NYC Junto Newsletter

by Iris Bell on June 18, 2011

Contents

* NEW Junto meeting July 7
* Visit NYCjunto.com
* NEW “Tyler Cowen, America’s Hottest Economist”
* NEW “India’s Voluntary City”
* NEW Thomas Woods, C-Span 2, “Repealing Big Government”
* NEW Cliffsnotes “Atlas Shrugged” free, Eddie Willers Story
* NEW Victor Neiderhoffer’s Atlas statue
* NEW “Atlas Shrugged Part 2″ hits the web
* NEW Niall Ferguson on Civilization
* NEW David Kelley commentaries on “Atlas” Part 1, scenes
* NEW Honor Lech Walesa, Mario Vargas Llosa, Robert Higgs
* NEW To friends of Leslie Harper
* NEW “When it comes to wealth creation, there is no pie”
* NEW “Obamacare waiver process is like scene from ‘Atlas’ ”
* NEW “Restoring the Scientific Method,” Heartland Institute
* NEW Organization says choose between Ayn Rand & Christ
* NEW Gillespie & Welch “Declaration of Independents” in NY
* NEW “The Trojan Horse of ‘Happiness Research’ ”
* NEW John Hospers, libertarian philosopher, dead at 93
* NEW New York City Ayn Rand Meetup June 26
* Ayn Rand walking tours
* NYCjunto-discuss list
* About this newsletter

**************************************************
Junto is a group that shares information
and discusses current issues…
plus presents speakers to talk with us:

* Fred Cookinham
will do a reading of the scene
between Rearden and Ragnar from Part II of “Atlas Shrugged”
with Josh Huntington
and then

* Tyler Cowen
will speak about the subject of his newest book

“The Great Stagnation:
How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History,
Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better”

Thursday, July 7
Admission Free No reservation necessary
* We’ll socialize from 7:00pm.
* The meeting begins at ABOUT 7:30pm with
a discussion of current issues and events.
* The featured speaker is introduced at ABOUT 8:00pm.
* The meeting will continue to ABOUT 10:00pm.

General Society Library,
20 West 44th Street, bet. 5th and 6th Aves., NYC
near the Grand Central Terminal

Subway: 4, 5, 6, S to Grand Central — 42nd St.
or
B, D, F, 7 to 42nd Street — Sixth Ave. at Bryant Park
or
A, C, E, N, Q, R, S, 1, 2, 3 to Times Square — 42nd St.
Bus: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M42, M98, M101, M102, M104, Q32
Train: MTA Metro-North Railroad to Grand Central
Car: Some private parking facilities in the area. Parking on
side streets is metered, limited to specific days and times.

Please note:
Junto is not the usual sort of meeting with a long speech
followed by Q & A. Junto’s invited speakers give a short
presentation and are challenged to defend their assertions.
Discussions are intense, but polite. Participation by all
attendees is highly encouraged.
Junto meets on the first Thursday of every month, at the
General Society Library, 20 West 44th Street, NYC,
between 5th and 6th Aves., near Grand Central Terminal
**************************************************

Fred Cookinham

has done dramatic readings of Ayn Rand’s fiction at other
Junto’s. He gives New York City walking tours, available
through In Depth Walking Tours — including five on the
subject of Ayn Rand and six of Revolutionary War sites.
He was interviewed at the Atlasphere in 2005. He’s the author
of the book “The Age of Rand: Imagining an Objectivist
Future World.” He’s written articles for “Full Context,” The
Objectivist Society’s “The New Individualist,” “Nomos,” and
“The Pragmatist.”
with
Josh Huntington
who is a Junto regular, acts in the Village Light Opera Group.
and

