THE ATLAS SOCIETY
NEWS atlassociety.org | donate@atlassociety.org
A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO
Last year we were thrown into a landscape that was both unfamiliar—and all too familiar: Irrational mandates from central planners… property rights violated by bureaucrats…and property vandalized by looters. Calls for sacrifice to “the common good” — suddenly main street America looked like the desolate, decaying Starnesville from Atlas Shrugged... sliding headlong toward the dystopia of Anthem. Lockdowns upended our meticulously planned monthly schedule of student conferences, speaking engagements and campus events. Many donors saw their livelihoods and businesses destroyed. Our young people saw their campuses closed...and new job opportunities evaporated. Yet in the midst of the chaos we also saw opportunity: • To reinvent our programming with online webinars and seminars • To forge a community for donors with online events • To stand fast by our principles in rejecting government bailouts • And to cut through the noise with a clear and uncompromising message of the sovereignty of the individual, the supremacy of reason, the sanctity of property, the inviolability of speech, the moral superiority of capitalism, and the evil of collectivism—in its hydra-like manifestations, from racial identity to redistributive injustice As a result, 2020 was our biggest breakthrough year on record, in terms of growth of engagement with our videos, publications, and social media content—and a year of equally unprecedented development in terms of revenue growth, despite our rejection of government handouts. We’re poised for investment and expansion in 2021 and beyond, not just domestically, but increasingly internationally, with the launch of our sister organization in Latin America—Sociedad Atlas—and new translated content reaching tens of millions of people globally, with the ideas of Ayn Rand presented in dramatic, accessible, entertaining formats. We are so grateful for your generosity, and for the fellowship we share in defending the moral foundations of freedom during times of unprecedented assault. We will not stop until we’ve inoculated every young mind against the infection of envy, resentment, and victimhood with the liberating values of individualism, reason, achievement, and benevolent self-interest. JENNIFER GROSSMAN CEO, The Atlas Society
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PHILOSOPHY IN ACTION “As a human being, you have no choice about the fact that you need a philosophy,” observed Ayn Rand. Your only choice is whether you define your philosophy through conscious, disciplined thought, “or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap” of wishes and slogans, “fused into a single, solid weight: self-doubt— like a ball and chain in the place where your mind’s wings should have grown.” For years, government education and failed Marxists seeking refuge in postmodernist grievance politics have been relentlessly adding to the “junk heap” of ideas—from critical race theory to social justice to safe spaces to climate apocalyptics. Young people shackled with a “mongrel philosophy” of guilt, entitlement, and fragility are entering the labor market less focused on work and more focused on “woke” signaling, with little understanding not just of the exigencies of operating a business but of the morality of ownership, trade, and responsibility. Throw into that precarious mix a political, health “expert” and media class who reacted to a global pandemic with panic-fueled, power-hungry, massively destructive measures which bespoke an Orwellian disregard of science in the name of science—and with a breathtakingly callous disregard for the damage caused. The ensuing violence was more than pent-up frustrations with lockdowns and expressions of racial anger. No, people internalized the government’s unintended message: “If our leaders don’t care about truth, about property, about freedom, about beauty... then why should I?“ But for those of us who still do care, who don’t take cues from politicians, who swim against the nihilistic cultural tide—who yearn to live not as nostalgic rememberers of “better days” but as pioneers on the frontier of a freer, more dynamic tomorrow, we are paving the path to that frontier at The Atlas Society. The young people who join our webinars, seminars, book clubs—who flock to our speakers and throng our booths with the return to in-person conferences—they are the young pioneers of that future, a future which is real, which exists, which is possible, which is theirs. At The Atlas Society, we seek not to prepare the road for the young person but to prepare the young person for that road. Here’s how we’re doing it—with your help.
