Atlas Shrugged Study Group - Starts 10/14

Hi Everyone,

If you want to join up for our Atlas Shrugged study group, let me know. Our first meeting will be on Wednesday, October 14, at 7pm. If you wish to join us that day, please e-mail me so I can give you the location. Starting in November, our meetings will be every 2 weeks on Thursdays at 7pm. Please note that only the first meeting is on a Wednesday. I have a sites page up now if you want to join at a later date or just see what we're up to:

http://sites.google.com/site/ggostudygroup/home

My intention is to keep a record of the discussions we have. You can also see our calendar and when we're meeting.

Best,
Faye

If you do not have Faye's e-mail, you can e-mail GGO at goldengateobjectivists[at]gmail[dot]com, and we will forward your interest to Faye, who will e-mail you back.

(Posted for Faye by Heike)

Tea Party - Successful Event

Today, about a dozen Golden Gate Objectivists participated in the Tax Day Tea Party in San Francisco. We showed up with flags, and a half dozen coordinated posters. I would guess about 600-800 people were at the event, which was very peaceful and outright beautiful, on a nice sunny day in a wonderful setting.

We all felt it was great to be out there, speaking our minds - and most of all, getting the message about Ayn Rand and the Ayn Rand Center out to a receptive audience. All of us had numerous people come up to us throughout the event, talking about how Ayn Rand should be read by everybody. I had a chance to make a few brief comments - and received loud cheers at the mention of Ayn Rand, and her quote about taking up the moral fight for capitalism. We also passed out about 200 flyers, promoting Atlas Shrugged and ARC editorials on the financial crisis and Ayn Rand's relevance - to very receptive recipients.

Overall, I think this was a very successful first event for the relaunched GGO - and I look forward to doing more of these, and having more of you participate.



Here's a short video of the event, to give you a better idea:

The Time is Right for Local Intellectual Activism

Golden Gate Objectivists was started in 2006 because we believe the time is right to take Objectivist intellectual activism to local communities. It has been dormant for the past year or so, due to the organizers being busy with their lives – starting families, completing educations, and operating and growing businesses. We are now in the process of restarting the group, and look forward to reconnecting with existing contacts, and building more.

The statement below is taken from the original group site – www.goldengateobjectivists.com - which is no longer in operation, but to which we link here for a history.

We believe that this type of intellectual activism is even more relevant now, as the we face the largest attack by the altruist/collectivists in a long time from the new Obama administration. We hope that with GGO, we can energize each other and facilitate activism, which will help us make an impact and change the direction of our country before the push towards socialism has gone too far to be reversed.

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Over the past two decades, through the efforts of ARI and others, Objectivism has made great strides towards becoming a cultural force. University departments are headed by Objectivists, a growing cadre of young professional intellectuals are entering the market, and the mass media are taking note – inviting ARI speakers to speak on key topics on national TV and publishing OpEd pieces in record numbers.

In parallel, many Objectivists who are not professional intellectuals – doctors, lawyers, business people – have gained a strong education in Objectivist ideas through campus clubs, summer conferences, ARI online lectures and taped lectures sold through the Ayn Rand Bookstore.

Around us, many important issues need to be addressed – from how to combat terrorism to dealing with social security, from improving education to standing up for free speech in the face of Islamo-Fascist intimidation. The Left is dying as a compelling moral force, offering nothing but short–range pragmatism. The Right is picking up strength almost by default – as the only mass movement offering a moral perspective on critical decisions we need to make as individuals and as a country.

We believe that many honest people outside of Objectivism are struggleing to find compelling, non-religious, moral answers to guide their lives. Objectivism is ideally positioned to fill this intellectual vacuum.

In this context, GGO's aim is to bring the Objectivism message to our local communities. We believe we can achieve multiple goals by organizing an outreach–focused community group:

· Engage honest local non-Objectivists in discussions about Objectivist ideas.

· Leverage local knowledge and exposure to have Objectivist intellectuals speak before local groups.

· Gain exposure in local media, including newspapers, TV and online forums, by being local advocates on national topics and becoming involved in local topics with philosophical aspects.

· Re-engage and provide a forum for Objectivists who are passionate about spreading Ayn Rand's ideas but are unable to pursue intellectual activism as a full–time career.

· Serve as a catalyst and forum for local Objectivists to educate themselves in Objectivism and to socialize with like–minded people.

· Broaden the support for ARI – by reactivating 'inactive' Objectivists and by exposing financially qualified, honest non–Objectivists to the right ideas and to ARI speakers.

As this list of goals illustrates, GGO aims to go beyond the 'traditional' community group activities of discussion groups and social events. We believe that a clear, long–range purpose of promoting Objectivism in our local area will help keep participants excited and engaged, whether or not they become friends and want to spend social time together.

We believe we need a core group of 4–10 people in the San Francisco Bay Area willing to co–lead this effort – and that there should to be a dozen or more people willing to contribute their specific skills and interests.