THE AYN RANI) il\STITUTE, Newsletter-

Vol. 6, No. 3 a The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism a October 1991

ARIAUCTION A SPECTACULARSUCCESS Environmentalists: The New Life-Haters More than $100,m0 was raised at elicited particularly enthusiastic com- the Ayn Rand Institute's third "Even- petition: the manuscript df the pkVboV by MichaelS. Berliner,Ph.D. ing of Celebration," held on Septem- interview, which Miss Rand virtually ber 28,1991,at the Vista International rewrote and which includes numerous Versionsof this OpEil appearedin the Hotel in New York City. questions and answers that did not ap Buffalo News, Chnmpaign-Urbana (IL) (CA) Guests from the United States, pear in the published version: opening News Gazette,Vbtontille Daily ltess, andCentueDaily Times Canada, Brazrl, India, and Norway bid-$2,m0; winning bid-$9,500; and (State College,PA). AN alsomaka celebrated the successof the Institute handwritten manuscript to the the "In- an extendedaersion of this article and the advancement of Objectivism. troduction" to The Virtue of Selfbhness, aaaitableto campusObjectiaist clubs The highest winning bid was for Miss in which extensivg editing reveals Ayn asa one-Wgehandout. Rand's copy of Ludwig von Mises' Rand's writing techniqueat work open- Human Acfion (containing extensive ing bid-$4,000; winning bid-$16,m0. There is a grave danger facing marginal comments in her handwrit- Among the other notable auction mankind. The danger is not from ing on 128 pages), which was auc- items were: acid rain, global warming,.smog, for tioned $30,000---exceedingthe total i An autographedsketch of Atlasby or the logging of rain forests, as raised at ARI's first auction in 1986! Capuletti, dedicatedto Ayn Rand and environmentalistswould have us With characteristicpanache, |ohn signedby the artist: openingbid-$500; believe. The danger to nankind is Ridpath served as auctioneer for the winning bid-$6,100; from environmentalism. main event. Wielding Ayn Rand's The fundamental goal of en- t Ay. Rand's researchmaterial for own gavel, he imparted insights and vironmentalistsis not cleanair and TheFountainhead, including pamphlets on clean water; rather it is the demo- anecdotesabout the various items as classicFrench architecture and a 1938Na,{, he presided over the spirited and lition of technological/industrial Yorku story about New York Daily Naos civilization. Their goal is not the highly competitive auction. In addi- Patterson:open- publisherJoseph Medill advancementof human health, tion to Humnn Action, two other items bid-$2,000; ing bid-$2ffi; winning human happiness,and human life; (*e Auctlon,p. 3) rather it is a subhumanworld where "nature" is worshipped like the botemof some primitive religion. If the good of man were the aim of environmentalists,they would embrace the industry and tech- nology that have eridicated the diseases,plagues, pestilence, and famines that brought wholesale death and destruction prior to the Industrial Revolution. They would embrace free enterprise and technologyas the only solution to the relatively minor dangers that now exist-minor compared to the risks of living in a non- technologicalworld. But by word and deed, they demonstrate their contempt for human life. In a nation founded on the pioneer spirit, they have made "development" an evil word, at- tacking the man-made as an in- fringement on pristine nature. Auctioneer John Ridpath (eft) with Marge and Ronnie Thomson, of Warner Rohins, Georgia, (*e OPEd,P.3) after their successfulbid for Ayn Rand's heavilyannotated copy of von Mises' HumanAction Institute Interview: Richard Sanford bVlphilosophy is instance of the progress which that is why they are fundamentallyanti- unimaginable. brought man out of the cave is man, For, in reali,ty, man as such is an The guiding principle of envi- safe from the onslaught of those "intrusion" on the status quo of nature. ronmentalism is self-sacrifice, the "protecting" the environment from Man's life requires productive work, sactifice of longer lives, healthier man, whom they consider a rapist which, as Ayn Rand described it, is a lives, morb prosperous lives, more and despoilerby his very essenc€. process of "shaping matter to fit one's enjoyable lives, i.e., the sacrificeof Nature, they insist, has "inkinsic purpose, of translating an idea into human lives. Butan individual is not value," to be revered for its own'sake, physical form, of remaking the earth in born in servitude. He has a moral irrespectiveof any benefit to man. As the image of one's values." But in the right to live his own life for his own a consequence,man is to be prohib- environmentalists' paean to "Nature," sake. He has no duty to sacrifice it ited from using nature for his own man's nature is omitted. For them, the to the needs of others and certainly ends, from using his mind to direct "natural" world is a worlci without man, not to the "needs" of the non-human. his own life. Their ideal world is not Man has no legitimate needs,but trees, To save mankind from environ- 20th-century Western civilization; it ponds, and bacteriasomehow do. mentalism,what's neededis not the is the Garden of Eden, a world with They don't meanit? Well, heedtheir appeasing,compromising approach no human intervention in nature, a words, for the consistentenvironmen- of today's conservatives,who urge a world without innovation or change, talists openly announce their goals. "balance" between the needs of man a world without effort, a world where 'The ending of the human epoch on and the "needs" of the environment survival is somehow guaranteed,a Earth," writes philosopher Paul Taylor To save mankind requires the whole- world where man has mystically in Rrsprr;tlor Nature: ATheory of Enairon- sale rejection of environmentalism mergedwith the "environment." Had mental Ethics, "would most likely be as hatred of science,technology, pro- the environmentalist mentality pre- greetd with a hearty'Good riddance!"' gress,and human life. To save man- vailed in the 18thand 19th centuries, In a glowing review of Bill McKibben's kind requires the return to a phi- we would have had no Industrial The End of Nature,biologist David M. losophyof reasonand individualism, Revolution, a situation environmen- Graberwrites (LosAngeles Tima,Octo- a philosophy which makes life on talists would dreer-at least thosefew ber 29, 1989):'tluman happiness,and earth possible: the philosophy of who might have managed to survive certainly human fecundity, are not Objectivism. I