Tyler Cowen

His most recent book is: “The Great Stagnation:
How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern
History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better”
Here are parts of some reviews:
* “One of the most talked-about books among economists
right now.” — Renee Montagne, Morning Edition, NPR
* “Tyler Cowen may very well turn out to be this decade’s
Thomas Friedman.” — Kelly Evans, The Wall Street Journal
* “Cowen’s book…will have a profound impact on the way
people think about the last thirty years.” — Ryan Avent,
Economist.com
* “As Cowen makes clear, many of this era’s technological
breakthroughs produce enormous happiness gains, but
surprisingly little economic activity. — David Brooks, The
New York Times
Publisher’s description:
Tyler Cowen’s “The Great Stagnation,” the eSpecial heard
round the world that ignited a firestorm of debate and
redefined the nature of our economic malaise, is now a book.
America has been through the biggest financial crisis since
the great Depression, unemployment numbers are frightening,
media wages have been flat since the 1970s, and it is common
to expect that things will get worse before they get better.
Certainly, the multi-decade stagnation is not yet over.
How will we get out of this mess? One political party tries to
increase government spending even when we have no good
plan for paying for ballooning programs like Medicare and
Social Security.
The other party seems to think tax cuts will raise revenue
and has a record of creating bigger fiscal disasters that the
first. Where does this madness come from?
As Cowen argues, our economy has enjoyed low-hanging
fruit since the seventeenth century: free land, immigrant
labor, and powerful new technologies.
But during the last forty years, the low-hanging fruit
started disappearing, and we started pretending it was
still there.
We have failed to recognize that we are at a technological
plateau. The fruit trees are barer than we want to believe.
That’s it. That is what has gone wrong and that is why
our politics is crazy.
Cowen reveals the underlying causes of our past
prosperity and how we will generate it again. This is a
passionate call for a new respect of scientific innovations
that benefit not only the powerful elites, but humanity as
a whole.
Tyler writes daily for the blog: MarginalRevolution.com
He’s professor of economics at George Mason U. and at the
Center for the Study of Public Choice.
He’s also the Director of the Mercatus Center. He, his wife
and stepdaughter live in Fairfax, VA with stacks of amates:

http://bit.ly/Amates

One of his current recommendations is The Arty Bollocks
Generator. He say “I want one of these for statements of
teaching philosophy”. It’s clever, each time you generate
one it will read just like the statements artists say:
tiny.cc/w6icf
Tyler’s personal site has links to many articles about and
by him: bit.ly/TylerC

—————————————————————————
Visit NYCjunto.com for more information and to sign up for
the Junto e-newsletter.
**************************************************
Please em­ail the above text to your freedom loving friends
who might be interested in Junto.
Feel free to use the above text to promote Junto among
libertarians, Objectivists and investors.
—————————————————————————-
Come to Junto, meet the upcoming speakers:
* Aug. 4, Dr. Gary Jason, contributing editor “Liberty”
magazine, businessman, philosophy teacher and writer.
ProfGaryJason.com LibertyUnbound.com
* Sept. 1, Richard Epstein’s writings go from the common-law
subjects of property, contracts and torts to constitutional law
and economics. tiny.cc/RichEpstein
* Oct. 6, Janine R. Wedel, prof. public policy, George Mason U.
Her most recent book, “Confronting Corruption, Building
Accountability: Lessons from the World of International
Development Advising”. JanineWedel.info
* Nov. 3, Kathryn Schultz, author “Being Wrong”. What it
means to be in error. Why people tend to assume they’re
right about most everything. Error is a fundamental human
condition and should be celebrated.
BeingWrongBook.com/author
* Dec. 1, David Friedman, prof. law, Santa Clara U., Liberty
magazine contributing editor, anarcho-capitalist
www.davidDFriedman.com
* Jan. 5, 2012, Ilana Mercer, “Lessons for America from
Post-Apartheid South Africa” bit.ly/MercerBook
bit.ly/MercerColumn
* Feb. 2, 2012, Ayn Rand’s 107th birthday celebration. Speaker
Donald Luskin market commentator. His subject will be
announced later. He co-wrote “I am John Galt: Today’s
Heroic Innovators Building the World and the Villainous
Parasites Destroying It.” It introduces you to real-life titans
who’ve lived their lives like Rand’s fictional heroes and the
malefactors who’ve live like her fictional villains: Steve Jobs
as Howard Roark, Paul Krugman as Ellsworth Toohey,
John Allison as John Galt, Bill Gates as Henry Rearden
and Barney Frank as Wesley Mouch, etc.
Watch Donald on a short video on Amazon: tiny.cc/uv2eb

NEW———————————————————————
“Tyler Cowen, America’s Hottest Economist”
Tyler will speak at the July Junto.
Brendan Greeley in the May 26, 2011 “Business Week:”
“For the last fifteen years, Cowen has had a strong hand in new
hires for George Mason. The school looks for economists who
are undervalued elsewhere….
Read all of this article at: tiny.cc/9ncz3

