Mumbai Film Screening: WE THE LIVING by Ayn Rand

The ATLAS SUNDAY PHILOSOPHY CLUB presents one of the most passionate and dazzling movie adaptations of Ayn Rand's novels.

Come watch WE THE LIVING (Italian with English subtitles) - a movie directed by Goffredo Alessandrini, and with moving performances by Alida Valli and Rossano Brazzi!

(An) ambitious and ingenious film.
—Caryn James/New York Times

WE THE LIVING by Ayn Rand

It has a passion that is undeniably moving.
—London Morning Star

...A romantic and powerfully-dramatic experience never likely to be forgotten...WE THE LIVING has the power to enslave the heart and the emotions. It's a wonderful film.
—Bill Collins/Daily Mirror (Sydney)

WE THE LIVING... qualifies in every respect as film treasure...dazzling performances...this is a film that avoids the predictable every step of the way...one of the best movies of the year.
—Mike McGrady/New York Newsday

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Spend your Sunday afternoon watching this classic (and historic) movie based on the novel We The Living by Ayn Rand.

We The Living, the movie, has an incredible history in the making--and in its journey from Fascist Italy to capitalist America in the first half of the twentieth century. Directed in 1942 by Italian director Goffredo Alessandrini, the movie was first made illegally without the permission or knowledge of Ayn Rand.

At first, the script was suppressed by the hostile fascist regime, and then cheered and honored, then finally banned again at the height of its success--as the dictators came to understand the comprehensive theme of We The Living.

"The movie adaptation of Ayn Rand’s We the Living is haunting, passionate..." -- Scott Holleran.

To learn more about this movie and buy yourself a DVD copy, visit http://wethelivingmovie.com/index.php

FOR NOW, YOU CAN WATCH THIS FILM FOR FREE!!!

Date: December 18, 2011

Time: 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Venue: Ground Floor, Health Center building, University of Mumbai, Kalina Campus, Santacruz East, Mumbai - 400055

Directions: The health center building is the first building to your right as you enter the Kalina campus main gate. The University of Mumbai in Kalina is located on CST Road, which is very close to the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Vakola.

The Atlas Sunday Philosophy Club (ASPC) presents an afternoon with Ayn Rand.

The ASPC is a social discussion group organized by Jerry Johnson on a monthly basis in Mumbai and is intended as a gathering for all fans of Ayn Rand and her ideas as well as individuals interested in learning more about this seminal philosopher.

The group welcomes vigorous discussions on Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and regularly conducts sessions on relevant topics of day, such as the politics of Anna Hazare, the relationship between atheism and self-esteem, the morality of capitalism, morality without God, and many more.

Contact Jerry Johnson at 99 303 12 685 to learn more.

You can also join the Facebook page: Ayn Rand Fans in India to stay updated on events and discussions.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/aynrandfans/

Attend the Launch of Atlas Shrugged in Marathi

Professor Mugdha Karnik from the University of Mumbai had undertaken the monumental task of translating Ayn Rand’s epic novel Atlas Shrugged into Marathi — the regional language of the state of Maharashtra–one of the most populous states in the country. [Note: Prof Karnik's thoughts on her initiative to translate Atlas Shrugged are posted here.]

I have personally heard Prof. Karnik read an excerpt from her translation during one of the Atlas Sunday Club Philosophy Salon’s I organize in Mumbai. She read the passage in which Hank Rearden is holding the dying young wet nurse in his arms. It is a stirring scene in the original novel–and listening to Prof. Karnik read it out in Marathi was equally moving.

I remember telling her at that time that I believe she did not just translate the language of Atlas Shrugged but also managed to translate the spirit of the novel.

Anyway, all of this is in preamble to the reason for this post. The new Marathi version of Atlas Shrugged is being released officially in the city. The following are details. All who are in Mumbai or can travel to the city are urged to attend:

DATE: Saturday, Feb 26, 2011

TIME: 7 pm to 8.30 pm

VENUE: Shivaji Mandir, Dadar, Mumbai

GUEST SPEAKERS

Veena Gavankar and Sharad Joshi

Dhananjay Karnik will introduce Sharad Joshi

COMPERE: Jyoti Ambekar

For more details and information about the book, you can reach out to Professor Karnik at the following address:

Mugdha D. Karnik,
Director
Centre for Extra-Mural Studies, University of Mumbai,
Vidyanagari, Kalina, Santacruz (E),
Mumbai 400098

Tel: 022-65952761/65296962
www.extramural.org

Friends Of Labor

Trade unions in India have demanded economic stimulus packages intended to increase employment in the next budget. They also emphasized the need for a national minimum wage law, which would bring in NREGS workers too under it. Curiously enough, the memorandum also calls for a prohibition on the entry of foreign companies and big corporates into the retail trade. Higher wages are expected by labor leaders when industries which make such higher wages possible are supposed to be regulated and taxed out of existence. Ayn Rand had the typical anti-capitalistic mentality in mind when she criticized people who desire cheap gasoline and at the same time want the industry to be taxed out of existence.