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TABLE OF
CONTENTS Philosophy in Action..................................................... 3 Our Mission.................................................................... 5 Meet Our Newest Scholars.......................................... 5 Atlas Advocates.............................................................. 7 Social Media................................................................... 9 The Atlas Society Asks.................................................10 “Draw My Life” Animated Videos..............................11 The Atlas Society Goes Global...................................12 Doubling Our Content................................................13 Special Projects............................................................15 Our Goal.......................................................................19
OUR MISSION The Atlas Society promotes open Objectivism: the philosophy of reason, achievement, individualism, benevolence, and freedom. Objectivism is designed as a guide to life, and it celebrates the remarkable potential and power of the individual. Objectivism is a philosophy of reason, with an optimistic view of the world and an entrepreneurial approach to our place in it. It has the logical consistency, the moral clarity, and the intellectual accessibility to serve as the basis for a new Enlightenment, a culture committed to reason, achievement, and freedom. We know that the ideas of Objectivism will help everyone, and young people in particular, to understand their world, define their purpose, choose their values, and live their lives to the fullest. The Atlas Society succeeds in teaching this philosophical groundwork through our student programs, animated videos, webinars, and publications.
NEW ADDITIONS TO OUR INTELLECTUAL POWERHOUSE MEET OUR NEWEST SCHOLARS ANTONELLA MARTY
Senior Fellow & CEO of La Sociedad Atlas Antonella Marty is the CEO of La Sociedad Atlas and Senior Fellow at The Atlas Society. She is also the Associate Director of the Center for Latin America at Atlas Network, the Director of the Center for American Studies at Fundación Libertad (Argentina) and Senior Fellow at Fundación Internacional para la Libertad (Spain), the think tank led by Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. She is also a Latin American Policy Fellow at the Consumer Choice Center and the host of the podcast Hablemos Libertad and author of four books. “Today more than ever, we have to promote Ayn Rand’s ideas all over the region, all over Latin America, those ideas that bet on a more open globalized capitalist and peaceful world. We need to understand the importance of how laissez faire capitalism is the most effective antidote to the poverty we experienced in Latin America. The solution is in the individuals, in their talents. In those heroes Rand told us about in her novels, that’s the solution, not the government. La Sociedad Atlas will be vital to change this mentality in Latin America and make the world a better place.” — Antonella Marty
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NEW ADDITIONS TO OUR INTELLECTUAL POWERHOUSE (CONT.)
RICHARD SALSMAN, Ph.D. — Senior Scholar
Dr. Richard M. Salsman is an assistant professor of political economy at Duke University, founder and president of InterMarket Forecasting, Inc., a senior fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, and now senior scholar at The Atlas Society. In the 1980s and 1990s he was a banker at the Bank of New York and Citibank and an economist at Wainwright Economics, Inc. Dr. Salsman has authored three books: Breaking the Banks: Central Banking Problems and Free Banking Solutions (1990), Gold and Liberty (1995), and The Political Economy of Public Debt: Three Centuries of Theory and Evidence (2017). His next book, Where Have all the Capitalists Gone?, will be published in 2021 by the American Institute for Economic Research. He is also the author of a dozen chapters and scores of articles. His work has appeared in the Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, Reason Papers, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, The Economist, the Financial Post, The Intellectual Activist, and The Objective Standard. Dr. Salsman earned his B.A. in economics from Bowdoin College (1981), his M.A. in economics from New York University (1988), and his Ph.D. in political economy from Duke University (2012). “Perhaps some eyebrows were raised when I joined the staff of The Atlas Society as Senior Scholar back in February. After all, I’ve been teaching Objectivist principles, in one manner or another, for three decades, and for much of that time had aligned with a more closed approach to Ayn Rand’s philosophy. “But like so many before me—including many donors to and trustees of the organization I now represent—I eventually found that the dogmatic, tribal school of Objectivism was incompatible with honest, independent thinking (the primary virtue advocated by Rand). I joined The Atlas Society because I fervently believe the ideas of Ayn Rand deserve to be promoted with creativity, openness, and innovation.” — Richard Salsman
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ATLAS ADVOCATES ATLAS ADVOCATES—students from across the world flock to the Atlas Society’s student programs! It is their unique opportunity to network with one another as they begin their launch into the professional working world. For over a year now, we have hosted a monthly book club, where students read books ranging from political books like The Case Against Socialism, and books by philosophers like Jason Hill with his book, We Have Overcome, to our very own Pocket Guide to Postmodernism. This book club group has a unique opportunity to engage with the authors themselves in an intimate virtual setting. Our enthusiastic members volunteer to distribute books at their schools or local libraries across the country and at events across the world. Our Atlas Advocates have distributed 10,958 COPIES of our graphic novels in the last year alone!