NEW———————————————————————
“India’s Voluntary City”
by Alex Tabarrok, a Junto speaker, June 10, 2011
Fascinating piece in the NYTimes about a new city in India,
a new city of 1.5 million people and more or less no city
government.
“Gurgaon was widely regarded as an economic wasteland.
In 1979, the state of Haryana created Gurgaon by dividing a
longstanding political district on the outskirts of New Delhi.
One half would revolve around the city of Faridabad, which
had an active municipal government, direct rail access to the
capital, fertile farmland and a strong industrial base. The other
half, Gurgaon, had rocky soil, no local government, no railway
link and almost no industrial base.
“As an economic competition, it seemed an unfair fight. And
it has been: Gurgaon has won, easily. Faridabad has struggled
to catch India’s modernization wave, while Gurgaon’s
disadvantages turned out to be advantages, none more
important, initially, than the absence of a districtwide
government, which meant less red tape capable of choking
development.”
Gurgaon has no publicly provided “functioning citywide
sewer or drainage system; reliable electricity or water; public
sidewalks, adequate parking, decent roads or any citywide
system of public transportation.” Yet Gurgaon is a magnet for
“India’s best-educated, English-speaking young professionals,”
it has 26 shopping malls, seven golf courses, apartment towers,
a sports stadium, five-star hotels and “a futuristic commercial
hub called Cyber City [that] houses many of the world’s most
respected corporations.” According to one survey, Gurgaon is
India’s best city to work and live. So how does Gurgaon thrive?
It thrives because in the absence of government the private
sector has stepped in to provide transportation, utilities,
security and more…
Read the rest of this article at: tiny.cc/6g938
Read the original article in the NY Times at: tiny.cc/cbjl7
And there’s more on this subject at Patri Friedman’s site:
tiny.cc/a6z4u. Patri, of the Seasteading Institute and a Junto
speaker, is interested in libertarian perspectives on creating
new types of freer governments/countries/cities.

NEW———————————————————————
Thomas Woods on C-Span 2, Sun. “Repealing Big Government”
His book is “Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before
the Coming Fiscal Collapse” this Sun., June 19, 8:00am to
9:30am and 10:00pm to 11:30pm, eastern. It’s on TimeWarner
TV on channel 148. It will probably repeat next weekend.
Thomas argues that in order to correct our economic
problems, it’s necessary to shrink the size and power of
the federal government.
He’s the author of numerous books, including “Nullification,”
“The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History” and
“The Church and the Market.” He’s currently a senior fellow
at the Ludwig von Mises Institute.
You can watch Book TV streaming all weekend on
BookTV.org. You can search their archives for footage
of your favorite authors and events.

NEW———————————————————————
Cliffsnotes for “Atlas Shrugged” free, Eddie Willers Story
you can read notes for Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged,” “The
Fountainhead” and “Anthem.” There are two essays, “The
Role of the Mind in Human Life in Atlas Shrugged” and “The
Role of the Common Man in Atlas Shrugged: The Eddie
Willers Story.” Plus it has a full glossary for Atlas Shrugged
and an Ayn Rand biography. It’s written by Andrew Bernstein.
This is an example from the Eddie Willers Story:
“…Like Dagny, Eddie reveres the achievements of Ellis Wyatt,
Hank Rearden, and the unknown inventor of the motor. Eddie
is, in the words Rand uses to describe Dagny, a child of the
Industrial Revolution. He recognizes the benefits to human life
from inventions like Rearden Metal and Galt’s motor, from new
methods like Ellis Wyatt’s process for extracting oil from
shale, and from industrial production, like that attained by
Rearden Steel.
“In his lifelong devotion to the railroad, Eddie demonstrates
his commitment to industry and technology, to the scientific
research necessary to create them, and to the mind’s role in
promoting human wellness on earth. The theme of ‘Atlas
Shrugged’ is the life-giving nature of rationality, and Eddie
is as dedicated to the mind as any of the great thinkers in
the story….”
Read all the above material at: tiny.cc/3bxng

NEW———————————————————————
Victor Neiderhoffer’s Atlas statue
by John Carney, senior editor, CNBC.com, June 15, 2011
Hedge fund manager Victor Neiderhoffer commissioned this
statue of Atlas holding the world aloft. It presumably stands
on property near his mansion in Weston, Connecticut.
Why Atlas? It’s undoubtedly a reference to “Atlas Shrugged,”
the novel by Ayn Rand that is beloved by libertarians.
Neiderhoffer is a big fan of Rand….
See the statue and the rest of the article at: tiny.cc/qtg4h