We all have long known how determined the trade union representative is in saving the little man, the hapless worker from the oppression, suppression and exploitation by the wicked capitalist. The unrepentant trade union leader is marked by an ever exceeding cynicism, self-imposed economic illiteracy and stupefying moral bankruptcy. In his eyes, if left to himself divorced from the clutches of the state, the businessman is omnipotent. What makes him really dangerous is not his omnipotence as such, but the fact that he is full of caprice and whim. His range of planning hardly proceeds beyond a day, and he has always had a hard time coming in grips with the fact that others too are driven by selfish motives. The only hope of the worker then lies in the totalitarian state. By the virtue of its cozy alliance with trade union thugs, the state can put a solid rein on his excesses by disciplining him whenever he exercises his whim. In the process, the state successfully legislates out of existence an artificial construct of “heartless” economists: the age old law of supply and demand.

Intellectual dishonesty is apparent in the claims of labor union leaders. If higher wages could be legislated into reality with no cost, we would have achieved it long back. The fact that they don’t demand a drastic raise in wages is enough proof that they are fighting their own knowledge that artificially higher wages would put many out of their jobs. Observe the fact that they stand in the way of any progress like increased capital investment which would significantly improve the lives of workers and show them the way out of poverty. Whatever their motives it is not a genuine concern for laborers. As labor leader Fred Kinnan says in Atlas Shrugged: “Didn't they scream that they were the friends of labor? Do you hear them raising their voices about the chain gangs, the slave camps, the fourteen-hour workday and the mortality from scurvy in the People's States of Europe?”

The notion that the Government can raise the living standards of workers violates virtually every known principle of economic science. The fact that wages are determined by the marginal productivity of labor which in turn depends on the level of invested capital is so fundamental to the issue that no labor leader can claim ignorance of it!

India's Commonwealth Games: A National Disgrace

The Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi in October happened to be a national disgrace, instead of accomplishing the collectivist goal of generating "national prestige". The Indian Economy stagnated under socialistic policies for more than four decades. In 1991, amidst the massive economic crisis, the Government began a process of deregulation. The country was economically liberalized and in the last two decades, we have witnessed immense progress. However, the quest for national prestige proves that the collectivist mindset still remains. The commonwealth Games should be opposed primarily for moral reasons, and pragmatic reasons should take the second place, writes Chak Kakani in the winter issue of The Objective Standard.

[This article was originally published in The Objective Standard and is reprinted here by special permission. © 2011 The Objective Standard]

Over the past few years, the Indian government spent $8.5 billion to host the Commonwealth Games (CWG), a multisport event akin to the Olympics, which were held in New Delhi from October 3 through 14, 2010.1 The official purpose of the CWG was to generate “national prestige” for India.2 But the Games did no such thing. In fact, the CWG were a national disgrace. The games showcased a contradiction embraced by Indians that threatens to destroy the economic and political progress they have achieved over the past two decades.

For more than four decades after India gained independence from England in 1947, India’s economy languished under the weight of the socialist policies stemming from the collectivist mind-set of the Indian people. As the economy faltered, India borrowed heavily from other countries and, especially, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In 1991, due to decades of low productivity and mounting debt, India faced a massive economic crisis: The Indian currency was destabilizing and the government could not pay its debts.

To receive extensions on the debt payments due, the Indian government reluctantly agreed to certain “deregulations” of its economy. In one such allowance, the government loosened restrictions on foreign investments, enabling foreigners to purchase up to 51 percent ownership in certain state-owned enterprises.3 This and similar pragmatic steps resulted in an influx of capital, stabilized the currency, satisfied lenders’ concerns about India’s ability to eventually pay its debts, and led the IMF to temporarily defer India’s loan payments.4 This process of “deregulation” came to be known as “the economic liberalization of India.”

Over the next two decades,

2nd 'monthly Atlas meet' in Delhi

The wonderful participation that we had for the first session of the monthly Atlas meet in Delhi, has me really looking forward to the next one coming up on the 22nd of August! This time we should have even better participation, with new faces in our mix...

The venue remains the same as before (inlingua International School of Languages, N-12, South Ex - 1, New Delhi -49), as does the time (5 pm - 8 pm). In fact, according to a decision made in the previous session, the monthly meeting in Delhi will be scheduled for the fourth Saturday of every month - advance notice so that you can make early entries in your appointments diary! Watch this space for information about the agenda.

Please confirm your participation on info@anyrand.in, or contact me at amar@aynrand.in. For further details, please click here.