(Auctlon, antinued trom p. 1) t Frank Lloyd Wright's autographed ARI's goals and projects. Next, Harry event-from the volunteers who helped copyof his WhenDenaoacyBuiJds: opening Binswanger,of the Board of Directors, the evening go smoothly, to the bid- bid-$500; winning bid-$4,000; introduced members of ARI's Board ders who competed at the auction. I t Carl Snyder's Cqitalism the Creator, of Advisors who were present. Dr. one of four books on capitalism recom- Berliner then introduced other audi- mended by Miss Rand to Leonard Peikoff ence members actively involved in their first at meeting: opening bid-$200; spreading Objectivism. winning bid-$1,100; In a specialceremony, Feter SchwarE, I Two collections of Ayn Rand's tr@s- also of the Board of Directors, prcsent- ured recordings, one of which includes a ed engraved plaques-"In recognition medley from her favorite operetta, Emmer- ich Kalman's Bajadere:opening bids-$100 of your outstanding contribution to the eacfu winning bide--$1,5m and $1,300; advancement of Objectivism through your support of the Ayn Rand tnsti- O Ay Rand's engraved cigarette light- individuals: er: openingbid-$2m; winningbid-$8,500. tute"-to three business- man |ames Hanrahan, for his qrnsistent- The evening began with a wine ly generous financial supporU attorney reception and display of the twenty- Arline Mann, for her valuable legal sevenboks, manuscripts, and other advice; and John Ridpath, for his out- auction items from the Estateof Ayn standing fundraising activities. Rand. After dinner in the Grand Following the auction, the guests Balkoom, Executive enjoyed music, dancing and conver- Director Michael Mariane and Winston Ung, of Porto Alegre, Berliner welcomed the guests and sation until 100-a.m. ARI thanks all Brazil, hokling their newl acqtired manusaipt thanked them for their support of who contributed to the successof the of the 1964 Playboy inteNiew with Ayn Rand ($ntod, ontinwd hom p. 2) tells you to go out and measurethe isn:t the sourceof supportthat it could Q: Whatare your gaalsand plans for the lorelsofmerurryinsomeminewastes, or should be. However,professional Societyfor ObjectiaeScience 609? obviously that can be done scientifi- societiesand Oblectivist groups have .& The ideagrew in my mind asa way cally and obiectively. Non-o$ectivity been very enthusiastic. I am espe- to respond to all the requests I've and dishonestybecome factors higher cialty grateful to Nort Buechner,who received for copies of my talk and up in the system,where they consider started me speakingon environmen- other articles. I seeit as a network for ifandwhytheworkshouldbedone- talism by inviting me to lecture at disseminatinginfor:nation from good and once it's done, whether the data ConceptualConferences. rientists to the public, a resourcefor is usedor ignored,depending on how Q: Houtilamaging has etwironmentalism translatingthe scientificliterature into it fits politically. And-thereare people bun to your industry? terrrs that non-scientistscan under- who go after fundingby ooggetating A: Pr,ettydamaging. I was just,read- stand-to help teachers,business- or saying things that are not true, or ing about Echo Bay Mines in Alaska, men,etc., understand the issugs.We'te