Meeting Feb. 11

Just a reminder for everyone that we will be meeting on Thursday, February 11 at the usual time and place.  This week, we will be discussing the first part of “Of Living Death” in the Ayn Rand Reader.  This is through page 334 in my copy, and I will email out the discussion questions.  Hope to see you there!  The second half of the article will be discussed on February 18.

Lockitch Event Wrap-Up

Thank you to everyone who attended last night’s lecture event, “The Real Goal of the Green Climate Crusade” with Dr. Keith Lockitch.  I would like to especially thank everyone that made a donation.  We run these lecture events exclusively on donations, so they are highly appreciated.  The event was a success with approximately 90 people in attendance, with plenty of interesting Q&A afterward.  Particularly exciting is that almost a third of the attendees asked to be added to our mailing list!

Tonight, the regularly scheduled Students of Objectivism meeting was a discussion of the event.  At next week’s meeting, which will take place on Thursday at 7pm in Boardroom 1 of Palmer Commons, we will return to the normal meeting format with assigned reading and discussion questions.  Meeting content will be announced soon.

Keith Lockith at U of M on February 3

The Students of Objectivism at the University of Michigan are pleased to announce our speaker event featuring Dr. Keith Lockitch, to take place Wednesday, February 3 at 7:30p.m. Dr. Lockitch will be presenting “The Real Goal of the Green Climate Crusade” located at Angell Hall, Auditorium C.

This talk is free and open to the public, and the event will include an open Q&A with Dr. Lockitch afterward.

Description:

Environmentalists claim that our use of carbon-based energy is altering the climate, making us more vulnerable to climate disasters. Human survival, they insist, requires the immediate abandonment of fossil fuels in favor of carbon-free sources. So why do environmentalist groups vehemently oppose projects involving every alternative form of energy ever proposed to replace fossil fuels–including wind farms and solar power plants? And why do they ignore the dramatic degree to which industrial development under capitalism has reduced the risk of harm from severe climate events? Before we rush headlong into drastic climate policies and energy rationing, a critical examination of these policies is urgently needed.

We hope to see you there!

Meeting, Oct. 13th

There is a meeting tonight (Oct. 13th) in Boardroom 1 on the 6th floor of Palmer Commons. We will be discussing the last third of ‘the Objectivist Ethics’.

Yaron Brook @ U of M Oct. 6th

U of M Students of Objectivism is proud to announce that Dr. Yaron Brook will be giving his lecture entitled ‘Capitalism Without Guilt’ on Oct. 6th in the Chemistry building, room 1640 at 7:00pm.

“Virtually everyone today regards the financial crisis as a failure of the free market. In this talk, Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights, will argue that in fact it is the un-free market that has failed. It was not capitalism that held interest rates below the rate of inflation, spurring massive amounts of borrowing and a housing boom. It was not capitalism that gave us Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which promoted subprime lending and helped fuel the boom. It was not capitalism that gave us deposit insurance and the “too big to fail” doctrine, which encouraged risky financial practices. These, and many anti-capitalist measures like them, Dr. Brook will argue, laid the groundwork for the financial crisis. The only cure, according to Dr. Brook, is to set the market free. But to do that, Americans must embrace capitalism as a moral system–one that should be defended without guilt.”

Seating is on a first come first serve basis, so you may want to get there early! For those unfamiliar with the campus: http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/8831/ccamp.jpg

The Facebook event is located here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=138329093375&ref=mf

Mass Meeting

Our mass meeting for the fall semester will take place tomorrow, Sept, 17th, at 7:00pm in the Michigan league on the third floor, room A. Attendance is not mandatory for club membership. Anyone’s welcome to come to any meeting. The entire meeting schedule for fall semester will be announced shortly.

Hope everyone had a great summer!

Enough is enough!

Perhaps you have heard about the developing scandal concerning Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis and the deal to buy Merrill Lynch. The previous Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke threatened Mr. Lewis in order to intimidate him into continuing the unprofitable acquisition of Merill Lynch. The Wall Street Journal reported on the government’s use of force on April 28th. A mere four days later, another instance of government intimidation came to light. A lawyer representing Chrysler bondholders says that one of his “clients was directly threatened by the White House and in essence compelled to withdraw its opposition to the deal under the threat that the full force of the White House Press Corps would destroy its reputation if it continued to fight. “

Such barefaced examples of the government initiating force on innocent citizens makes one wonder when (if) Americans are going to start sticking up for their individual rights. Samuel L. Jackson said it best in Snakes on a Plane: “Enough is enough!“

Last Official Meeting!

Wednesday, April 15th will be the Students of Objectivism’s final meeting for the 2009 fall semester. We will meet at 7:00 pm in the Blagdon room on the first floor of the league. A few things we can do Wednesday:

• Discuss if/how we should consolidate the library so that the club can get more use out of it. Tori just received another generous donation of books!
• Watch “Bridging the ‘Is-Ought’ Gap: How to Derive Morality from Facts,” a lecture + Q/A by Harry Binswanger
• Run through Peikoff’s latest podcast
• Decide the direction of the club for next year

See you there.

Meeting April 1st

I hope everyone had a good Edison Hour. I know I did!

Our next meeting is Wednesday April 1st at 7:00 pm in Blagdon room of the Michigan League. Unfortunately, a few of us have to leave at 9:00 in order to attend a meeting with some other like minded groups.

Hopefully this leaves us enough time to watch one of the lectures that just arrived in the mail from ARI. I just received “The Problem of Universals: Failed Attempts and Ayn Rand’s Solution,” by Gary Hull and “Bridging the ‘Is’-'Ought’ Gap: How to Derive Morality From Facts,” by Harry Binswanger.
See you on Wednesday!

Wednesday, March 18th

The next meeting is this Wednesday, March 18th at 7:00 pm. We are meeting in the usual room (1st-Blagdon in the Michigan League). On the agenda:

• ITOE chapters 2+3

• Edison Hour

-How to advertise more. Is there any sort of event we can put on in the diag? Giant flood lights would be awesome!

• Library status

-Doner Mark Hogan has graciously given UMSO several new books which are currently in Tori’s possession. This is a good time to consolidate our library and take inventory.

• Order a video

-ARI has a great lending program for campus clubs. If there are any videos we are interested in renting, we should put in an order soon to ensure we receive it before the end of the year.

• General discussion

-Current events, Peikoff’s podcasts, and anything else I’ve forgotten.