Editor's Desk, by Robert James Bidinotto
by Robert James Bidinotto“Righteous slaughter.”
That’s the term experts have used to describe the heinous acts mass murderers, such as the perpetrator of last month’s grisly massacre on the campus of Virginia Tech. But it is a term that applies aptly to the atrocities of political and religious terrorists, too.
What could possibly motivate individuals to callously slay large numbers of innocent strangers? Why are mass killings on the rise, here and worldwide? Is there any psychological connection between the criminal mass murderer and the ideological terrorist? These are questions I have spent years investigating, and in an expanded “Soliloquy” this month, I examine the motives and methods of these “Blood Brothers.”
We’ve spent quite a bit of time criticizing conservatives lately, especially in our March issue. In the interests of “equal time,” senior editor Roger Donway turns the spotlight on problematic aspects of libertarian thought. His “Private I” column tackles competing “bourgeois” and “bohemian” conceptions of individual rights held by libertarians. And in “Bobos, Liberaltarians, and Hippies of the Right,” he critiques efforts by some libertarians to join hands with those on the political left.
But just so that conservatives don’t feel neglected, Ed Hudgins challenges the religious right in “No Faith in Republicans.” And, as if he didn’t have enough to do as executive director of The Atlas Society, in this issue he offers two more articles for your consideration. In “A Blight at the Opera,” he takes on a D.C. “dramaturg” for writing Kennedy Center program notes that finds feminism, environmentalism, and anti-capitalism in Wagnerian opera. No kidding. Finally, in the latest installment of his “classic television documentaries” series, Ed reviews Connections by James Burke.
Marsha Familaro Enright, a frequent TNI contributing writer—and a long-time educator who is developing a private college—finds herself the subject of an interview this time. Another author familiar to our readers, Sara Pentz, spent time recently with Marsha to talk about the kind of education that respects and encourages individualism in students. It’s a fascinating discussion and a must-read for parents.
A new edition of marketing professor Jerry Kirkpatrick’s In Defense of Advertising has been published. Since the case that Dr. Kirkpatrick makes so well is grounded in Objectivism, who better to review his book than Don Hauptman—also an Objectivist, and as relevantly, a recently retired advertising copywriter and consultant?
We’ve had to run some negative film reviews lately. Our entertainment editor and film reviewer, Robert L. Jones, is therefore pleased to endorse enthusiastically two recent films this month. The first is for 300, a controversial new retelling of the famous Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartan soldiers fought the entire Persian army. But why “controversial”? Read on. Robert was also charmed by Miss Potter, a biopic celebrating the life of Beatrix Potter, the famous children’s author.
Finally, I call your attention to this month’s letters column, where a friend, colleague, and trustee of The Atlas Society, Walter Donway, takes me to task for a recent editorial. This is an appropriate opportunity for me to stress a point that we make in every issue on the staff page. Opinions in signed articles are solely those of the individual author, and do not necessarily represent the views of TNI, The Atlas Society (our publisher), or its staff and trustees.
The New Individualist is a forum for perspectives that draw from the principles of rational individualism. While we do not compromise our principles, we permit and even encourage intelligent, civil debate about their meaning and implications. In this, the title of our letters column applies to all our writers, too.
We speak for ourselves.