The Gateway Objectivists' March Meeting:
"The Myth of Market Failure"
Our next meeting will be a live
presentation by Jeffrey Kiviat, M.D., entitled
"The Myth of Market Failure," which was postponed from February.
Jeff's lecture will critically examine this
oft-used excuse for government intervention
in the economy. We also will enjoy snacks and discussion after the
lecture.
This month's meeting will be at the home of
Joy & Jeff Kiviat on Saturday, March
18, at 8 p.m. Call (314) 469-2723 for directions.
The Pursuit of Average
At the last meeting, we watched the 1995
movie "Harrison Bergeron," which is based
on a short story by Kurt Vonnegut. The movie, starring Sean Astin as
Harrison and Miranda de Pencier as Phillipa,
takes place in a futuristic USA where
everyone must wear bands on their head to electronically modify their
intelligence. IQs are raised or lowered so
that everyone is equal. This
method of striving for a truly egalitarian society is a result of the
second American revolution, which led to the
First Amendment of the New American
Constitution: "All men are not created equal," but it is the
government's responsibility to make sure they
are. Continually wearing the bands
results in everyone being the same--average. Students are chastised for
getting "A"s instead of "C"s;
television programs cater to the lowest common denominator.
Harrison discovers the motivation for the
egalitarian society when he is recruited
to work in the secret administration center, which runs the country
from behind the scenes. This motivation is the
elimination of envy, because it leads
to hatred, crime and war. But eliminating individuality not only reduces
crime, it obliterates love, art, intellectual stimulation and the freedom
to use one's own brain. Harrison finds himself facing two dilemmas:
envy vs. equality, and that the only way to
have true equality is by fostering
inequality.
This excellent adaptation of the short
story truly exemplifies the unintended consequences
of egalitarianism's "good intentions."
Clinton's Moral Authority
President Bill Clinton ranked last out of
the 41 U.S. presidents in moral authority,
according to a recent survey of historians. The
survey, conducted by C-SPAN, asked 58 historians nationwide to rate the
presidents' effectiveness in 10 categories:
public persuasion, crisis leadership,
economic management, moral authority, international relations, administrative
skills, relations with Congress, vision and setting an agenda, pursuit
of equal justice for all, and performance within the context of their
times.
Each category was given equal weight to
produce an overall ranking, in which Clinton
came out in the middle at 21. Topping the overall list was Abraham Lincoln,
followed by Franklin D. Roosevelt and George Washington. Last on the
list was James Buchanan.
Clinton received high marks for economic
management and pursuit of equal justice.
But his poor moral authority put him dead last in that category, just
behind Richard Nixon at number 40.
Charter School Updates
Three charter schools have been approved in
St. Louis in recent weeks. Two of the
three plan on opening this fall for classes. The
Ethel Hedgeman Lyle Academy, which would teach students from pre-kindergarten
through second grade, was approved by Harris-Stowe State College
on February 22. The school plans to operate in North St. Louis, but
does not yet have a site.
Charters for the St. Louis Charter School
and the Thurgood Marshall Academy were
approved by the University of Missouri-St. Louis on March 1. The St.
Louis Charter School plans to operate at a
site near Interstate 44 and Hampton
Avenue, serving 400 elementary students. Thurgood Marshall Academy would
teach more than 600 students from kindergarten through eighth grade at
4300 Goodfellow Boulevard. Both schools would
be operated by Beacon Education Management.
We welcome submissions of reviews,
articles, columns and commentary. Direct all
correspondence to gwobjctvst@aol.com.
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