The Irreplaceable Spark Conference - Part III

Radicals for Capitalism

Photo by Paul Bill on Unsplash

The first of its kind Irreplaceable Spark Conference was hosted by the intrepid leaders of the Ayn Rand Centre UK last month in Southern California - and wouldn’t you know it; a Hollywood actor had a starring role!

In character, Mark Pellegrino’s screen credits include Jacob on Lost, Lucifer on Supernatural, Paul Bennett on Dexter, Clayton Haas on Quantico, and Deputy Standall on 13 Reasons Why. But true to his character, he is known for acting with principles grounded in the moral excellence of reality.

What is the moral excellence of reality? And what are the principles? For a complete analysis of those questions, it is best to become a student of Objectivism and learn from the fountainhead – Ayn Rand. But for conference attendees, Mark’s talk offered his perspective on applied Objectivism in culture that is hostile to reason, individualism, capitalism. To summarize his talk, here are some of the highlights:

1. The anti-intellectualism in Hollywood is rationalized by its shared belief that the mind is antithetical to creativity.

2. Actors follow culture and trends to maintain their popularity. Subconsciously, their ethics and politics will follow mainstream ideas.

3. Right and left think they’re the only alternatives – and that creates a world of impulsivity and rage.

4. To be a “unicorn” among this crowd is to be of unknown character. The dominant culture doesn’t know what to make of you.

5. Objectivism is in a unique position to solve the schism in American culture today.

6. Capitalism reflects the system of moral values.

And to learn the principles of capitalism and practice them routinely is not easy - and for that, the conference did not offer specific guidance that would apply to a large and diverse audience. But a great place to begin is in Chapter 3 of The Moneyball Method:

Thanks to the capitalists who unleashed their creative energy, the very existence of America benefits the entire world. This is because markets, a man-made phenomenon, share two impor­tant aspects with reality — they are complex, dynamic systems and they don’t care about your prosperity, health, or happiness.

In other words, it is impossible for any of us to change the culture in our extended domain unless we reject the common wisdom of the bureaucratic state in our personal domains, replace it with objective principles, and then purposeful action.

To begin, the most concrete example of Statism that affects our daily lives involve money, and that begins with a newly discovered respect for money and its predicate – wealth creation, as Chapter 1 recommends:

With gratitude, all wealth – money or machinery, real estate or fine art, energy reserves or concrete slabs, patents or pencils — should be recognized as the legacy of countless individuals.

Next, regarding that world of impulsivity and rage, right and left also fight over the solutions to government deficits and the massive debt – and they are both wrong. The Keynesians of “the left” demand higher taxes to boost revenue. The supply-siders of the “right” demand lower marginal tax rates to boost revenue. Both sides ignore the fact that federal revenue incentivizes greater spending and greater debt.

And lastly (for now), to become the unicorns that are true radicals for capitalism, we can join Mark and become a member of americancapitalistparty.org, but we must:

1. Thoroughly reject any revenue scheme to the Treasury department that does not fund the protection of rights and enforcement of contracts.

2. In turn, that means to reject the Statist ideas of unjust prices and inefficient markets that infect economic analysis and market predictions.

3. Then personally adopt the principles of free will, the price discovery mechanism, Say’s Law of Markets, defined values and goals, and capital market uncertainty.

Details about these principles and procedures can be found in Chapter 7 titled: Cashing the Reality Check. And the next article in this series will highlight another memorable speaker from the first Irreplaceable Spark Conference hosted by Ayn Rand Centre UK. Stay tuned!