A Busy Time for The Objectivist Center

This spring, staff members from The Objectivist Center will be traveling around the country—attending conventions, sponsoring conferences, and even opening a branch office.

As Navigator goes to press, several staff members are scheduled to participate in the first national convention of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), to be held in Las Vegas from May 3 through May 5. A gala weekend event, the convention will host more than five hundred free-market advocates from around the world and will feature speakers such as Nathaniel Branden, Charles Murray, Tibor Machan, and Ben Stein.

The Objectivist Center will participate in two forums. David Kelley will debate Dinesh D'Souza on the topic "Is Selfishness a Virtue: What is the Best Moral Case for Capitalism?" D'Souza, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author of Illiberal Education: The End of Racism and The Virtue of Prosperity: Finding Values in an Age of Techno-Affluence (reviewed in the March 2001 Navigator). Kelley will also present "The Assault on Civilization," a commentary on the destruction of the World Trade Center as an attack on the values of civilization itself. Both events are scheduled for Saturday, May 4.

On Wednesday, May 22, the center will hold an informal conference at the Union League Club in Chicago. "After 9/11" will address the political, cultural, and personal issues that have been raised since the events of last September: the war against terrorism, heightened security, the threat to civil liberties, foreign policy questions, and the sense of vulnerability that has led many people to rethink what is important in their lives. A panel discussion featuring Stephen Hicks, Edward Hudgins, and David Kelley will be moderated by Patrick Stephens. An extensive question-and-answer period and an informal cocktail reception will follow.