A Reverend Dudley once asked Ayn Rand, “What are we going to do with the two billion [now almost eight billion] people that populate the Earth?” She replied: The only thing to do with them is to do nothing. The only good thing we can do for mankind is to leave it alone, which means…
Author: Carl Barney
Craig Biddle Engages with PragerU to Bring Ayn Rand’s Ideas to Millions
My purpose and the purpose of my Prometheus Foundation/Objectivist Venture Fund is to promote Ayn Rand and advance Objectivism. I am ambitious. I want to do this worldwide and for many millions of people. It will take many millions before we have an impact on the culture. We’re starting—just starting—to reach millions. Craig Biddle, Executive…
Power
I think many of us love the quote from Francis Bacon: “Knowledge is power.” Clearly, knowledge is a very high value. The road to success and happiness is paved with knowledge. Knowledge is one of the highest values of any reasoning mind. But I realized some years ago that it’s not sufficient. It’s correct and…
My Upcoming Book on “Prequests”
Some have asked what my book is about and what is a “prequest.” Throughout my life, I’ve received a lot of help and support from many people. When I sat down to write my will, I made a list of close friends, people who had significantly changed my life (Ayn Rand and Leonard Peikoff are…
Craig Biddle and Dennis Prager Discuss Ayn Rand and God
Craig Biddle, executive director of Prometheus Foundation, recently sat down with Dennis Prager at his home for a Fireside Chat about religion, Objectivism, and American values. To date, the video has been viewed by more than 870,000 people (680,000 on YouTube alone) and is in the top four most viewed Fireside Chats ever. It is…
Good News Regarding Leonard Peikoff
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….
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…