NEW———————————————————————
“Atlas Shrugged Part 2″ hits the web
The movie teaser site has been launched by Atlas Productions.
Producer Harmon Kaslow said “The level of community
involvement on the Atlas Shrugged Part 1 Website was
tremendous. Site traffic leading up to release day was
consistently high — in the 300,000 page views per day range.
On April 15, 2011, the day the movie was released, we
amazingly served up over 1.6 million.”
They’re looking forward to introducing a new level of
interaction to fans.
They’ve a tentative theatrical release date of Fall 2012.
“Atlas Shrugged Part 1″, a wholly independent film, opened
in theaters on April 15, 2011. Box Office Mojo says the film
is at #61 of the top 100 money-making films released in 2011.
There are negotiations with a major studio to release the
“Atlas Shrugged Part 1″ video in the 4th Quarter of this year.
AtlasShruggedPart2.com and visit their Facebook page at:
tiny.cc/4m9lj

NEW———————————————————————
Niall Ferguson on Civilization
He’s called the most brilliant British historian of his generation.
His latest book, “Civilisation: The West and the Rest”, asks how
Western civilisation, from inauspicious roots in the 15th century,
came to dominate the rest of the world.
His answer is that the West developed six “killer applications”
that the Rest lacked: competition, science, democracy, medicine,
consumerism and the Protestant work ethic. The key question
today is whether or not the West has lost its monopoly on these
six things.
Alan Ladne sent me this information and this link where
you can hear Niall’s 83 minute talk on the subject of his book.
Listening is free, there’s a charge to watch. tiny.cc/d8uun

NEW———————————————————————
David Kelley video commentaries “Atlas” Part 1, movie scenes
David, founder and CEO of The Atlas Society and “chief
intellectual officer” has video commentaries on these scenes:
* “Dagny Confronts James”, Early in the film, she confronts
her brother about the need to upgrade a rail line. It illustrates
the difference between objectivity and second-hand thinking.
* “Rearden and His Dependents” Hank indulges his ungrateful
brother with a contribution and gets a political warning from
a friend. These scenes illustrate the meaning of money.
* “Rearden Metal is Not for Sale” Hank rejects a government
offer to buy the rights to his new metal, a conflict dramatizing
the difference between individualism and collectivism.
* Read David’s thinking on “The Capitalist Ideal: The Moral
Vision of Atlas Shrugged.”
* Read Frank Bryan’s review of the book “Nothing Like It in
the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad,
1863-1869.”
* David Mayer’s “Completing the American Revolution.”
These are all at: tiny.cc/0seqw

NEW———————————————————————
Honoring Lech Walesa, Mario Vargas Llosa and Robert Higgs
At The Independent Institute’s 25th Anniversary Gala and
Dinner these three men will be recognized for their exceptional
contributions to humanity in advancing the ideas and ideals of
individual liberty, entrepreneurship, personal responsibility,
civic virtue and the rule of law.
Nov. 15, 2011, San Francisco, CA tiny.cc/t8ll5

NEW———————————————————————
To friends of Leslie Harper
She often attended Junto. She had been battling cancer for
the last 18 months. She passed away peacefully with her family
near her on June 2nd, 2011.

NEW———————————————————————
“When it comes to wealth creation, there is no pie”
The Objectivist, Forbes blog, June 14, 2011
by Yaron Brook and Don Watkins
“[T]he people who are in the top 1% today earn a larger share
of the income pie than the people who were in the top 1%
25 years ago,” notes economist Russ Roberts, a non-critic.
One implication of the pie metaphor is that wealth is a
zero-sum game: there is a fixed amount of houses, cars,
medicines, etc. to go around, and the more Steve Jobs gets
the less is left for the rest of us.
That may have had some plausibility 250 years ago when
most wealth was in the form of land. But today, when an
iPhone 3G verges on outdated technology, it’s impossible to
miss the fact that wealth grows.
Roberts puts the point this way: “[T]he pie is not constant.
So your well-being can grow even when your share of the pie
falls if the pie is getting sufficiently larger.”
Wealth grows. True. But the pie metaphor carries with it
another implication, which Roberts doesn’t challenge. It treats
wealth as owned by society. We happen to find ourselves in
possession of a pie. How did it get here? That’s never made too
clear, but it’s here, and now we have to decide how to divide it
up fairly.
In accepting the pie metaphor, we concede a moral point that
should not be conceded. Wealth does not arise from an
amorphous social process; “society” owns no pie….
Read the complete article at: tiny.cc/rt2f1

