Rand’s morality of rational, enlightened self-interest defends the individual’s right to his own life, the power of his own liberty, and the glory of his pursuit of his own happiness. She said: “My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive work as his noblest achievement, and reason as his only absolute.” Her message—that “man’s proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads”—is a message of the glory of the individual, unshackled and free.

We urgently need Rand’s vision of the moral nobility and greatness of a social system based on enlightened self-interest if we, the 21st century advocates of freedom, are to finally free the world from the death grip of collectivism. And that is a vision we must defend with “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

Can the free market be saved without Rand?

There is no collective good. Strictly speaking, there is not even any common good. There are in the natural order conditions and materials through which the individual, by virtue of his receptive and creative faculties and volition, is capable of experiencing good. Let it be asked, is not sunlight a common good? No; persons do not enjoy the benefit by community, but singly. A blind man cannot see by community. The same degree of sunshine may induce sunstroke in one person while another derives benefit from it; although incidentally, it will not even be the same ray of sunlight which falls on both.
Alexander the Great, with the power of empire at his command, asked Diogenes: "Is there anything I can do for you?" Diogenes replied: "You can stand aside from between me and the sunlight." Man as an individual is capable of experiencing and inflicting both good and evil, having choice, and also incidental liability to error in judgment. Allowing for error, good is obtained by reception and mastery of the forces of nature, and through voluntary association of individuals in equal free choice. But even in such voluntary relations of individuals, it is possible for one person to receive pleasure while another experiences pain; there is no collective sum or equation of good. (pp- 89-90)

THE GOD OF THE MACHINE BY ISABEL PATERSON
http://mises.org/books/godofmachine.pdf

Kapitalismen er det eneste rettferdige samfunnssystem, fordi det innebærer at en gir verdi for verdi ved gjensidig samtykke og til gjensidig fordel. Kapitalismen er det system som setter moral i høysetet, hvor rasjonell tenkning, produktivt arbeide og moralsk ambisiøsitet belønnes.

I tråd med dette er DLF tilhenger av nattvekterstaten og laissez-faire kapitalismen. Dette er det eneste moralske samfunnssystem og det eneste som er i samsvar med menneskets natur som rasjonelt vesen.

http://stemdlf.no/prinsipprogram

I love America for being the place where an upstart group of colonists, against all odds, battled the most powerful empire in the world---and won---all in the cause of liberty.

I love America for recognizing that not only is it illegal for a criminal to steal your property, force you to do things against your will, or hijack your life, but the government cannot do these things, either. I love America for declaring for the first time in history that government cannot act like a common criminal but must be accountable to moral law. Read more in Why I Love America by Gen LaGreca.

Perhaps the partisian politics we are dealing with now is really just a struggle between those of us who believe in productivity, personal responsibility, and keeping government interference to a minimum, and those who believe in the socialistic policies of taking from others, using the government as a watchdog, and rewarding those who overspend, underwork, or are just plain unproductive.

Obama talks about taking from those who are productive and redistributing to those who are not -- or who are not as successful. If success and productivity is to be punished, why bother? Perhaps it is time for those of us who make the money and pay the taxes to take it easy, live on less and let the looters of the world find their own way.

http://drhelen.blogspot.com/2008/10/going-john-galt.html

Dr. Helen Talks to PJTV Viewers Who Are Going John Galt
http://www.pjtv.com/video/Ask_Dr_Helen/Going_John_Galt%3F/1504/5357/

Across the broad conservative movement, from members of Congress to activists to economists, Rand’s final, allegorical novel [Atlas Shrugged] is being looked at with fresh eyes. According to the Atlas Society, a think tank that promotes and analyzes Rand’s work, sales of “Atlas Shrugged” have tripled since the presidential election. One congressman says that Rand wrote a “rulebook” that can guide conservatives through the age of Obama; another calls Obama’s policies something right out of the mind of Rand. One economist says that Rand’s fantasies have become reality. [Dr. Helen] Smith is one of many activists citing Rand to explain their decisions to sell their stocks, or to explain why the president’s “demonization” of run-amok CEOs is aggravating the economic slowdown. The popular meme is giving critics of the president’s policies a way to explain why, they believe, it’s doomed to fail — because Rand predicted all of this.

http://washingtonindependent.com/32772/battling-obama-by-going-galt

Liberalisme er måske nok et fyord i dansk politik, men de borgerlig-liberale er de lykkeligste. Det viser flere undersøgelser fra såvel ind- som udland. Lektor og ph.d. i Nationaløkonomi ved Handelshøjskolen i Århus Christian Bjørnskov er ophavsmand til flere lykkeundersøgelser, og hans konklusioner er klare: Størstedelen af de tilfredse borgere skal findes til højre for midten på den politiske skala.

Information: Liberalister er lykkeligst.

Atlas Shrugged er en moralsk og intellektuel thriller. En mesterlig historie om den amerikanske kapitalismes kollaps ned i socialismens kviksand. Den dramatiserer modsætningerne mellem tanke og tro, mellem egoisme og altruisme, mellem individ og stat. Den foregår i et fremtidigt USA, hvor de sidste kreative skabere er ved at trække sig ud af samfundet. Europa er tabt til kollektivismen og lever af forsyninger bragt på nødhjælpsskibe fra USA. Arbejdstitlen på bogen var Strejken, for Ayn Rand ønskede at undersøge, hvad der vil ske, hvis alle de kreative hjerner går i strejke. Idéen var, at vi er vant til at høre, at igangsætteren, kapitalisten og industrialisten er blevet rig på arbejderens ryg. At han har udbyttet arbejdsmanden og approprieret den merværdi, arbejderen har skabt, til sig selv. Lad os se, siger Ayn Rand, hvad der vil ske, hvis disse mennesker trækker sig ud af samfundet? Hvis de får nok. Lad os se, hvem der har mest gavn af hvem? -- Læs mere her.

Live for yourself -- theres no one else
More worth living for
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will
Only cry out for more

Well, I know theyve always told you
Selfishness was wrong
Yet it was for me, not you, i
Came to write this song

Rush - Anthem:

Live version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCccQNL-pBY

(pdf)

"Det kan aldrig være borgerlig politik at afgive national suverænitet til en overstatslig myndighed. Som liberalister går vi ind for at begrænse statens rolle, og øge den personlige frihed og det personlige ansvar for eget liv, og der er kun én ting, der er værre end mere stat: Mere overstat,” siger liberalisternes formand, ”for hvor der er et vist håb for at vi kan dæmme op for statens vækst herhjemme og forhåbentlig begrænse statens rolle og beskatningen, så vil det være næsten umuligt at rulle udviklingen tilbage i EU. Derfor siger vi nej til Lissabon traktaten. "

Besøg Liberalisterne.

180grader.dk: Liberalisterne håber på nej i Irland

Bemærk temaartikler på COIN's forside under "FOKUS".

The Irish Times: Lisbon Treaty now certain to be rejected

Giscard d'Estaing: Ny EU-traktat er en forfatning

http://s-espersen.blogspot.com/search/label/EU