IN-PERSON STUDENT-CENTERED EVENTS
2020 “I was truly lost growing up due to the constant exposure to socialist propaganda. During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically, I did not know what I wanted to do and followed my peers in order to get by until I was exposed to the ideas of Ayn Rand and The Atlas Society. Being around like-minded and thoughtful people has made my formerly dimmed light from social programming shine brighter than ever!”
— Georges Toussaint
Turning Point USA Student Action Summit Students for Liberty Northeast Regional Conference Students for Liberty Mid-Atlantic Conference
2021 Turning Point USA Southwest Regional Conference, Young Latino Leadership Summit, and the Young Women’s Leadership Summit Young Americans for Liberty Revolution Students for Liberty Freer Future Fest
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WATERFALL—AN IN-DEPTH EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN Visit the Waterfall Courses on our website to dive into these perennial and contemporary themes—Money, Socialism, Postmodernism, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Slavery and Reparations, Objectivity, Envy, Capitalism, Individual Rights, Egoism versus Altruism, and more. Those who enjoy this content are invited to join our Atlas Intellectuals—a monthly seminar hosted by our very own Senior Scholar Stephen Hicks.
MORALS & MARKETS Morals and Markets explores the intersections between ethics, politics, economics, and markets with Professor Richard Salsman. These interactive once-monthly learning discussions are new to our program offerings. Morals & Markets is marketed to college and freshly post-college-aged philomaths—the young people who join Dr. Salsman truly have a love of learning and we are honored to add a deeper enrichment to their studies.
RECENT COURSE TOPICS: Big Tech Attacks: Who’s Truly Guilty? The Religious Marxism of Critical Race Theory Should College Be Free & Student Debts Cancelled? Why Environmentalism is Anti-Capitalism Freedom vs. Censorship “Effective Altruism” as Slavish Labor
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“Morals and Markets has been a spectacular learning experience for me. Professor Salsman’s lectures and guided discussions have opened my eyes to alternative ways of viewing issues and generally strengthened my grasp of the intersections between philosophy, politics, and economics.” — Gaurav Sharma
“Morals & Markets provides students of all levels an opportunity to engage with some of the most interesting (and sometimes difficult!) issues in philosophy, politics, and economics. Professor Salsman’s experience as an outstanding educator and commitment to presenting a holistic view of contemporary tensions between public policy and moral philosophy encourage vibrant debate and an unparalleled learning experience. I am enthusiastic about Dr. Salsman’s future iterations of Morals & Markets with the support of The Atlas Society!” — Nikhil Sridhar
SOCIAL MEDIA Expansion, Diversification, EXPLOSION! With 230 million impressions over the last 12 months across all social media channels, The Atlas Society is reaching a monumental global audience online. Our Facebook audience has grown over 800% in the past four years alone. More impressively, each piece of content averages nearly 20,000 unique engagements (i.e., shares, comments, and likes, or comment on) by Facebook users alone. This metric—“Average Per Post Engagement” or APPE—is two to five times that of similar organizations.
THE ATLAS SOCIETY INSTAGRAM
52,660
177,464
35,288
2,901
TIKTOK
1,949
LA SOCIEDAD ATLAS
88 MILLION
*
GLOBAL IMPRESSIONS
8 MILLION* ENGAGEMENTS
FOLLOWERS
FOLLOWERS
2,968
1,190
390
320,000+
FOLLOWERS ACROSS ALL PLATFORMS
390M
JAG
VIDEO VIEWS IN PAST YEAR
FOLLOWERS
37,000
6,495
INSTAGRAM TAP-THROUGHS PER WEEK
916
19,000
12,615
AVERAGE PER POST ENGAGEMENT
*Since 02/01/2021
CURRENT EVENTS PANEL With much of the media focused only on fear-mongering, sound-bites, and partisan talking points, our scholars bring a deeper dive to hotbutton issues with an Objectivist perspective. Our Senior Scholars—Dr. Stephen Hicks, Dr. Richard Salsman, and founder Dr. David Kelley—have addressed topics such as critical race theory, cyberterrorism, inflation, gun control, and even the Derek Chauvin verdict, in our monthly Current Events panel— providing a philosophical perspective on issues while taking questions from our audience via Zoom, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
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Out of the necessity of lockdowns, we started a weekly webinar in which we invite entrepreneurs, economists, artists, and other luminaries to a live discussion that’s simultaneously live-streamed to Zoom, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. With as many as 180,000 viewers per episode, some recent guests include Chip Wilson, venture capitalist Tim Draper, John Mackey, Art Laffer, Steve Forbes, Victor Davis Hanson, Johan Norberg, and Marian Tupy.
