Washington Metro Objectivism Discussion (WMOD)
March 18, 1998 Meeting
Making Ayn Rand Swing:
Albert Murray, Ayn Rand, and the Creation of an
American/Objectivist Aesthetic
by Scott Bullock
The recent documentary, "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life," captured
Rand's artistic sensibility and, in particular, her love of the "American"
sense of life. Yet, Rand's cultural and artistic views (especially in
relation to music and literature) are largely European, not distinctively
American. Scott's talk will introduce you to the views of a remarkable
but virtually unknown thinker, black author Albert Murray. Like Rand,
Murray writes both fiction and non-fiction. Murray's books include "The
Omni-Americans", "South to a Very Old Place", and "The Blue Devils
of Nada." Some of his views on aesthetics, especially his emphasis
on the role of heroism in fiction, are remarkably similar to the theories
set forth by Rand in The Romantic Manifesto and other publications.
Murray, however, is interested in creating a distinctively American
aesthetic approach built largely on the improvisational nature of jazz
and blues. Murray also has some very interesting ideas on race, and
Scott will devote some of his remarks to Objectivism and race relations.
Fusing the approaches of Ayn Rand and Albert Murray could provide
a powerful and unique method of looking at cultural, aesthetic, and
political issues.
Scott Bullock serves as staff attorney at the Institute for Justice. He
litigates civil rights, property rights, and other constitutional issues in state
and federal courts. Some of his current cases include constitutional
challenges to inspection laws on behalf of tenants in rental housing,
including a recent victory in a case in Park Forest, IL where a federal court
struck down an inspection law, and a First Amendment challenge to the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission's campaign against investment
newsletters, computer software, and websites. He has also challenged
mandatory community service for public high school students and
authored Supreme Court briefs advocating greater protection for
commercial speech and constitutional curbs on the government's
use of civil forfeiture powers.
His articles and views on constitutional issues have appeared in the
Wall Street Journal, National Journal, The New York Times, CBS Evening
News, Good Morning America, National Public Radio, and many other
publications and broadcasts. He was also interviewed in the January
issue of the Navigator about the lecture he gave at the 1997 IOS Summer
Seminar, "Litigating for Liberty".
In addition to his legal writings, Bullock has published music criticism
in Liberty magazine and Insight. He received his law degree from the
University of Pittsburgh and his B.A. in economics and philosophy from
Grove City College where he studied under Austrian economist Hans
Sennholz. You can contact Scott at SBullock@ij.org
February Meeting
Thanks again to Jacob (Bumper) Hornberger for his stimulating talk
on "Advancing Libertarianism with Rand" on February 18. Over 30 folks
managed to find the new meeting location after the Tavern was flooded
out, and the discussion raged on till after 11pm.
When and Where is the WMOD Meeting?
Join us on Wednesday March 18. Anyone who is interested in
rational discussion of Ayn Rand's ideas is welcome. Note that we have
a NEW MEETING LOCATION that is Metro accessible. You can either
join us for drinks at 6:30pm, dinner at 7 pm and/or for the talk (free) at
8:15 pm at the Lighthouse Tavern in Rosslyn, VA just across the Key
Bridge from Georgetown. The street address is 1901 North Fort Myer
Drive, but the front door of the Tavern is actually on 19th Street.
If you come by Metro, get off at the Rosslyn Metro Exit and the
Tavern is only a block away. Take the street
exit on N Moore Street (across street from Roy Rogers/Burger King),
go out of Metro and take left on block to the intersection of N Moore
and 19th Street, and the Tavern is directly across the street. There
is a blue awning over the door and a sign for the lobster special on the
wall. If you drive, there is a Colonial Parking Garage on N. Moore that
offers free parking after 5:00 if you get your ticket validated at the
Tavern. WMOD has arranged for a $15 fixed price dinner (including
tax and tip). Or you can order from the menu. Please RSVP
to WMOD at (703) 820-7696 before noon Wednesday 3/18 so that
we can tell the restaurant how many tables to set up and how many
to expect for dinner. For more information, call the Tavern at
(703) 351-6100, or call David Saum at (703) 820-7696 (W) or (703)
671-5119 (H). If you have transportation problems, give us a call.
Future Meetings
WMOD meetings are generally held on the 3d Wednesday of the month.
We are always looking for new stimulating meeting topics related to
Objectivism. Please contact WMOD if you have suggestions for
meeting topics and locations, or if you can volunteer some time to
arrange meetings.
Sense of Life to Open in DC on March 27
Michael Paxton's movie, Ayn Rand - A Sense of Life, which was
nominated for an Academy Award (documentary), is coming to
Washington DC. This information appears at the movie's website
http://www.asenseoflife.com
Washington D.C. Opens March 27, 1998
Cineplex Odeon's Inner Circle 3
2301 M Street
Washington, DC
March 9, 1998 US News Article on Rand
Last week's issue of U.S. News and World Report had a long article
about Ayn Rand. You can read it at the following URL:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/980309/9rand.htm
WMOD Contact Information
The WMOD newsletter is $10/yr, email newsletter is free.
Contact:
Dave Saum
WMOD
PO Box 8007
Falls Church, VA 22041
Email: DSaum at infiltec.com
Phone: (703) 820-7696
Fax: (703) 671-9350
Web: http://www.infiltec.com/wmod.htm
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