~ rulers-are not merely mis
minds"-then into "consciously parallel action" of independent Investigation and common sense have deglamorized the pre cynicism, SUbjectivism and hooliganism that men may imagine taken, but evzl. Observe that thIS dread leads them to sanction
companies-and then: "In the Schine case the high Court said, factory system of domestic industry. In that system, the worker themselves free to utter any sort of irrational judgment and to help and to spread the very evil whose existence they fea;
'The concerted action of the parent company, its subsidiaries, made a costly initial investment, or paid heavy rentals, for a to suffer no consequences. But, in fact, a man is to be judged to acknowledge.
and the named officers and directors in that endeavor was a loom or frame, and bore most of the speculative risks involved. by the judgments he pronounces. The things which he con If people did not indulge in such abject evasions as the
conspiracy which was not immunized by reason of the fact His diet was drab and meager, and even subsistence often demns or extols exist in objective realitY and are open to the claim that some contemptible liar "means well"-that a
that the members were closely affiliated rather than inde depended on whether work could be found for his wife ancl independent appraisal of others. It is his own moral character mooching bum "can't help it"-that a juvenile delinquent
pendent.' That would seem to mean that it is illegal for the children. There was nothing romantic or enviable about a and standards that he reveals, whenever he blames or praises. "needs love"-that a criminal "doesn't know any better"
officers of different departments of an integrated company to family living and working together in a badly lighted im- If he condemns America and extols Soviet Russia-or if he that a power-seeking politician is moved by patriotic concern
cooperate." properly ventilated, and poorly constructed cottage. ' attacks businessmen and defends juvenile delinquents-or if for "the public good"-that communists are merely "agrarian
What is the net result of this nightmare? "Since the essential How did children thrive before the Industrial Revolution? he denounces a great work of art and praises trash-it is the reformers"-the history of the past few decades, or centuries
purpose of all the variegated attacks has been to hamper the In 1697, John Locke wrote a report for the Board of Trade nature of his own soul that he confesses. would have been different. '
more successful business for the benefit of the less successful on the problem of poverty and poor-relief. Locke estimated It is their fear of this responsibility that prompts most Ask yourself why totalitarian dictatorships find it necessary
business, the result has been not to clarify the law, but to that a laboring man and his wife in good health could support people to adopt an attitude of indiscriminate moral neutrality. to pour money and effort into propaganda for their own help
dissolve it. ... What is left is merely a rule that the bigger no more than two children, and he recommended that all It is the fear best expressed in the precept: "Judge not, that less, chained, gagged slaves, who have no means of protest
companies are almost invariably wrong on some count or children over three years of age (!) should be taught to earn ye be not judged." But that precept, in fact, is an abdication or defense. The answer is that even the humblest peasant or
other and the little companies almost invariably right." their living at working schools for spinning and knitting, of moral responsibility: it is a moral blank check one gives the lowest savage would rise in blind rebellion, were he to
It would be hard to find a clearer indication of the fact where they would be given food. "What they can have at home, to others in exchange for a moral blank check one expects reali~e t~,at he is being immolated,. not to some incompre
that the morality of altruism-the sacrifice of success to from their parents," wrote Locke, "is seldom more than bread for oneself. henSIble noble purpose," but to plam, naked human evil.
failure, of ability to need-is the basic cause and motive power and water, and that very scantily too." There is no escape from the fact that men have to make Observe also that moral neutrality necessitates a progressive
of Antitrust. It is unfortunate that Mr. Fleming does not Professor Ludwig von Mises reminds us: "The factory choices; so long as men have to make choices, there is no sympathy for vice and a progressive antagonism to virtue. A
seem to grasp the full meaning of his own statement. In the owners did not have the power to compel anybody to take a escape from moral values; so long as moral values are at man who struggles not to acknowledge that evil is evil, finds
last two chapters of his book, attempting to explain and factory job. They could only hire people who were ready to stake, no moral neutrality is possible. To abstain from con it increasingly dangerous to acknowledge that the good is the
evaluate the monstrous facts he has presented, he resorts to work for the wages offered to them. Low as these wage rates demning a torturer, is to become an accessory to the torture good. To him, a person of virtue is a threat that can topple