650,000 views
WHAT VIEWERS SAY “So great! Clear thought. Quiet temperaments. Major intellectual discussion, compared to what’s going on in the rest of the country. But not just comparative, these guys are top notch thinkers that I admire greatly. Read Stephen’s book on postmodernism twice. Heroes for our time. I thank you for the invite. “ -- Mike Heil
60+ webinars
WHAT GUESTS SAY TIM DRAPER “Thank you for such an in-depth interview. I don’t think I have ever had anyone do better research on me in advance of an interview.”
SEBASTIAN JUNGER “It was a pleasure to join and to ask my questions. Many thanks to The Atlas society and the opportunity to hear Michael Saylor. Looking forward to the next event.” -- Andreas H. “The Frank Brooks interview was one of your best and most meaningful among a plethora of great conversations with amazing people over these months. Your programs bring a light into a darkening world.” - Kate Jones “Thank you for hosting such great virtual content, and I look forward to future events!” - Rebecca Day THE ATLAS SOCIETY NEWS 10
“Thank you, I enjoyed it enormously.”
NADINE STROSSEN “Many thanks to both of you – I really enjoyed it!”
JASON HILL “Thanks so much for arranging this interview. It’s so wonderful to have a long-format interview where one can really flesh out ideas.”
“DRAW MY LIFE” ANIMATED VIDEOS Five years ago, our videos consisted largely of academic lectures that drew a couple of hundred views at most. Today’s animated videos regularly attract over a million views and tens of thousands of engagements each. This “Draw My Life” video series combines speed-ramped hand drawing of action and characters with voice-over, music, and effects. But the appeal of this genre is less the production quality than the authenticity—the human element of the artist at work, and the boldness of the moral message driven forward by the unfolding narrative. It’s this unique mix that has drawn more than 45 million views to our “Draw My Life” videos across all our social media platforms. The translations of these videos have seen enormous success—with 10 different languages already under our belts, we are ready to take on more, as we want as many eyes on the content as possible. If you are interested in supporting the translation of one of these videos, email tas@atlassociety.org!
PREVIOUS VIDEOS MY NAME IS... • • • • • • • • • • •
Ayn Rand Dagny Taggart Hank Rearden Victimhood America Gratitude Frederick Douglass Money Greed Envy Jennifer Grossman
2020 MY NAME IS... • • • • • • • • •
Socialism Venezuela Chip Wilson Bernie Sanders Ludwig von Mises Coronavirus Hong Kong Postmodernism Free Speech
2021 MY NAME IS... • • • •
Peter Diamandis Kira Argounova Property Rights New York
COMING SOON! • • • • •
Howard Roark Mars Objectivism Cancel Culture Capitalism
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THE ATLAS SOCIETY GOES GLOBAL A year ago we began experimenting with Spanish translations of our videos, live interviews in Spanish, and the publication and distribution of our translated Pocket Guides to Latin America. We found an audience not only eager to learn more about Objectivism but who resonated with the welcoming, inclusive, fun ways in which we present Ayn Rand’s ideas. With the learning garnered and the partnerships built over the past year, the time was ripe to formally launch the Latin American branch of our organization.
Translated “Draw My Life” videos The Atlas Society is dedicated to introducing Ayn Rand to the broadest audience possible—which meant tapping into a worldwide marketplace. In 2020 we produced six translated videos and have already translated ten videos in 2021. These videos are being viewed by tens of millions of people around the globe! Translations include: Spanish, French, Portuguese, Hindi, Georgian, Japanese, Hebrew, Vietnamese, and Arabic.