NEW———————————————————————
“Obamacare waiver process is like scene from ‘Atlas Shrugged’ ”
June 13 2011, by Daniel J. Mitchell
This is the complete article:
In a column about the revolving door between big government
and the lobbying world, here’s what the irreplaceable Tim Carney
wrote about the waiver process for folks trying to escape the
burden of government-run healthcare.
“Congress imposes mandates on other entities, but gives
bureaucrats the power to waive those mandates. To get such
a waiver, you hire the people who used to administer or who
helped craft the policies. So who’s the net winner? The
politicians and bureaucrats who craft policies and wield power,
because this combination of massive government power and
wide bureaucratic discretion creates huge demand for revolving
-door lobbyists. It’s another reason Obama’s legislative agenda,
including bailouts, stimulus, ObamaCare, Dodd-Frank, tobacco
regulation, and more, necessarily fosters more corruption and
cronyism.”
This seemed so familiar that I wondered whether Tim was
guilty of plagiarism. But he’s one of the best journalists in DC,
so I knew that couldn’t be the case.
Then I realized that there was plagiarism, but the politicians
in Washington were the guilty parties. As can be seen in this
passage from “Atlas Shrugged”, the Obama Administration is
copying from what Ayn Rand wrote – as dystopian parody – in
the 1950s.
“Nobody professed to understand the question of the frozen
railroad bonds, perhaps, because everybody understood it too
well. At first, there had been signs of a panic among the
bondholders and of a dangerous indignation among the public.
Then, Wesley Mouch had issued another directive, which ruled
that people could get their bonds “defrozen” upon a plea of
“essential need”: the government would purchase the bonds,
if it found proof of the need satisfactory. there were three
questions that no one answered or asked: “What constituted
proof?” “What constituted need?” “Essential-to whom?”…One
was not supposed to speak about the men who, having been
refused, sold their bonds for one-third of the value to other men
who possessed needs which, miraculously, made thirty-three
frozen cents melt into a whole dollar, or about a new profession
practiced by bright young boys just out of college, who called
themselves “defreezers” and offered their services “to help you
draft your application in the proper modern terms.” The boys
had friends in Washington.”
This isn’t the first time the Obama Administration has
inadvertently brought “Atlas Shrugged” to life. The
Administration’s top lawyer already semi-endorsed “going Galt”
when he said people could choose to earn less money to avoid
certain Obamacare impositions.
So if you want a glimpse at America’s future, I encourage
you to read (or re-read) the book. Or at least watch the movie.
This article is at these three sites and more:
Forbes blog: tiny.cc/zfwvp
Cato: tiny.cc/9utgm
Big Government: tiny.cc/0jmgb

NEW———————————————————————
“Restoring the Scientific Method,” The Heartland Institute
6th International Conference on Climate Change
June 30 through July 1, 2011 in Washington, DC.
ClimateConference.Heartland.org

NEW———————————————————————
Organization says to choose between Ayn Rand and Christ
Suddenly my “Google Alerts” about Ayn Rand had lots
of articles telling tea party people they should chose Christ
over Ayn Rand.
I understood where they’d come when I got this on June 13,
from Glenn Beck.com:
“Some ads that feature Ayn Rand are creating buzz in the
political sphere, as they are attacking Republicans who support
Rand and her limited government policies.
“The ads come from a leftist phony Christian organization
that really is just a political hack front group. It doesn’t take
much investigating to see that the ads come from Obama
spiritual adviser Jim Wallis (shocker) — one of the ads even
mentions Glenn….
“Capitalism is only what you make of it. But it is the
combination of freedom and capitalism and the self choice of
being good to one another,” Glenn said in response to the video.
“Capitalism goes so far to cover ground that no other system
has ever covered. It brings people out of poverty and misery
like no other system ever created by man.”
Stu pointed out that on the American Values Network, the
site says their media and commercials are paid for by “Faithful
America”– an organization founded by Jim Wallis….
And, of course, the group has ties to George Soros. Stu
pointed out that they received at least $800,000 from Soros.org,
his website for the Open Society Institute.
…Stu said, “They received a $250,000 grant designed to help
mainstream faith leaders become, quote, much better equipped
with talking points, policy papers, intellectual support, prepared
testimony, draft op eds, sermons, study guides and church
bulletins and more able to unite around shared policy agenda.”

