Activism with TOS

American culture is at a critical juncture. Over the next few years, the country will move substantially toward either further violations of individual rights or better protection of individual rights. So I’d like to offer a few suggestions about how you can employ The Objective Standard in the fight for the latter alternative.

TOS, now in its fourth year of publication, is written consistently from an Objectivist perspective, which means it goes consistently to fundamentals, anchoring political arguments in the principle of individual rights and the morality of rational egoism. And TOS stands alone in this regard. No other periodical publishes essays such as “Altruism: The Moral Root of the Financial Crisis” by Richard M. Salsman, “Reason or Faith: The Republican Alternative” by John David Lewis, “The Menace of Pragmatism” by Tara Smith, “Energy at the Speed of Thought: The Original Alternative Energy Market” by Alex Epstein, “Deeper Than Kelo: The Roots of the Property Rights Crisis” by Eric Daniels, “Moral Health Care vs. ‘Universal Health Care’” by Lin Zinser and Paul Hsieh, or “The Morality of Moneylending: A Short History” by Yaron Brook.

Importantly, however, articles in TOS presuppose no familiarity with Objectivism; they are written entirely in layman’s terms and are thus accessible to active-minded people in general. This makes TOS a crucial tool for spreading the ideas on which a culture of reason and the politics of freedom depend. The articles are easy to read, easy to comprehend, and anchored in sound philosophic principles. Such articles change minds.

But few people know that TOS exists, and our articles cannot change minds if they are not read. Here is where you can make all the difference. The following are three key ways in which you can help TOS reach a wider audience:

1. Let your university, alma mater, or local librarian know about the journal.
   TOS is now indexed and abstracted in Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO), Public Affairs Information Services (PAIS), and Political Science Complete (PSC). Periodicals covered by these indices are more appealing to libraries, so now is a good time to try (or retry) persuading your university, alma mater, or local librarian to subscribe. To inform a librarian about the existence and nature of TOS, please print and hand (or mail or email) him our Library Recommendation Letter, which can be found here.
2. Purchase PDFs of TOS articles, and distribute them far and wide.
   TOS articles are now available in Portable Document Format (PDF) for $4.95 ea. For activism purposes, once you purchase a TOS article in PDF, you are welcome (and encouraged) to email or print and distribute it to as many people as you see fit—friends, relatives, colleagues, politicians, pundits, talk show hosts—anyone who might be moved by rational ideas and logical arguments. The more the merrier! We ask only that you not resell the article nor post it on the internet. PDFs of articles can be purchased here.
3. Give the journal as a gift.
   Nothing changes minds more effectively than a steady stream of clearly written, easy-to-read articles that address current events and cultural issues from a rational, principled perspective. Gift subscriptions can be purchased for individuals or institutions (libraries, doctors’ offices, corporations, etc.), and although institutions themselves pay a higher subscription rate, gifts to institutions are sold at the regular (i.e., individual) rate. Gift subscriptions can also be purchased in packages of 5 at a discount of 15% (the “Standard-Bearer”). For more information or to purchase a gift subscription, click here.

People are looking for answers to today’s cultural and political problems. TOS articles provide principled answers in plain English on a regular basis. Please help us distribute these articles to a wider audience.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Craig Biddle, Editor
The Objective Standard

About Craig Biddle

Craig is cofounder and editor of The Objective Standard, cofounder and director of education at Objective Standard Institute, and executive director of Prometheus Foundation. He is the author of Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It; Rational Egoism: The Morality for Human Flourishing; and the forthcoming Moral Truths Your Parents, Preachers, and Teachers Don’t Want You to Know. He is currently working on his fourth book, “Thinking in Principles.”

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