Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000
ARI banquet for Mike Berliner
Thomas M. Miovas, Jr.
>From Bobby Sandler
>
>Fifteen years ago, a handful of focused, hard-working,
>dedicated and passionate people started a small
>organization [ARI] to spread Objectivism and change the
>world. At the banquet, while they celebrated the amazing
>strides they've taken toward that goal, I felt a profound
>sense of awe, admiration and gratitude: awe, that I was
>experiencing an important time in history, admiration
>and gratitude, for the people there who had made it
>possible.
Even though I was unable to attend the banquet, I'd like to
second this attitude.
I first came across _The Fountainhead_ in high school on a
college preparatory reading list generated by my physics and
chemistry teacher when I was a senior in the 1975-76 school
year. It was about six months afterwards that I read _Atlas
Shrugged_, because there was just something about _The
Fountainhead_ that tugged at my consciousness. I can't say I
understood either novel very well, and I only had an inkling of
what a philosophy was; though I'd have to say I had some idea of
what it meant to act according to principles, since I was an
ardent Catholic.
During the next decade, I devoured and studied everything Ayn
Rand had ever written and even branched out into Aristotle. I
was bubbling over with enthusiasm and insights, eager to discuss
these new ideas with anyone -- but where were they? I was born
in 1958, so I was beginning to wonder if it was possible that
Miss Rand's words had fallen on deaf ears for the whole time I
had been alive -- a very frightening thought. I didn't come
across her writing until I was around 18, but surely someone
else *had* to have realized this was **important**.
Especially between the years 1976-1983, I was wondering if Atlas
had already shrugged and if I would be left high and dry in an
intellectual desert. If there were any Objectivist related
organizations, I didn't know how to find them. There were a few
clubs and study groups sprinkled here and there, but no central
"clearing house" from which to get information about them. I
eventually did discover there was an Objectivist club in the
Dallas area, and that was one of my top reasons for moving here
in 1983.
When The Ayn Rand Institute was formed a few years later, the
isolation I experience during my first seven years of coming to
understand Objectivism would not have to be repeated by anyone.
For the next fifteen years, many pseudo- and semi-objectivist
organizations would arise, but ARI was always there, spreading
the seeds that would eventually change an entire culture. I
don't think this has happened, yet; but I don't think that
prospect has a chance if rational individuals remain
incommunicado -- either among themselves or with the world at
large. In other words, I think ARI is well on its way to
becoming a cultural powerhouse.
And just look at things today!
There is so much going on related to Objectivism that I can't
keep up with it. Yes, I know there are several excellent news
sources out there, but I don't have time to read them all. And
the choices are multiplying steadily.
Not only that, but there are conferences, e-mail study groups,
local Objectivist clubs, internet resources, newsletters,
periodicals -- you name it, it's there! All dedicated to
spreading Objectivism. I give ARI a lot of credit for these,
even if ARI wasn't directly involved in their formation, because
ARI made it possible for rational intellectuals to be aware of
like-minded souls; which, if nothing else, helped to inspire
such enterprises.
To the extent ARI wasn't involved, directly or indirectly,
congratulations go to those attempting to cultivate the
intellectual desert -- especially "The Intellectual Activist"
and "The Objectivist Forum" both of which (I think) were started
before ARI.
In closing, I'd like to say a few things about what I think
should be expected in the next several decades (or longer). As
the "new intellectuals" increase in number and learn how to
communicate their ideas, they will run up against many who
disagree with them on a wide variety of topics. I include in
this not just their understanding of Objectivism or its
applications, but more specific topics, such as physics and the
other special sciences. This has occurred and will continue to
occur -- and I think it *has* to occur. Everyone who has an
active consciousness has his own, highly developed, context
which can be difficult to communicate. Sometimes it can seem to
be impossible to reach an agreement, and the frustrations can
mount to the point where you'll want to give up. You may even
make a few enemies along the way as each side may conclude that
the other is just too boneheaded to "get it."
As a guide and as a remedy, I suggest you take a look at
history. Those periods when men have had the most active
consciousness have also been the times when disagreements have
been the most furious -- I mean between the most rational men,
not between the rational and the irrational.
We are entering such an age now.
Those great clashes of ideas between rational men is what makes
history -- the irrational is impotent. Learn how to go to the
facts, organize them according to similarities, and make your
case. If you are right, the rational among you will see it, too;
though it may take a while. I won't say patience is a virtue,
but it's very important to realize you can't change someone's
mind overnight. The frustration will still be there, but it will
be tempered with a growing sense of intellectual efficacy as you
see rational individuals beginning to accept your ideas -- and
it's worth it.