NEW———————————————————————
Gillespie & Welch “Declaration of Independents” book tour
They’re coming to Manhattan. Reason’s Nick Gillespie and
Matt Welch have a book “The Declaration of Independents:
How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong with America.”
On Wed., June 22 join them at a live taping of “Stossel” from
7:15pm to 9:30pm at Fox Studios, 133 W. 47 St., the line forms
bet. 6th & 7th Aves in breezeway directly across from Fresh &
Co. Café. For tickets, email stosseltix@foxbusiness.com.
On Thur., June 23 at 7:00pm, Nick and Matt will be at the
Upper West Side Barnes & Noble, 2289 Broadway, at 82 St.
for a conversation about the future of American politics. You
can buy a signed copy of the book. No RSVP, just stop by and
say hello.
Thank you Susan Neiderhoffer for letting us know about this.

NEW———————————————————————
“The Trojan Horse of ‘Happiness Research’ ”
by Thomas J. DiLorenzo, Junto speaker, June 9, 2011
A very large literature has built up over the past several decades
in the area of so-called “happiness research.” Such research is
based on several very dubious assumptions: namely, that utility
is cardinal and measurable after all; that interpersonal utility
comparisons can therefore be made; and that the great unicorn
of economic theory — the “social welfare function” — has finally
been spotted. Armed with these assertions, socialists around the
world believe they have finally discovered their holy grail. Now
that governments supposedly know with “scientific certainty”
what constitutes “happiness,” there can be no argument (or so
they think) against virtually unlimited government intervention
in the name of creating happiness.
Affluence is actually a disease that generates massive
unhappiness, says the Australian author of a popular book in
this field, entitled “Affluenza”. The government of Brazil is in
the process of enshrining this notion into its constitution, and
similar movements exist in Great Britain and other countries….
One of the most absurd procedures based on a constancy
assumption [i.e., the false assumption that people never alter
their preferences] has been the attempt to arrive at a consumer’s
preference scale not through observed real action, but through
quizzing him by questionnaires. In vacuo, a few consumers are
questioned at length on which abstract bundle of commodities
they would prefer to another abstract bundle, and so on. Not
only does this suffer from the constancy error, no assurance can
be attached to the mere questioning of people when they are not
confronted with the choices in actual practice. Not only will a
person’s valuation differ when talking about them from when
he is actually choosing, but there is also no guarantee that he
is telling the truth….
…Thus, “happiness research” is really a crusade to persuade
the public that poverty and servitude to the state are superior to
prosperity and freedom. It is what 20th-century communists
referred to as “socialism with a smiling face” during the last
days of Soviet and European communism.
You can read the whole article at: tiny.cc/wpvtt
Thomas DiLorenzo, professor economics, Loyola U. MD,
senior faculty Mises Institute. He’ll be teaching “Competition,
Monopoly, and Antitrust: The Austrian Perspective” at the
Mises Academy this spring. He’s author of “The Real Lincoln,”
“Lincoln Unmasked” and “How Capitalism Saved America.”
He spoke at Junto about his book “Hamilton’s Curse: How
Jefferson’s Archenemy Betrayed the American Revolution –
And What It Means for Americans.”

NEW———————————————————————
John Hospers, libertarian philosopher, completed his life at 93
He was the first Libertarian Party presidential candidate
in 1972. He was once a member of Ayn Rand’s circle, had a
falling out with her, as Anne Heller explains in her biography
of Rand.
He was one of the first people Duncan Scott interviewed for
his History of Objectivism video project.
Some regard his article on “Legal Paternalism” to be one of
the best philosophical critiques of the nanny state: tiny.cc/joj2v
Jesse Walker has a tribute in Reason.com: tiny.cc/2hwhi

NEW———————————————————————
New York City Ayn Rand Meetup June 26
Come join us this Sunday, 3:00pm.
As always, we’ll talk about Ayn Rand, her works, Objectivist
life, challenges, options, associations and knowledge.
Give and take, open to all, no charge, no reservations.
It’s at The Midtown Restaurant, 155 East 55 St, between
3rd and Lexington Avenues, in Manhattan, free.
Benny Pollack, Ayn Rand Meetup organizer says:”Join our
group of regular Objectivists for a lively discussion on topics
related to Ayn Rand and Objectivist philosophy in general.
“Please join us. If you are already versed in the topic, want
to learn or just want to spend an intellectually stimulating
afternoon, please come. I hope to see you all there.”
The Ayn Rand Meetup is on the last Sunday of each month.
Learn more about it at: AynRand.meetup.com/8

