TOC Hits the Jackpot in Las Vegas

From May 3 through May 5, the staff of The Objectivist Center was in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the first annual national convention of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). The convention was a gala event with over 800 speakers, exhibitors, and attendees—and the center was at the heart of it all.

TOC's founder and executive director, David Kelley, participated in an educational forum analyzing Robert Nozick's contributions to the freedom movement, presented a detailed analysis of the nihilism that spawned the attacks of last September 11 in his "Assault on Civilization" lecture, and joined Dinesh D'Souza, author of Illiberal Education and The Virtue of Prosperity, in a debate on the moral case for capitalism. The center also had a prominent display booth, with a wealth of information, products, and Objectivist materials.

Kelley's presentations were a tremendous success. His "Assault on Civilization" talk received a rousing ovation from the standing-room-only crowd that packed in to hear his analysis. And despite a very partial moderator, who took time from both debaters to make his lengthy points, Kelley delivered a rational and highly impassioned case for the egoistic basis of capitalism.

Numerous references to Ayn Rand and Objectivism were made by many of the speakers over the course of the weekend, and The Objectivist Center was there to answer questions and promote the philosophy. "Our exhibit table received a great deal of attention," said Patrick Stephens, TOC's manager of current affairs, "with a number of people saying how glad they were to see a TOC presence at an event like FEE's. And the overwhelming response David got from his talks made the weekend a complete success." Summing up, he joked, "We went to Vegas and we came away winners!"