some vague, superficial generalities, such as the suggestion were, they were nonetheless much more than these paupers and murder of his victims. all of his evasions-particularly when an issue of justice is
could earn in any other field open to them. It is a distortion The moral principle to adopt in this issue, is: "Judge, and involved, which demands that he take sides. It is then that
of facts to say that the factories carried off the housewives be prepared to be judged." such formulas as "Nobody is ever fully right or fully wrong"
• Published by F.E.E. Available for $1.50 plus 15¢ postage from NBL from the nurseries and the kitchen and the children from their The opposite of moral neutrality is not a blind, arbitrary, and "Who am I to judge?" take their lethal effect. The man
BdOenOtKs SaEdRdV 5IC¢E ,s aINleCs. , ta1x65). East 35th St., New York 16, N.Y. (N.Y.C. resi· (continued on page 16) self-righteous condemnation of any idea, action or person who begins by saying: "There is some good in the worst of
that does not fit one's mood, one's memorized slogans or one's (continued on page 16)
14 THE OBJECTIVIST NEWSLETTER
APRIL, 1962 15
OBJECTIVIST CALENDAR reno from employment rather than be subjected to elaborate THE than those of buying the wrong kind of laundry detergent-a
arbItrary and ev~r-changing regulations on how they might choice in which our future, our freedom, our work, our
• Nathaniel Branden will address the Psychology Club at trhuiS? ab ufraecatuocryra ~tihcl cmhe dedmlmplgo yweda s chthiladtr ethne. sTe hdei stmerirsisbelde crehsiludlrt eonf parnodp ear typ oalnitdic oaul rp lirvoegsr aamre aatt stealekcet-i-oins tthime ceh. oSicoe oshf oau cldannd'ti doauter
Brooklyn College on April 9, 12:30 P.M., in Room 3127, y.rho ';1eeded to work in order to survive, were forced to seek political leaders refrain from fraudulent, deceitful or grossly
Ingersoll Hall. His subject is "Self-Esteem and Social Ap jobs m smaller,. . older and more out-of-the-way factories, OBJ ECTIVIST misleading promises, slogans, generalities, evasions, equivoca
proval." Open to the public; admission free. where the cond.ltIon~ of employment, sanitation and safety tions, or other practices-and shouldn't they give us the facts
• Nathaniel Branden will offer a seven lecture course on con were markedly mfenor. Those who could not find new jobs we need to make an informed choice? Is there any other field
temporary psychological theories, at NATHANIEL BRANDEN IN were reduced to ~he st.atus of their counterparts a hundred today as swamped with confusion and· misinformation as the
S:lTUTE, beginning April 23. He will present the essentials of years before, that IS, to Irregular agricultural labor, or worse field of politics-yet is there any other field in which the need
hIS own theory. of neurosis in the concluding two lectures. m the words of Professor von Mises, to "infest the country as NEWSLETTER- for an informed choice is so enormously urgent?
Those who live m the Greater New York area will receive an vagabonds, beggars, tramps, robbers and prostitutes." (3) "The right to choose-to be assured, wherever possible,
announcement giving t~em full details. Later this year, the Child labo!, was not ended by legislative fiat; child labor access to a variety of products and services at competitive
course WIll be made available via tape recordings to NBI groups ended when It became economically unnecessary for children prices . .."
across the country. to earn wages in order to survive-when the income of their
This is a highly dubious formulation-since nobody can
parents became sufficient to support them. The emancipators
• Paintings by Frank O'Connor and Joan Blumenthal will be and benefactors of those children were not bureaucrats but Edited and Published by AYN RAND and NATHANIEL BRANDEN claim a "right" to the products and services of others. But let
on exhibit in the Robert Brackman Student Show at the Art ~anufac.turers and fina~ci~rs. Their efforts and investr~ents us assume that Mr. Kennedy merely meant that variety is
Students League, 215 West 57th St., New York City April 23 m machmery led to a rIse m real wages, to a growing abun desirable. If so, shouldn't we have access to a variety of
through April 28. Weekdays: 9 A.M. to 10 P.M.; Saturdays: dance of g<;lods at lower prices and to an incomparable im VOL. 1 NO. 5 MAY, 1962 political ideas and viewpoints? Shouldn't we be offered some
9 A.M. to 4 P.M. provement m the general standard of living. choice other than the stale, gray statism of two indistinguishable
political parties?
• Ayn Rand will speak at Boston University on April 25. Her . T.he proper answer to the critics of the Industrial Revolution CHECK YOUR PREMISES
subject is "The Esthetic Vacuum of Our Age." IS ~Iven by P~ofessor T ..S . Ashton: "There are today on the (4) "The right to be heard-to be assured that consumer
plams of IndIa and Chma men and women plague-ridden By AYN RAND interests will receive full and sympathetic consideration in the
•. Ayn ~an~:s lecture on "America's Persecuted Minority: and hungry, living lives little better, to outw~rd appearance formulation of Government policy ..."
