Friends of Leonard Peikoff have been concerned about his health. Over the last few years, he has not been well, and recently he was hospitalized with COVID. Believing that he was still unwell, I was surprised when he asked to have dinner with me. We got together last night, and I was even more surprised….
Author: Carl Barney
How Can We Save the Ayn Rand Institute?
I have critiqued the Ayn Rand Institute’s failures to advance Ayn Rand and promote her philosophy. Several people have asked me what I think ARI could do to succeed. I’ll provide some thoughts on that below. But first, some context. Yaron Brook, on his podcast, publicly asked: “While [Carl Barney] was on the Board [of…
Valentine’s Day: The Greatest Love of All
There’s a wonderful song, “The Greatest Love of All,” by Whitney Houston, also sung by Jane Oliver. Here are the lyrics with my comments: Everybody’s searching for a hero (be your own hero).People need someone to look up to (look up to yourself).I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs (fulfill your own needs).A lonely…
Intellectual Dysfunction
I confess, when I first read Objectivism, I was rationalistic and somewhat ultracrepidarian. Okay, I know: “ultracrepidarian” has seven syllables and is a tongue-twister. But if you can say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, you can say ul tra crep i dar i an; and it’s the only word that really fits. It means: one who expresses opinions, criticism,…
Judging Judges
Three years ago, Eric Juhlin, CEO and Chairman of Center for Excellence in Higher Education (a private nonprofit college group), and I entrusted our reputations, careers, and fortunes to the Colorado judicial system—to the Honorable Ross Buchanan, a Denver district court judge. Libby DeBlasio Webster, a political activist acting as an Assistant Attorney General in…
Capitalism and Its Demise
Capitalism is under a massive attack today from Sanders, Warren, Ocasio-Cortez, Harris, and our new President, Joe Biden, who writes: It’s way past time we put an end to the idea of shareholder capitalism—the idea that the only responsibility a corporation has is with its shareholders. That’s simply not true. That’s an absolute farce. They…
Dr. Leonard Peikoff’s Courses and Lectures
Last year, I announced that Dr. Peikoff had given me permission to publicize and deliver his courses and lectures. At that time, I wrote: “When I studied Dr. Peikoff’s courses almost 40 years ago, I was thrilled by the knowledge and delighted with the clarity, certitude, and wit of his delivery. I had taken hundreds…
ARI and the Use of “Ayn Rand”
Prometheus Foundation affiliates (i.e., the Prometheus Network) are working worldwide to promote Ayn Rand and advance Objectivism. Here’s an indication of what they’ve done in just the last few months: Kalin Manolov republished the following books in Bulgarian: Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, For the New Intellectual, and The Virtue of Selfishness. In addition to republishing…
ARI is Failing: Follow-Up
I’ve received many responses to my post, “ARI Is Failing and Needs Our Help,” and I appreciate them all. Some have been private emails, and some have been comments under the post. The emails and comments have been thoughtful, illuminating, and respectful of the importance of this matter. People are deeply concerned about the state…
John Allison’s Fundraising Efforts for ARI
A few days after I posted “ARI Is Failing and Needs Our Help,” the Ayn Rand Institute sent out a letter from John Allison insisting that “we [at ARI] are doing our job” and making several claims attempting to show this. I’ll address those claims below. I have great respect for John Allison as an…