Economic Decision-Making and Ethical Choice

Some economists, notably Gary Becker, claim that economic analysis is applicable to any decision, ethical or otherwise. Ethical principles within Objectivist Ethics are based on long-range success— life being the measure of success. This paper examines these different approaches to decision-making. Decision theory and Rand's Benevolent Universe Premise form the basis for the analysis

Rand and the Austrians: The Ultimate Value and the Noninterference Principle

This paper reviews some points of agreement between Objectivism and the Austrian school of economics. It also discusses some of my points of departure with Objectivism. One such is Rand’s justification for holding life as man’s ultimate value. I present a case that the recognition of death’s inevitability is needed to establish life as man’s ultimate value. Although death’s inevitability is implicit within Objectivist ethics (in its emphasis on a person’s entire life), the focus of Rand’s discussion of the ultimate value is on life’s contingency, not its limitedness. I present an example comparing a being with a contingent and limited life to a being with a contingent but potentially endless life. This illustrates the function of life’s limitedness in valuation. I qualify my position somewhat by exploring one way in which a being with a contingent but potentially endless life may value his life as a whole. I also explain that a being with an endless life might have no ultimate value, but could have an endless number of goals. Finally, I discuss a desert-island scenario that supports the noninterference principle

The Evolution of the Artesh: 1980 to Present

Despite the large media coverage around Iran’s military actions, the role of the Artesh in Iran’s national security structure is often unmentioned. Looking at the evolution of the Artesh since the fall of the Shah of Iran, this study uses firsthand accounts, recent research, and governmental statements and reports to trace the Artesh’s journey to present day. It examines several battlefield successes and failures during the Iran-Iraq War to gauge the ability of the Artesh to adjust in a wartime environment. These adjustments are mixed with some valuable lessons being implemented to later battles while other important lessons remained unapplied. It employs victory theory to the Artesh Navy’s 2007 naval reforms, evaluating the congruence of the reforms with Iran’s vision of naval warfare, and concludes that Iran’s reforms are inline with its strategic goals at sea. The results of this study help shed light on the applications of the Artesh and Iran’s abilities to exercise power using it outside the original post-Iran Iraq War intent and may support further study of this significant topic

The report of a study of the Tunica County schools

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/ms_school_surveys/1128/thumbnail.jp

An Assessment of Human Vulnerability to Prolonged Cold in the Zeravshan Valley of Tajikistan

The Central Asian country of Tajikistan is the poorest of the former Soviet republics; it is also prone to a plethora of natural hazards including mass wasting, flood, and extreme temperature. This thesis seeks to characterize how vulnerable rural Tajik mountain communities are to prolonged cold. The primary focus was in Navobod, in the Zeravshan Valley of Tajikistan, where semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 households, the village leader and doctor, and school staff. The results from the interviews were compared with GIS analysis of the region. Interviews indicated that the area is highly vulnerable to the impacts of prolonged cold. These rural residents continue to practice unsustainable land use, primarily for agricultural and biofuel resources. With unreliable sources of income, a fragile national economy, and decreased access to markets, these residents are ill-equipped to mitigate the impacts of prolonged cold weather. GIS results largely supported interview results

A Conductor’s Guide to the Da Vinci Requiem by Cecilia McDowall

The Da Vinci Requiem by Cecilia McDowall (b.1951) is a sevenmovement work scored for soprano and bass soloists, mixed chorus, and orchestra and was premiered on May 7, 2019 in Southbanke Center in London, UK by the Wimbledon Choral Society under the direction of Neil Ferris. The thirty-five-minute work is the largest of the two major choral-orchestral works in McDowall’s oeuvre which includes approximately 115 choral works. The focus of this study is to provide a guide to the performance of the work. The study provides scholarship into the life and work of Cecilia McDowall, one of the United Kingdom’s foremost living composers. Her music is becoming well-known among choral musicians and deserves the examination provided within this document. Chapter one is an introduction discussing the need for the study with related literature. Chapter two provides a brief biography of Cecilia McDowall and an overview of her compositional style. Chapter three discusses the history and development of the work and its context within her oeuvre. Chapter four provides a guide to the structure of the work and a discussion performance and teaching considerations from a conductor’s perspective

Rand, Rothbard, and Rights Reconsidered

THIS PAPER LOOKS AT RIGHTS and the protection of rights from the minarchist and the anarchist perspectives. The small government view is represented by Objectivist Ayn Rand as well as Neo-‐Objectivists Tibor Machan and David Kelley. The no-government perspective relies primarily on anarcho-capitalist Murray Rothbard. Minarchists argue for the need for government in order to protect rights; otherwise, they claim, mob rule would prevail. Rothbard (1998) viewed government as compulsory because of its monopoly on force and because of taxation. Machan (1975) did not regard government protection as coercive, although he held the opposite view of taxation. In my view, government-provided protection is coercive, and because it is, all methods of financing are coercive. Although government is coercive, that does not mean there are no problems with anarchy. My case against anarchy is that children (and others with diminished capacity) would be systematically excluded from rights protection if they have been abused or killed by their parents or caregivers. Unlike Rothbard (1998), I believe that children do have the positive right to care from their parents. Positive rights are also at risk under anarchy if children (or those with diminished capacity) are neglected or abandoned by caregivers and have no alternative means of care. I think government is responsible in cases such as these because of the issue of rights—not only the positive right to care, but the infringement of negative rights, specifically trespass. If no one takes in a child who is in this situation, the child is necessarily in a position of trespass, regardless of where he is. He is violatin