FOLLOW OUR SPANISH SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES! INSTAGRAM
@sociedadatlas
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@LaSociedadAtlas
@LaSociedadAtlas
SOCIEDAD ATLAS is our Spanish sister organization, where we seek to promote Ayn Rand’s ideas throughout Latin America, as well as to Spanish speakers here at home. Today more than ever, Latin America needs Ayn Rand’s ideas. Sociedad Atlas is succeeding in reaching this important demographic by promoting individualism, achievement, reason, and liberty. With the recruitment of Antonella Marty as CEO of Sociedad Atlas and by doubling our content and programs, we are already reaching thousands of people a week on social media with the philosophical ammunition they need to combat the socialist ideology plaguing many Latin American countries.
DOUBLING OUR CONTENT! ¡PREGÚNTALE A LA SOCIEDAD ATLAS!—Spanish language interviews similar to our “Ask The Atlas Society” format, inviting politicians, authors, artists, and others, 3-4 times a month (Marty, and also Grossman to interview).
INSTAGRAM TAKEOVERS—in Spanish on La Sociedad Atlas Instagram channel every week, where Marty (and partners) respond to followers’ questions with quick video answers.
INSTAGRAM LIVE—interviews monthly with notable thought leaders and social media personalities. SPANISH BOOK CLUB—similar to our Atlas Advocates Book Club but in Spanish, discussing books by Ayn Rand, Atlas Society publications, and other readings vital for understanding Objectivism.
ACADEMIA AYN RAND—hybrid in-person/virtual seminar for selected groups of 30 young people from Latin America, once a year, with an education program on Objectivism led by Marty and Latin American scholars.
¿QUÉ PENSARÍA AYN RAND?—Video Series for filming late 2021, featuring Marty with Objectivist takes on topics ranging from immigration to entrepreneurship, from race to relationships.
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NUESTROS LIBROS EN ESPAÑOL
Ayn Rand & Business Ethics / Ayn Rand y la Ética Empresarial Contemporánea
Ayn Rand & Altruism / Ayn Rand y El Altruismo
Pocket Guide to Objectivism / Guía de Bolsillo del Objetivismo
Pocket Guide to Postmodernism / Guía de Bolsillo del Postmodernismo
The 7 Habits of Highly Objective People/ Los 7 Hábitos de las Personas Altamente Objetivas
Pocket Guide to Atlas Shrugged / Guía de Bolsillo de La Rebelión de Atlas
POCKET GUIDES NOW AVAILABLE! Pocket Guide to The Fountainhead The Pocket Guide to The Fountainhead, is a thorough, quick, and easy-to-use readers’ tool for fans and first-time readers alike. It includes a complete plot synopsis of the novel and an alphabetical guide to the novel’s cast of characters. Whether you are reading the novel for the first time or the fifteenth, this Pocket Guide provides an at-a-glance encapsulation of all the twists and turns in Rand’s epic tribute to creativity and integrity.
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COMING SOON! Pocket Guide to Capitalism Capitalism is far more (and better) than just an economic system: it’s a durable social system with pillars anchored in philosophy, psychology, politics, and economics. In this pocket guide, professor Salsman explains that capitalism is sustainable because practical, practical because moral, and moral because egoistic. Foes of capitalism no longer deny its power to generate broad prosperity; at root they oppose it for its objectivity and morality.
SPECIAL PROJECTS GETTING GRAPHIC Three years ago, the graphic novel market was virtually untapped by the liberty movement. That changed with The Atlas Society’s publication of ANTHEM: The Graphic Novel—and the premiere of our animated series adapting the story and Dan Parson’s arresting illustrations. Since then, over 150,000 copies of ANTHEM have been distributed to our partner organizations, libraries, homeschool groups, prisons, comic cons, and more! The 18-episode video series has attracted over 555,000 views on YouTube and Facebook.
NOW AVAILABLE!
RED PAWN This runaway success inspired us to undertake our second graphic novel project, with the adaptation of Ayn Rand’s lesser-known, unproduced 1932 screenplay of Red Pawn, in which “Joan Harding” goes undercover, presenting herself as a companion to the warden of a Soviet prison island, to free one particular political prisoner: her husband. The result is a suspenseful and artistically arresting presentation of both the horrors of collectivism and the timeless themes of individualism, heroism, and romantic love.
