The Atlas Society News - Volume 3, Issue 2

NEWS THE ATLAS SOCIETY

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GALA 2019: A SMASHING SUCCESS! AGAINST THE ELEGANT BACKDROP OF THE MORGAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM, The Atlas Society held its third – and most successful ever – annual fundraising gala honoring Lululemon Founder Chip Wilson. We exceeded all marks, topping revenue goals thanks to record ticket sales and the generosity of our sponsors, and attracting a star-studded guest list including friends and supporters like Steve Forbes, John Stossel and Spartan Race Founder Joe De Sena.

Gloria Alvarez mesmerized the assembled, while our glamorous emcee Sam Sorbo kept the crowd in stitches while moving along the agenda to end the program six minutes early – leaving even more time for guests to retire to the richly-appointed library of rare books for after-dinner libations! Check out our growing album of event photos on The Atlas Society’s Facebook Page. With this year’s sold out event – why not get a jump on getting your reserved seat for next year’s bash, with a donation today to cover your ticket – or table – for next year?

Jennifer Grossman, Jeffrey Tucker, Sam Sorbo

Gloria Alvarez

Joe De Sena, Chip Wilson, Baron Bond

THE ATLAS SOCIETY

PROGRAMS

NEW DRAW MY LIFE VIDEOS OUR MASSIVELY POPULAR DRAW MY LIFE VIDEO SERIES added three new releases to the library over the past several months: “My Name is Socialism,” “My Name is America” and “My Name is Gratitude.” Thus far, the three videos have attracted an aggregate of 1.5 (1,563,003) million views across multiple platforms. Viewing is one thing – engagement is another, and together all three videos received over 110,000 engagements, comments and shares.

Meet three new characters in the growing cast of this viral franchise:

NEW: DVD OF ANTHEM VIDEOS

GRATITUDE shares the story. . . not of her life, but her DEATH! She was buried alive by RESENTMENT. . . her age-old nemesis. GRATITUDE warns the country she loves: “America can never achieve greatness without being grateful.”

AMERICA was described by Ayn Rand as “the greatest, the noblest and, in its original founding principles, the only moral country in the history of the world.” In this Draw My Life video AMERICA recounts her first memories, her early stumbles, and her inkling, even in infancy, that she was special: “I knew that I was different. More than just a country. More like an idea.”

SOCIALISM was the sickly child of ALTRUISM and COLLECTIVISM...until Karl Marx did a bit of doctoring: “He surgically removed my common sense . . . even gave me utopian optical implants and inoculated me against reality.” SOCIALISM grew up to become the world’s most prolific serial killer, all in the name of the common good.

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YOU ASKED FOR IT – WE DELIVERED! Our animated VIDEO series of, ANTHEM: The Graphic Novel, was so popular that we were deluged by requests to compile the series into a DVD version. Well, now we have. Now you can watch all 18 episodes uninterrupted, on full screen, where you’ll see artist Dan Parsons’ haunting images come to life dramatizing the heroic triumph of Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 over the destructive forces of collectivism. With holidays just around the corner, ANTHEM: The Graphic Novel and DVD make great gifts for the Ayn Rand fans in your life. Order your copies on The Atlas Society eStore today! https://shop.atlassociety.org/

2019 NEWSLETTER

MEDIA

NEW PUBLICATIONS THE POCKET GUIDE TO ATLAS SHRUGGED

ATLAS SOCIETY WINS BIG AT FREEDOMFEST IN JULY VICTIMHOOD WON THE BEST SHORT NARRATIVE FILM AWARD at the Anthem Film Festival at FreedomFest, the largest annual gathering of liberty-minded individuals in the world. Other FreedomFest highlights included: July 18 – Stephen Hicks breakout session “Why Socialism Works” July 18 – Jennifer Grossman panel “After Ayn Rand: The Power and Vision of Libertarian Women” July 19 – Screening of “Victimhood,” which won the Anthem Film Festival’s Best Short Narrative Prize July 19 – Jennifer Grossman panel “The Animator’s Art: Why These Aren’t Just Cartoons Anymore” July 19 – Stephen Hicks panel “Progressive or Oppressive? Balancing the History of Manifest Destiny” July 19 – Stephen Hicks book signing, Explaining Postmodernism July 20 – Jennifer Grossman “Closing Panel” July 20 – Jennifer Grossman panel “Toxic Masculinity: Is There a ‘Cure’?”

You know what it’s like when you want to find a favorite scene or quote in Ayn Rand’s masterpiece Atlas Shrugged. We produced our new Pocket Guide to Atlas Shrugged to streamline your search. Inspired by our extremely popular Pocket Guide to Objectivism, this new booklet is a thorough, quick, and easy-to-use reader’s tool that puts a complete plot synopsis of Atlas Shrugged and an alphabetical guide to the novel’s cast of characters right at your fingertips -- get yours on Amazon.

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THE ATLAS SOCIETY

PROGRAMS

SOCIAL MEDIA THE ATLAS SOCIETY’S PRESENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA continued to gain steadily in 2019 with our Facebook audience growing by 24.7%, Twitter by 24.5%, and Instagram by 52.2%. But the real impact is not in the size of our footprints on these platforms, but in the ratio of engagement – people commenting, liking, and sharing our content. The Atlas Society’s engagement rate is greater – by both aggregate and per-post metrics – than other liberty organizations many times our size, while exponentially outperforming much larger Objectivist outfits. How? With provocative, bitesized content, such as videos, memes, and polls, that strikes a nerve and captures the imagination.

EPISTEMOLOGY RESOURCE CENTER THE EPISTEMOLOGY RESOURCE CENTER, a co-production of The Atlas Society Founder David Kelley, Ph.D and intern Andrei Volkov, went live in July. The webpage is a one-stop-shop for readers to access lectures, videos, and further reading on the subject. Newcomers to Objectivism can find introductions to reason and epistemology, while long-time Objectivists and scholars will find, among other things, a complete archive of David Kelley’s important philosophical contributions to Objectivist epistemology, such as, The Evidence of the Senses: A Realist Theory of Perception, and Evidence and Justification. Visitors to The Atlas Society website can find the landing page here: https://discover.atlassociety.org/objectivist-epistemology/

365 DAYS OF AYN RAND INSPIRATION: DESKTOP CALENDAR Based on the popular “365 Days of” calendar format – with tear off pages including everything from Bible quotes to cat photos – we’ve produced a version that repurposes some of our most popular memes, with an emphasis on quotes by Ayn Rand, our scholars, and other inspirational quotes ranging from Frederick Douglass to Isabel Paterson. For sale on our eStore in time for the holidays.

THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY OBJECTIVE PEOPLE David Kelley’s The 7 Habits of Highly Objective People argues that objectivity is “both a virtue and a skill – a virtue because it is a chosen commitment to truth and reason, a skill because the methods of thinking have to be learned.” Kelley offers seven helpful questions to ask to maintain an alignment with reality. Paperback, kindle and audiobook available on Amazon.

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