BIg Busmess has been published by NATHANIEL BRANDEN tha? those of the cattle !hat toil with them by day and shar~ This applies to any opponent of businessmen. But when,
INSTITUTE and is available from THE OBJECTIVIST NEWSLETTER. theIr place~ of sleep by mght. Such Asiatic standards, and such Who Will Protect Us from Our Protectors? in the last _f ew decades, has any opponent of statism been
Price: 501 (N.Y.C. residents add 21 sales tax). unl!lechamzed h?rrors, are the lot of those who increase heard in Washington? When has he received full and sympa
Objectivists hold that the political philosophy of collectivism
t~eIr numbers WIthout passing through an industrial revolu thetic consideration from the government or from those
is baseo on a view of man as a congenital incompetent, a
tIOn." (The Industrial Revolution, p. 161.) privileged pressure groups and cliques which are fostered;
Counterfeit Individualism (from page 13) Let f':le add that the In?ustrial Revolution and its consequent helpless, mindless creature who must be fooled and ruled by a aided and abetted by the government? When has he received
special elite with some unspecified claim to superior. wisdom
of individualism can be justified. Torn out of this context, pro~perIty, were the achIevement of capitalism and cannot be anything but smears, threats, defamations, denunciations,
~ny .advocacy of "individualism" becomes as arbitrary and achIeved under any other politico-economic system. As proof, andT hao lsues tw fhoor aproew ienrc. lined to doubt it, would do well to study license"revoking or Antitrust suits?
lfratIOnal as the advocacy of collectivism. I offer you the current spectacle of Soviet Russia which com To "prptect" these "consumerS' rights," Mr. Kennedy asked
This !~. th.e. basi~ o~, Objectivism's total opposition to any bines industrialization-and famine. Ponre sthidee nsut bKjeecntn oedf y"'Ps rmoteescstaigoen tfoo rC oCnognrseussm oerfs M." aIrtc ihs 1a5n, e1x9t6ra2 , for more power and more money: for "new legislative
alleged mdIvIdualists who attempt to equate individualism authority" and "increased appropriations," to create new
ordinarily revealing' and enlightening document.
with subjectivism. Intellectual Ammunition (from page 15) "The Federal Government [is] by nature the higpest spokes and/ or enlarged government agencies with new and/ or wider
And this is the basis of Objectivism's total repudiation of powers.
man for all the people," said President Kennedy. Leaving
any self-styled "Objectivists" who permit themselves to believe us," goes on to say: "There is some bad in the best of us" A double standard of ethics-a demand that some men
aside, for the moment, the highly ambiguous implications of
that. any compromi~e, .o:eeting ground or rapprochement is then: "There's got to be some bad in the best of us"-and such a sweeping statement, let us take him at his word-and practice what others do not have to practice-is morally
possIble between ObjectiVIsm and that counterfeit individualism then: "It's ~he best of us who make life difficult-why don't indefensible. Yet that double standard underlies Mr. Kennedy's
which consists of declaring: "It's right because I feel it" or they keep sllent?-who are they to judge?" see where it will lead us. entire message, which seems to be addressed to the psychology
The first moral obligation of any spokesman, high or low,
"It's good because I want it" or "It's true because I believe it." 1\nd then, on some gray, middle-aged morning, such a man of those concrete-bound people who cannot see past the range
is to practice what he preaches. Let us attempt, therefore, to
realIzes suddenly that he has betrayed all the values he had of the moment or connect one specific issue to another or look
apply the ethical principles enunciated in Mr. Kennedy's
Child Labor (from page 14) alonvde.d s lainm sh ihsI.S d ismt~mntd ssphruint gt,o anthde wanosnwdeerrs, bhyo wt elilti nhga phpiemnseedlf, message, to the policies of the Federal Government and of our for" Tfuhned mamarecnhta ol fm teocrahln porlioncgiyp-le"s .s aid Mr. Kennedy, "affecting
play. These women had nothing to cook with and to feed hastily that the fear he had felt in his worst most shameful political leaders. for example, the foods we eat, the medicines we take, and the
Mr. Kennedy starts by promulgating a queer concept: "the
thei~ children. These children were destitute and starving. moments was right and that values have n; chance in this rights of the consumers." These rights, apparently, are some many appliances we use in our homas-has increased the
Th.eIr only refuge was the factory. It saved them, in the world. thing other than the rights possessed by all men, and belong difficulties of the consumer along with his opportunities . . .
