Sometimes when we sojourn through the Objectivist world, it's easy to forget that Objectivism is a radical achievement by a genius who put no life before her own. You see internecine squabbles between people loyal to this group or that. You see people spend their lives worrying about others' peccadillos and personality faults. I shake my head sometimes because that is not the stuff of greatness.

One of the distinctive features of Rand was that she struck out on her own with unborrowed vision. Now we see the spectacle of people combing over every jot, tittle and comma she wrote while missing the main theme. We, too, can approach the world with unborrowed vision, our sight made clearer by the work of those who came before us but free to explore new vistas on our own.

The world today is a place of accelerating change. Globalization is driving unprecedented cost savings throughout supply chains around the world. Intellectual property is being refined in new and useful ways to cover new technologies. Biotechnology will soon make it possible to live longer lives and reshape our own genetic destiny. New advances in neurology and cognitive psychology will open up the mysterious world of the human brain and allow us to better understand how thinking really works. New advances in semiconductors and computing have allowed us an ever wider window on the world and extended many fold our ability to understand and change it.

Let's leave the world of pedantry and pettiness to our enemies and strike out on untrodden paths, welcoming innovation and intolerant of mediocrity. Let's apply Objectivism to the hard problems of human existence, but realize that the responsibility of original thought remains with us. Let's show with our achievements what free people in a semi-capitalist society can do. Let's work to extend the reach of our freedom and enrich our culture with our uniqueness without becoming embittered by the world as it is. Let's reach for the best within us and not settle for less.

Jim