Bidinotto Builds Bridges to Libertarians

Robert Bidinotto, IOS's director of development and special projects, recently addressed an audience in the Washington, D.C., area on the relationship between Objectivism and libertarianism.

Bidinotto delivered his lecture, "Building Bridges between Objectivists and Libertarians," at the January 21 meeting of the Washington Metro Objectivism Discussion group. Over 80 people packed the Lighthouse Tavern in Rosslyn, Virginia, for Bidinotto's talk—a record turnout, according to club contact David Saum. The audience included leaders of such libertarian organizations as the Cato Institute, the Institute for Justice, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Future of Freedom Foundation, the Libertarian Party, and many others.

Bidinotto expanded on his previous discussions of the topic (see "David and Leviathan," The IOS Journal, April 1997, and the "Roundtable" discussion in the August 1997 issue). He argued that Objectivists have been too quick to dismiss libertarians and their ideas in the past-—but that libertarians have been equally hasty in dismissing Objectivism as their philosophical base. He went on to assess the prospects for closer cooperation among the two ideological camps.