COMING SOON!
TOP SECRET Members-only information (shhh)—our next graphic novel adaptation of Rand’s notes on an unscripted screenplay with the working title of Top Secret. Set for release early next year, Top Secret follows the development of the atomic bomb, illustrating how this wartime achievement was possible only under the conditions of freedom, drawing the top scientific minds of the era into collaboration for defense against totalitarianism. Ayn Rand wrote extensive notes for what was supposed to be a screenplay. This outlined vision for the story includes countless interviews, and one with Oppenheimer himself, but was never brought to completion. Given the lack of an original script, this adaptation will be our most ambitious to date. THE ATLAS SOCIETY NEWS 15
OTHER UNIQUE PUBLICATIONS UNDERWAY! POCKET GUIDE TO PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION Suppose you had complete freedom and an unlimited budget to create the perfect school. What would you do? Great philosophers over the centuries have imagined ideal educations, and their inspired followers have put their visions into practice with wildly different results.
AYN RAND’S ROAD TO ROMANTICISM Ayn Rand’s first grasp of the philosophy that would become “Objectivism” was her glimpse, as a girl under the Russian Leninist communistic dictatorship, of the worldwide Romantic Revolution. It was the climax of the most powerful art movement in history with the novels of Victor Hugo. The logic of Romanticism was recognition of man’s volition, choice of values, conflicts in defense of values, and the heroic stature of anyone who fights for their values. And this logic, and love of the hero in man—what she called the ideal man—created first Ayn Rand the novelist. And then, as she said, in order to project the ideal man in her classic novels, The Fountainhead and especially Atlas Shrugged, she had to fully identify, validate, and articulate the philosophy that would make possible the ideal. The result was Atlas Shrugged. Walter Donway, in this book, asks how Ayn Rand reconciled her Enlightenment philosophy of reason with elements of historical Romanticism. He explains how she broke with the historic Romantic Movement by asking: What are the convictions and values that make possible the ideal man? Not the Romantic ideal man in a suit of armor, rescuing a distressed maiden, but the man or woman today mastering life, achieving happiness? Today’s philosophies of altruism, collectivism, and statism, Ayn Rand wrote, could not survive a hero-worshipping American people. THE ATLAS SOCIETY NEWS 16
What should the curriculum be? What kind of teachers should one hire? Is one’s goal to produce independent thinkers—or obedient and dutiful citizens—or entrepreneurial innovators—or social-justice warriors? Should politicians or parents or the students themselves be making these decisions? Education is a multi-year, strategic preparation of the young for adult life. Philosophers of education are the strategists. In this Pocket Guide to Philosophies of Education, philosopher of education Andrew Colgan, Ph.D., compactly surveys Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Marx, Dewey, Montessori, Rand, Sartre, Skinner, Foucault, and others—with special attention to the educational implications of their philosophies.
PROJECTS UNDERWAY (CONT.) MYTHS ABOUT AYN RAND How is one to make sense of all the competing claims about Rand’s ideas? What did Ayn Rand believe? Was she a prophetic visionary who sounded a warning bell about creeping socialism and the financial disaster that would follow in its wake? Did she define what is quintessentially American—individualism, self-authorship, achievement, and freedom? Or was she the lowest of the low, a fawning and vapid worshipper of wealthy persons and unbridled power? If someone asked you to explain Rand’s basic ideas, could you? This illuminating book reveals the “clockwork” behind many critics’ misunderstandings and distortions of her ideas and provides simple and straightforward explanations of prominent “myths” about Ayn Rand.
ANTHEM: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL IN HEBREW! A generous donor approached us last year with the offer to sponsor a Hebrew adaptation of our graphic novel version of Anthem. Copies of these books will be distributed across the United States and in Israel over the next few years. With over 150K copies of the English version already distributed, we are confident that the Hebrew version will find its own success within a new marketplace. Interested in supporting the translation of one of our books or videos? Email tas@atlassociety.org!
