Adrian has offered to start off a discussion about Objectivism.
We discussed at the January meeting whether there is such a thing as Right-Wing ideology, in the same sense that there is clearly a Left-Wing ideology (or in reality, ideologies). The most coherent attempt at a Right-Wing ideology, and idealism is probably given here:
There is a tendency to label all Right-Wing positions as Fascist, which they certainly are not - hence the need for a political Authoritarian/Libertarian axis as well as a Right/Left axis (see Politics: Some underlying Issues). Objectivism, as promoted by the Atlas Society and its founder Ayn Rand, is very different from the popular conception of Right-Wing politics as being akin to Fascism which usually involves Nationalism and often Racism. Objectivists would say that Fascism is a form of Collectivism, which they totally abhor, as Objectivists promote Individualism. It has some attractions, but of course it falls down if you take it to extremes, like most -isms and -ities.
One interesting question is what it might look like if you don't take it to extremes: what is a moderate version (or, perhaps, what are the plausible moderate versions), and how does that (or, do they) differ from the other political options placed before us? The Objectivist movement is as badly split into factions as the Left, especially along pure/doctrinaire vs moderate/pragmatic lines, but a moderate version is promulgated by some of the current leaders.
(See the PBWorks Objectivism page for some notes from the discussion.)
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