NEW———————————————————————
Ayn Rand walking tours
Fred Cookinham has a set of two Rand tours.
* Tour one: “Atlas Shrugged Tour” from the Waldorf=Astoria
to and through Grand Central Terminal.
* Tour two: “Ayn Rand’s Park Avenue Tour” from Grand Central
to Two Park Avenue.
All Ayn Rand tours are related to both her life in NYC
and her writings about the city.

* Tour one: “Atlas Shrugged Tour” 1-1/2 hour
11:00am, meet at SE corner Park Ave. and east 50th St.
See places Rand researched and fictionalized in the novel,
around and in Grand Central Terminal
Sat. July 23, Sun., July 24, Sat. Nov. 5, Sun. Nov. 6

* Tour two: “Ayn Rand’s Park Avenue Tour” 1-1/2 hour
11:00am, meet at NE corner on east 42nd St. at Vanderbilt Ave.
Where Rand lived and held her salons. Where she learned about
architecture from Ely Jacques Kahn, in his own masterpiece
Art Deco building. Scenes from “Atlas Shrugged.”
Sat. Oct. 1
plus
EVERY Wed. through Sept. 28.
6:00pm, meet at NE corner on east 42nd St. at Vanderbilt Ave.

“Skyscrapers of The Fountainhead” 2-1/2 hours
11:00am, meet at Number 1 Broadway, at Battery Place.
The changing styles in architecture — from Beaux Arts to
Art Deco to International Style — that form the background to
the story of Roark’s struggle. Was Roark Wright? — the real-life
models for Rand’s characters.
Sat. July 16, Sun. July 17, Sat. Aug. 27,
Sun. Aug. 28, Sat. Nov. 19, Sun. Nov. 20

“Ayn Rand on Broadway” 2-1/2 hours
11:00am, meet at NE corner of Broadway and west 49th St.
Skyscrapers, newspapers, Broadway & books. DeMille, Hellman
and where Alan Greenspan played sax. Where “The Night of
January 16th,” “The Unconquered” and “Think Twice” were
produced. Isabel Paterson at the Herald Tribune. Patricia Neal,
the Shuberts, the Gershwins and of course more Art Deco.
Sat. Aug. 13, Sun. Aug. 14

“Ayn Rand’s Fifth Avenue” 2-1/2 hours
11:00am, meet at the Columbus statue in Columbus Circle,
within the circle of fountains at Broadway and 59th St.
Art and architecture in the glamour shopping district of the
Twentieth Century world. Central Park So., Rockefeller Center,
the Stork Club and where Random House published “Atlas
Shrugged”. Where Rand bought her paintings, clothes and
fancy dinners.
Sat., Sep. 24, Sun. Sep. 25

For a private tour by Fred Cookinham, some Saturdays, Sundays
and evenings are open. Call the phone number at the bottom of
InDepthWalkingTours.com
Fred Cookinham’s walking tours keep getting better,
because he never stops researching. He’s often at Junto and
Ayn Rand Meetups.
$20 per person, $15 for people 65 and older. Schedule,
directions, other NYC tours: InDepthWalkingTours.com

Highlights of previous years * Fred gave special “Ayn Rand &
Free Market Tour” for Mont Pelerin Society. * Hear Fred give
“Ayn Rand’s Park Ave”. on BBC’s Radio 4 “The Right Stuff” on
their site. * His interview on “Hardfire” Ayn Rand Revealed, at
Amazon & other places. Answers questions on Rand’s life, loves,
philosophy, works & influence. Differences between helping a
person & sacrificing, when’s “volunteering” not voluntary?
Fred’s interviewer then Chair Manhattan Libertarian Party,
Joseph Dobrian. Watch part: bit.ly/ARfred

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About this NYC Junto newsletter
* Iris Bell moderates and writes this e-newsletter
* Oleg Atbashian created NYCjunto.com. He also sends out
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* Andy George helps with the sound system and supplies
the music.
* We’re looking for volunteers to help with Junto publicity.
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* This e-newsletter comes out twice a month. You might get an
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