JOIN THE FIGHT FOR REASON We reached a tipping point in 2020. The small and agile Atlas Society team showed its mettle—making what could have been the worst year our best year by every metric of growth. Our programs target young people new to Rand’s work, with videos consistently reaching over a million views each, with daily content averaging nearly 20,000 engagements each, and with webinars, book clubs, and student seminars that connect personal ethics to achievement, pride, and happiness. Our content connects personal agency and moral ambition to a vision of liberty that’s incompatible with the culture of dependency, victimhood, and envy—the culture that supports socialism, identity politics, and cronyism. We promote “benevolence” and “gratitude” as self-interested virtues. We stress independent thought to meet young people where they are on their intellectual journey to make sense of the world and create the lives they want, while cultivating a warm and welcoming environment where dissent is welcome and mistakes are treated as first steps toward mastery. Our work is upstream from politics and longer term, but it is ultimately more enduring and important. These challenging political times amplify the importance and value of Rand’s unique ethics as the foundation for achievement, happiness, and the moral defense of Liberty. JAY LAPEYRE Chairman of the Board THE ATLAS SOCIETY NEWS 17
5th Annual Black Tie Gala NOVEMBER 4, 2021 • RECEPTION 6:30 PM • DINNER 7:30 PM
HOST COMMITTEE JAY LAPEYRE
CLIFF ASNESS
PETER COPSES
FRANKLIN BROOKS
BARON BOND
DANIEL LEEVER
DAVID KELLEY
PETER DIAMANDIS
CHIP WILSON
GROVER NORQUIST
JEFFERY TUCKER
JOHN FUND
STEVE MOORE
JOE DE SENA
STEVE FORBES
C. BOYDEN GRAY
JOHN AGLIALORO THE ATLAS SOCIETY NEWS 18
OUR GOAL = $3M IN 3 YEARS We offer our donors a variety of vehicles to maximize their philanthropic priorities through a financial contribution to The Atlas Society. Our donors can expect incessant innovation from us as we pursue our mission with an aggressive, risk-taking approach, constantly monitoring and innovating on the best ways to engage our target audience in a crowded marketplace. “The Atlas Society is the best deal in the liberty space—achieving outsized results for our investment.” —Gays for Capitalism & Freedom The Atlas Society has been hovering around the $1M to $1.5M budget level for many years. This is a fraction of the operating budgets of similar organizations, yet we produce more content and have more of an impact around the world in comparison. What sets us apart? A. We did NOT take government bailout money last year. B. 78% of our income is from individual donors, not foundations or an endowment. Our goal is to reach $3M in revenue by 2024. This advantageous but attainable goal is possible—if donors like you join us in stepping forward. The Atlas Society’s board of trustees have committed to a very generous and unique match campaign this year. • All brand new donor gifts are matched, therefore worth double to our bottom line. • All lapsed donor gifts are matched if they re-engage their support this year—again doubling the impact. • And lastly, all increased gifts from current donors will have their increased amount matched by our board. We are asking for a special extra contribution for the next three years —so that The Atlas Society can reach the next level of impact by doubling our revenue stream by the year 2024. The Atlas Society will take advantage of whatever opportunities—and weather whatever storms lie ahead—because we have the creativity, courage, conviction, and organizational resilience to adapt to our circumstances, innovate our products, and reach new audiences. With your support we will be able to build on our current momentum, and with your continued support we will be able to market ourselves to an ever-broader audience. Thank you for joining us in this campaign to get to $3M by 2024! ANA KUGLER Development Director
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WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT OUR WORK
SPONSOR OUR ANNUAL GALA
DONATE CRYPTOCURRENCY
BECOME A LEGACY DONOR BY DONATING THROUGH YOUR WILL & ESTATE PLANS
CONTRIBUTE ASSET GIFTS OR STOCKS
DISTRIBUTE COPIES OF OUR BOOKS IN YOUR COMMUNITY
To learn more about the ways to support our organization, please visit atlassociety.org/donate or email us at donate@atlassociety.org
ATLAS SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES James M. Lapeyre, Jr., MBA, JD - Chairman John Aglialoro - Trustee Clifford S. Asness, PhD - Trustee Baron Bond, JD - Trustee Franklin Brooks, AIA - Trustee Peter P. Copses - Trustee David Kelley, PhD - Founder and Trustee Daniel H. Leever - Trustee
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