Winter 2020 • Vol. 15, No. 4
From the Editor, Winter 2020
Welcome to the Winter 2020 issue of The Objective Standard. Features include “Reinventing Flight: An Interview with Blake Scholl,” interviewed by Jon Hersey; “Corporations and Political Corruption: The Curse of Cronyism and How to End It” by Michael Dahlen; “Ex-Muslims on the Front Lines in the Battle for Civil Society” by Faith Quintero, and more. Continue »
Cover Article
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, Science & Technology
Reinventing Flight: An Interview with Blake Scholl
On October 7, 2020, Blake Scholl and his company Boom Supersonic unveiled XB-1, the first privately funded supersonic jet in history.
Features
Politics & Rights
Corporations and Political Corruption: The Curse of Cronyism and How to End It
Cronyism follows from a government with the power to meddle in the economy. The solution, therefore, to the dysfunction and injustice of a mixed economy is an unmixed economy, an economy separated from the state.
Philosophy, Politics & Rights
Ex-Muslims on the Front Lines in the Battle for Civil Society
Ex-Muslims play a critical role in challenging the evil belief system that is Islam. Help them in the fight to protect free speech and civil society by supporting their work however you can.
Science & Technology
HCQ and COVID-19: What Does the Evidence Show?
Given the inconsistent and controversial public narrative, HCQ has remained at the forefront of many people’s minds. But does it work for the treatment of COVID-19?
Arts & Culture, History
Three Symphonies to Help You Triumph
Finding music that conveys struggle and eventual triumph is difficult because, to depict true triumph, one has to study it intensely and perhaps experience it firsthand. But such music is a wonderful source of inspiration and empowerment.
Arts & Culture
Five Phenomenal Long-Form Rock Songs
Here are five long-form rock songs that blend the musical complexity and long-form storytelling of classical music with catchy rock riffs and powerful electronic sounds.
Politics & Rights
Life in No-Lockdown Sweden
I visited Sweden at the end of September to sample life there for myself. Although I was aware that Sweden had had no lockdown, I didn’t realize how little impact COVID-19 had had on Swedish life.
Shorts
Politics & Rights
Sweden Hasn’t ‘Failed Its People,’ It Has Protected Their Rights
The fundamental problem with claiming that the Swedish government has failed its people is that the proper purpose of government is not to protect citizens’ health but rather their rights.
Politics & Rights
Bullies, Looters, Mobs: The Anti-American Essence of BLM
BLM is an anti-American movement because at its core it is a rights-denying movement. This is the meaning behind “If this system doesn’t give us what we want, we will burn it down and replace it.”
Arts & Culture, Politics & Rights
We Can’t Fight Racism by Engaging in Racism
Making an individual’s race the determining factor in how we treat him is destructive and immoral—even if we think we’re helping him by doing so.
Economics, Politics & Rights
The Assault on Rideshare Companies and Drivers
Anti-rideshare organizers present drivers as victims, and if they get their way, drivers certainly will be.
Economics, Politics & Rights
The Pattern Day Trader Rule Hinders Financial Independence
Imagine telling a heart surgeon that he can make only three movements per operation. If you are aiming to make money by day-trading, limits imposed by the PDT rule are equally asinine.
Economics, Politics & Rights
The Immorality of Universal Basic Income
Universal basic income would sacrifice the most productive to the least, wrenching the rewards of their productivity away from them.
Education & Parenting, Science & Technology
Thinking Critically about Climate Change
I urge you to reconsider the doomsday claims of the climate catastrophists, dig for more facts from various sources, and go by your own judgment. Your life and flourishing depend on it.
Arts & Culture, Good Living, History
How Travel Can Foster a Personal Renaissance
I once found it difficult to relate to the excitement travelers expressed at walking the same streets their heroes did centuries earlier. Not so after walking through cities where a hero of mine revolutionized art and science.
Reviews
Arts & Culture, History, Philosophy, Politics & Rights, Reviews
Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity—and Why This Harms Everybody by Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay
In Cynical Theories, Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay explore the connections between such phenomena as “shoutdowns,” “canceling,” and identity politics on the one hand and the philosophical doctrines taught in America’s universities on the other.
Politics & Rights, Reviews
The Property Species: Mine, Yours, and the Human Mind by Bart J. Wilson
The Property Species suggests fruitful speculations to demonstrate that property is a truly universal manifestation of human rationality and of man’s needs, not only to survive, but also thrive.
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, Reviews
Facets of Ayn Rand: Memoirs by Mary Ann Sures and Charles Sures
Pick up Facets of Ayn Rand and revel in stories about one of history’s greatest storytellers.
Arts & Culture, Reviews
Spotlight by Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer
Spotlight highlights the tremendous power of objective journalism and the inspiring heroism of the few journalists who remain committed to it.
Arts & Culture
Blazing Saddles, Directed by Mel Brooks
Blazing Saddles, through humor and satire, tackles the pernicious reality of racism and shows that a man’s reasoning mind and heroic deeds can overcome bigotry and prejudice.
Arts & Culture, Reviews
Mulan (2020) Sullies the Legacy of a Heroine
If you’re looking for a Disney movie that conveys life-serving virtues and values, I passionately recommend watching (or re-watching) the 1998 animated Mulan—and abstaining from the 2020 live-action remake.
Arts & Culture, History, Reviews
The Death of Stalin by Armando Iannucci
Comedy can be a powerful medium for expressing important ideas, and Armando Iannucci’s The Death of Stalin is a standout example.
