zo. Since I was probably that issue’s onlyrnreader—everybody else was out buyingrngiblets and stocking up on lentils —Irnmust report the stale news it contained,rnin the form of the Index of Preparednessrnfor the Future and another called the Indexrnof Social Harmony. “Which of thernfifteen member states of the EuropeanrnUnion,” the statisticians were asked, “isrnthe most innovative and dynamic {piii dinamicirne innovativi)?” Last on the list wasrnItaly. “Which European coimtry affordsrnthe best opportunity of living in peacern{dove si vive piii serenamente)?” First onrnthe list is Italy.rnWhat 1 am saying here, politics apart,rnis that Panorama’s cockamamie sociologistsrnare obviously right on the money.rnLike Lord Byron, the world is unhappy.rnIt yearns to be innovative and dynamic.rnIt wants new, stranger, and stronger sensationsrnand experiences, not peace andrnhomegrown tomatoes from Sant’ Erasmo.rnIt is only nominally Christian—as,rnan^-vvay, was Bvron—in the sense that itrnno longer feels Christ’s wounds as itsrnown, and certainly has no intimate, keen-rn1)’ remembered knowledge of any morernrecent wounds, and of any more efficientrnmethods of inflicting them, than thernCrucifixion. The zones less remote fromrnphysical suflFering are, for the people ofrnthe United States and Europe —in whosernhands the prosperit) and the libert)’ of thernworld are still held provisionally—somethingrnakin to the famous Steinberg cartoonrnof Manhattan, where Rhodes,rnKerensky, Atdee, Hitler, Stalin, Attila,rnMcCarthy, Napoleon, Mao, Nixon, Lincoln,rnWashington, Churchill, Franco,rnHenry VIII, Charies IX, Nicholas I, Gorbachev,rnMedici, and Milosevic make uprna giant Pol Pot of schoolbook historyrntwaddle whose relevance to the individualrncitizen of the West, mutatis mutandis,rnis infinitely smaller than the appeal of arnnationally advertised brand of sportswear.rnWhich one of us, on being approachedrnby a homosexual prostitute inrnthe men’s lavatory at Grand Central Station,rnmost plausibly a Hollywoodrnscriptwriter who was last paid for a storyrn1 5 years ago and has since become arnheroin addict, will give him $100 andrnwhisper: “No, his life is not over. He canrnstart again, maybe learning to weave basketsrnfor a gallery in the Village, or tornmake funny-shaped pies for children’srnparties. Better yet, he can set up an Internetrnsite, where even Siberian villagersrncan share his sad experiences and learnrnfrom them. He can change, get married.rnread Kant’s Prolegomena on Saturdayrnnights and the Bible on Sundays. At thernvery least he can become a real-estaternbroker. Did Saul not become Paul?”rnWhat I am saying here, I repeat, is thatrnthe world’s accelerating slide into the totalitarianrnabvss is as culturally preconditionedrnas the likely self-destruction of thernman in the lavatory. Politics, in view ofrnthe wholesale evisceration of democraticrnpolitics in America and Britain—to sayrnnothing of the Russian and Eastern Europeanrnsimulacrum that was never intendedrnto supersede or impede the rulingrnAndropovite junta —ave only a small factorrnin this process of degradation, andrneven the soundest possible electoral outcomesrncan no more reverse the trendrnthan the unexpected, and frankly unlikely,rngift of a $100 bill can change the life,rnand avert the death, of a degenerate moronrnon the skids.rnThe difference, heartbreaking as I feelrnit, is that the Christian world of todaystillrnfull of beaut)’, sfill God-abiding of arnsevere winter day, still verdant in springfimern—is more like the doomed Lord Byronrnthan it is like the HIV-positivernscriptwriter. It is external circumstancesrnthat have changed. If a British peer of thernrealm in 1820 was, like Britain and thernFOR THOSE WHO DON’T WANT THEm MINDS DIGITALIZED!rnPlease read Peter Erickson’s The Stance Of Atlas: An Examination Of The Philosophy OfAyn Rand.rnMore than a criticism, it answers many of the questions which Rand had attempted. Writes Dean Turner,rnProfessor Emeritus in the Philosophy of Education at Northern Colorado University and author of severalrnbooks on philosophy and science:rnMr Erickson does not argue against capitalism, nor is he a skeptic of reason. But he does refute several other key doctrines. He revealsrnimportant connections between her philosophy and Lenin’s Dialectical Materialism. He surmises that she changed those parts which wererninconsistent with laissez faire capitalism and the inviolability of the law of identity, retaining such features as its atheism. He also shows thernconnection between her thought and Einstein’s theory of relativity.rnMr. Erickson argues that Rand inconsistently held a view mid-way between monism and dualism or pluralism. Ayn Rand offered a new theory ofrnthe concept based on the idea of similarity. Mr. Erickson shows that significant parts of this theory are fallacious. She believed that her philosophyrnheld the key to the solution of the problem of induction. He not only refutes this belief but shows how the problem was solved in large part by thernlate John Cook Wilson, Professor of Logic at Oxford University. Mr. Erickson also refutes Rand’s attempt to solve the problem of universals; thenrnhe provides his answer.rnIn her theory of ethics. Rand attempted to solve the famous fact-value problem by arguing that the concept ‘”value” is inexplicable in the absencernof the concept “life.” Mr. Erickson shows that, at most, her theory can account for those ideas dependent on physical survival and minimum mentalrnhealth: that it cannot account for much of the higher values … The result other radical inconsistencies is that, despite her exaltation ofrnindividualism, she and her followers have ended up trying to institutionalize her philosophy. No deviations allowed!rnBased in part upon this book, the author has come up with a new proof of God’s existence, solved thernmystery of / – l , and more. So might you!rn364 PAGES, INCLUDING INDEX.– PAPERBACK.rnPRICE: $19.95 +($4.00 for postage and liandling) = $23.95 . (Visa, Master, Amex, checks.)rnTOLL FREE: 1-888-492-200 LrnHERAKLES PRESS, INC.rnP.O. BOX 8725 PORTLAND, OR 97207rnAPRIL 2000/37rnrnrn