Las Vegas Conference on Values of Capitalism

The Objectivist Center held its 2004 Spring Conference on April 17 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The theme was "Values of Capitalism." The scene was the sumptuous Treasure Island Hotel and Casino.

David Kelley opened the conference, explaining the theme with these comments: "Ayn Rand offered a new philosophical defense of capitalism.…But this philosophical understanding of the values of capitalism, valuable as it is, is highly abstract. It leaves open many specific questions about the values of capitalism in practice. The purpose of this conference is to address some of those questions."

TOC Director of Programs William Thomas led off with a talk entitled "The Ethics of 'Late' Capitalism." He asked whether the capitalism of recent years is "late capitalism," a stumbling social system that has lost its ethical bearings and is collapsing under its own contradictions. Explaining that the economic scandals of recent years pose a challenge to defenders of the free market, Thomas summarized the highlights of the scandals at Enron, WorldCom, mutual-fund firms like Putnam Investments, and Italian milk giant Parmalat. "But the real scandal," Thomas said, "was the bubble economy of the late 1990s." There, he charged, widespread and rampant irrationality had provided the environment in which hype and fraud could thrive. His cultural diagnosis was moral: it was not greed but a failure to hold to standards of objectivity and independence that had corrupted so many companies and led the marketplace astray.

Advertising executive Barbara Alpern Lehman gave the second talk of the morning. Her topic was "Entrepreneurial Living: What It Takes," and she drew on her own life experience in an engaging journey from learning the theory of Objectivism to throwing her heart into making a life worthy of an Objectivist hero. Lehman shared many of the principles that have proved most useful to her, enlivening them with anecdotes concerning companies she had founded (and folded) and mentors who had provided her guidance. The theme of the many maxims Lehman offered was that life has to be made and earned through effective practical efforts in the real world, dealing with real people. She counseled Objectivists against alienation and passivity. To judge from their enthusiastic response, this rich lode of practical counsel was music to the ears of the audience at the conference.

After a delicious lunch, the conference turned to more political topics. TOC Washington Director Edward Hudgins diagnosed the causes of "The Death of Small Government" under the current Bush administration. After sketching the exceptionally high rates of growth of government spending under George W. Bush, Hudgins offered some plausible general explanations: because "Atlas endures rather than shrugs" and the economy keeps on growing, politicians get away with increasing the reach of government without "killing the goose that lays the golden egg." Hudgins then moved on to a survey of the current ideological scene, contrasting traditional conservatives, libertarians, and neo-conservatives. Objectivism, he argued, has a vital contribution to make in the ideological arena: defending the moral propriety of rational self-interest. Free-market ideas can make headway in the culture only with a moral defense of the values behind capitalism.

The final talk of the day was "The Patriot Act: Panic and Power," presented by Bruce Dalcher. An attorney recently retired from the United States Coast Guard (where he taught maritime law), Dalcher offered a balanced and often chilling tour through the disparate and obscure passages of the USA PATRIOT Act. Dubbing the act one of the worst pieces of legal writing ever perpetrated, Dalcher pointed out that, when untangled, it contains a mix of solid provisions for fighting the threat of terrorism, along with a "wish list" of provisions designed to release law-enforcement personnel from any interference or even oversight from outside the executive branch. Among the issues of great concern, Dalcher highlighted the anti-conceptual broadening of definitions of terms such as "terrorist" beyond any normal meaning of the terms, and a contemptuous abrogation of the basic separation of powers through requirements that judges "shall approve" warrant requests at the demand of anti-terrorism investigators, with no leeway for judicial dissent. The second provision means that the judges have no discretion in reviewing warrants. They serve merely as clerks. Thus, Dalcher said, the "panic" following the acts of September 11, 2001 led to the willy-nilly arrogation of power to the executive branch in the days that followed.

Social events were an important part of the conference. The events began with an informal gathering on the evening of Friday, April 16, and concluded with a reception for the speakers and attendees. There was an atmosphere of conviviality and joie de vivre. The group then dispersed, taking in the entertainments of Las Vegas with old and new friends.