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Welcome to EGO!
Thank you for visiting EGO—Eric’s Group of Objectivists (located in southeast Michigan). We founded this group for the purpose of promoting Objectivism and having fun. My name is Eric, and as you can guess, I am the club president. My primary qualification for this post is that I am the only one of the four founders whose name begins with the letter ‘E’. Additionally, we hold the meetings at my house. One of our many goals is to put to rest the idea that Objectivists are stodgy, humorless, negative people who don’t know how to have fun and enjoy life. If you are such a person, we have a great twelve-step program for you. Step one: finish reading our web page.
The purpose of our group is to promote Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism as "a philosophy for living on Earth." This means that we strive to apply it to our lives so that we can enjoy and pursue life, liberty, and the benevolent universe premise! We are always mindful that Objectivism is not a political movement (although it has much to say on the subject of politics), but to be happy we must strive to apply it to every aspect of our existence. We hold that it is necessary and moral to hold ourselves in the highest reverence, and to take life and ideas seriously. However, we do not hold that this should preclude us from having fun and enjoying ourselves and others. In fact, we believe just the opposite—to revere life is to live it! As Ayn Rand wrote, "The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live."
In doing all of this, we also hope to attract others who are as serious as we are in our commitment to Objectivism and to living happily. We believe the best way to do this is to lead by example and to exchange ideas with others who are serious about Objectivism so that we can each benefit from our knowledge of the philosophy and how it is applied. However, our primary purpose is to live our own lives—not to recruit others. We do not go out of our way to seek out other people, but we do welcome those who wish to join us. After all, one does not live for philosophy; one has a philosophy so that he may live.
Our group firmly supports the Ayn Rand Institute and its activities. Accordingly, we do not support tolerationist poop-heads like Nathaniel Branden or David Kelley, because it is not possible to do both. Either "yer fir us or yer agin us." (No, that’s not Latin. It’s cowboy talk for "you're for us or you're against us.")
I would also like to stress in advance that we are not a group that allows itself to become bogged down in polemics, politics, and pedantry. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is like thought without action. And, while we understand that politics is an important branch of philosophy, we understand that it is just that—one branch among many others (i.e., ethics, metaphysics, esthetics, and epistemology). Furthermore, we believe that an understanding of these other branches will lead to the discussion and appreciation of many other interesting subjects such as history, art, and roller coasters. (We finally convinced Robert that an Objectivist group trip to Cedar Point was a great idea! See our photo page!)
Our group meets regularly on the first and third Saturday of every month for those who are interested. When we get together, we discuss a variety of topics and ideas in relation to Objectivism. Sometimes we will study a particular subject or essay, listen to a tape, watch a video, or just wing it. However, since these meetings occur at my house, they are by invitation only. If we don’t like you we won’t tell you the official password or the secret handshake.
Now, I should also mention that we do not waste our time with talk of conspiracy theories and other arbitrary ideas. We do not believe in black helicopters—except that such things as helicopters can exist and that they can be painted black. If such things interest you, then turn on your radio and listen to Mark Scott, but don’t bother us. (Personally, I like black helicopters and I think it would be fun to ride in one someday.)
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E-Mail The Ego Group! |
Now, for those of you who are interested in being part of our group, just send us an e-mail. We gladly accept anyone who is interested in Ayn Rand and her ideas. Whether you are new to Objectivism or have been a student of it for many years makes no difference. Whether you have read just one of her books or all of them, the only criteria is that you take ideas seriously and that you are interested in learning more about her wonderful philosophy for living life to its fullest.
This Site was created in July, 1999.