strIct sense of the term, from death by starvation." (Human An irrational society is a society of moral cowards-of men only to consumers, or: to men in their capacity as consumers. Many of the new products used every day in the home are
Action, p. 615.) paral¥zed by the loss of moral standards, principles and goals. Since the only other human capacity relevant in this context highly complex. The housewife is called upon to be an amateur
Factory children went to work at the insistence of their ~ut smce men have to act, so long as they live, such a society is that of producers, it appears that consumers possess these electrician, mechanic, chemist, toxicologist, dietician and
wpaorrekn tws.~ sT hoef techni lqdUr~inte' se haosyu-rs~ soufa llalbyo rju wste raet tevnedryin lgo nag ,s pbiuntn itnhge TIS hree ~Idm¥t l.taot I.vbee tcaakne nc oomveer fbryo man yoonnlye wtwilol intygp teos soeft imts edni:r eecittihoner. nriegdhyt sl,isbtus tt hpreOmd uacs efros lldoow ns:o t.( 1W) hTaht ea rrei gthhte steo rsiaghfetst?y -M(2r.) KTehne mneaetdhse tmo apteircfioarnm-b tuhte sshe et aiss krsa rperloyf ifcuirennitslhye."d the information she
or weavmg machme and retymg threads when they broke. It from .the m~n who is willing to assume the responsibility of right to be informed-(3) The right to choose-(4) The right Well, the march of collectivism and statism-;-affecting every
was not on behalf of such children that the agitation for assertmg ratIOnal values-or from the thug who is not troubled to be heard. Apparently, the producers have no right to safety, aspect of our lives, surrendering an ever-growing degree of
factory legislation began. The first child labor law in England by questions of responsibility. no right to be informed, no right to choose, no right to be arbitrary power to the government-has increased the' diffi. ..
(1788) regulated the hours and conditions of labor of the No matter how hard the struggle, there is only one choice heard. Let us accept even .that for a moment-for a very brief culties of the voter (though not his opportunities). When the
miserable ~hildre';1 who worked as chimney sweeps-a dirty, that a rational man can make in the face of such an moment~and let us consider only these consumers' "rights," government. was restricted to its proper function-that of·
dangerous job whIch long antedated the Industrial Revolution alternative. -AYN RAND as Mr. Kennedy defines them. policeman and umpire-an honestly applied common sense
and which was not connected with factories. The first Act was sufficient for a voter to make an intelligent choice. But
which applied to factory children was passed to protect those (1) "The rIght to safety-to be protected against the when the government controls every aspect of a complex
who had been sent into virtual slavery by the parish authorities, Published monthly at 165 East 35th Street, New York 16, N.Y. marketing of goods which are hazardous to health or life." industrial civilization, and the voter is asked to choose the
a government body: they were deserted or orphaned pauper Subscription rate: in United States, its possessions Canada and Mexico It is true that such marketing is immoral. It is also true men who wi1l determine the fate of industry, science, art and
chil~ren .who were. legally under the custody of the poor-law 6$5 m foonrt hso n$e3 . year; other countries, $6. Trial subscriptions: 4 months $2: that our safety is critically imperiled today - but ptomaine every other human activity-what knowledge will be sufficient
?fficIals m the parIsh, and who were bound by these officials Additional copies of this Newsletter: single copy 50¢ (coins, not stamps); poisoning is not the worst danger threatening us. So, by the . to make that choice? Today, the voter-that same housewife,
mto long terms of unpaid apprenticeship in return for a bare p10e r- co9p9y , CfOorp ietSh,i.r d2-5c¢la sesa cdhe lipviUerSy padods ta'g12e¢ (pfoerr cfiorspty-)c; la1s0s0 doer livmeoryre acdodp ieIs¢, same principle, shouldn't the government be prevented from for instance-is called upon to be an amateur philosopher,
subsistence. I5¢ each plus postage (same as above). selling us the kind of policies which are hazardous to health, psychologist, sociologist, economist, industrial expert, nuclear
Conditions of eo:ployment and sanitation are acknowledged For change of address send old address and new address with zone number wealth, liberty or life? physicist, TV program director, urban planner, jungle mis
to have been best m the larger and newer factories. As suc ~ff :gJie:;!OW us two weeks to process new subscriptions and change (2) "The right to be informed-to be protected against sionary, to name only a few-but she is rarely furnished the
information she needs to perform these tasks proficiently.
acensds ivger eFataecrt orreyst r~IccttI~O, nbse towne etnh e1 8e1m9p laonydm 1e8n4t 6o, fp lcahcielddr egnre aatnedr Ayn Rand and Nathaniel Branden, Editors and Publishers tfirsainugd,u lleanbte, lldinegc,e iotfru lo othre grr opsrsalcyt imceiss,l eaanddin gto i nbfeo rgmivaetnio nth, ea dfavecrts "Important steps are being taken," said Mr. Kennedy, "to
adolesceD:ts, the owners of the larger factories, which were Barbara Branden, Managing Editor he needs to· make an informed choice." help .a ssure more adequate protection for the savings that
more eaSIly and frequently subject to visitation and scrutiny Elayne Kalberman, Circulation Manager Quite true. But the most critical choice we have to make prudent consumers lay aside ..."
by the Factory Inspectors, increasingly chose to dismiss child- PRINTED BY CARNEGIE PRESS, INC., NEW YORK CITY today~a choice whose consequences are much more crucial (continued on page 18)
17
16 Copyrilht @ 1862 by The Objectivist Newsletter, Inc.