are only partially tru*just to get a where a large new qine is opening, starting with a core of good scientists grant or a contrict. But at the lower one with three million ounces of in various fields. Membershipis not level of routine data collection,I think gold. The owners have spent thirty- limited to Oblectivists;however, any it's possibleto be honest. Personally, five million dollars to get it started- public statementson behalf of SOS I can't envision going into envincn- and sevenmillion of that was on en- will be clearedthrough me first. Our mental work, becauselhewhole field vironmentalstudies. At this point, the initial focus will be on combatting is governed by the environmental- whole mining industry exists at the environmentalism,b'utI hopeSOS will ists' politicel agelda,-alrd I certainl)r-- w.bimoftheenvipnmpntalrcgulators. grow into a voice for good science. donif want to pa*icipatein that. Q: Do peoplein the mining inilustry We plan to put together "selfdefense Q: Theanswer) it sedms,is to do gooil realizetlnt enaironmentalismis phil- kits" on a variety of topics, similar to scicnceto fight enttironmentalism-ifyou osaphicallyconupt? the one the Objectivist Health Care couldget sotneoneto payyou to ilo tlnt. A: At a certa-inlevel they understand ProfessionalsNetwork has. Progress A: That'swhatlcameuiwittr. Unfor- it, hrt they &on't'r@lly-havethe in- will be slow, becausethe researchis tunately, I can't look to the business tellectualammunition to defendthem- difficult and time-consuning, and world'for that kind of support. The selves.They don't really understand we're all busy pncfessionals.So right corporationsare afraid of consumers how bad or how pervasive it is, or now, it's informal-not quite an and boycotts,of pressurefrom regula- where it comesfrom philosophicalln organizationyet! But by the end of the tory agencies-so they keep trying to But they arc vety disturbedby it, and year I'll send information to every- appeasethe environmentalists.Also, for the most part, they seethemselves body who has inquired. I've had a if you opposeenvironmentalism and as the victims. lhey view environ- tremendous responseso far, and I acceptmoney or sponsorshipfnrm an mentalismas irrational and anti-man. think we can make a real difference. industry,thenofcouneoursocietyas- That's what I try to brrild on io sumesyou're not objective. That way, talks-their sense that environmen-^y For additionalinformation about SOS, the environmentalistscan rationalize talism is contrary to reason and to contact:Dt. RichardSanford, Society for throwing out all your data. It's really man's life. I think these people are ObjectiaeScience, 11.150 Burlanil Dfiae, a very corrupt situation, and industry ripe for Objectivism,and they needit. Golden,CO 80403. I

The Ayn Rand Institute Na uslettcr is published by the Ayn Rand Institute, 330 Washington Blvd, Ste. 509, Marina del Rey, CA90D2, QJ3, W9232; FAX: (213.)n6-4t925. All rights reserved @1991.Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Dr. Michael Berliner, F-ilitorial Director; Kathy Kroeger, Smior F-ditorlWiter; Donna Montrwa, Edifor. Issues are crcmplimentaryto all current contributors.

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