From the Editor, Fall 2010

Welcome to the Fall 2010 issue of TOS—and a special welcome to our new Canadian readers who, with this issue, are discovering the Standard via newsstands in Canada’s largest bookstore chain, Chapters/Indigo. We are excited to add our northern neighbors to the list of countries we infiltrate with principled discussion of the moral and philosophical foundations of freedom.

This issue of TOS kicks off with my article about the Ground Zero mosque, the spread of Islam in America, and how Americans and Westerners in general should deal with such efforts.

Next up is a prescription for America’s health care ills, in which Stella Daily Zawistowski compares and contrasts the cost, quality, and accessibility of government-regulated, rights-violating medicine with that of free-market, rights-respecting medicine and finds, once again, that the moral is the practical.

In my interview with John Allison, the banking-magnate-turned-college-professor discusses his and BB&T’s continuing efforts and successes in establishing pro-capitalism programs in American universities.

Michael Dahlen then surveys the essential history of the British Industrial Revolution, showing that what made this period so remarkably productive was its substantial economic freedom, which unleashed countless industrious minds to solve problems of human survival and prosperity.

Next, Daniel Wahl examines the curious life of Richard Feynman, and finds this great scientist and educator to be heroic in more ways than meet the eye.

Richard G. Parker looks at the accomplishments and legacy of another great (but less-known) hero of science, Herman Boerhaave, the nearly forgotten father of modern medicine, who may well be responsible for the fact that you are still alive.

And, lastly, I discuss the necessary conditions of a civilized society—or, the moral nuts and bolts of freedom and capitalism—in the penultimate chapter of my book Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It.

The books reviewed in this issue are: The Flaw of Averages, by Sam L. Savage (reviewed by David H. Mirman); Neoconservatism: An Obituary for an Idea, by C. Bradley Thompson with Yaron Brook (reviewed by Burgess Laughlin); The Passion of Ayn Rand’s Critics, by James Valliant (reviewed by Roderick Fitts); How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes, by Peter and Andrew Schiff (reviewed by Daniel Wahl); and Nothing Less than Victory, by John David Lewis (reviewed by Daniel Wahl).

Enjoy the issue, spread the word, and let us know what you think about the articles at hand.

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.”

View all articles by Craig Biddle →