Uncouth PerspectivesNot on the rug, man.

I say this as someone who is a capitalist and who is also rather Objectivish (I love that term)…I haven�t heard a worse idea in years.

Check out the website. Go ahead, I dare you. Ten bucks says I know what your first comment is � �Oh my God, what�s with the hair?� That, my friends, is Prodos, Australian radio show host and Objectivist extraordinaire. Just a little background on Prodos: he doesn�t know the first thing about the philosophy he claims to espouse and he is a sniveling asshole who can�t stand up to the Ayn Rand Institute when it threatens him because he actually had a positive interview with a group that didn�t think Rand was God. In fact, he eliminated all traces of said interview from his website, and acts as if it never occurred.

And I hate to say it (actually, I don�t, but that�s the accepted politeness here) but…people will have a very difficult time accepting someone who looks like that as the leader of any movement. He�s just an object of ridicule, and not someone who will be taken seriously. His radio interviews remove any semblance of respect anyone could have for the man.

The problems inherent in a Walk For Capitalism wouldn�t be gone, though, even if it did have a reasonable spokesperson. The reason the walk got started was that Prodos was tired of anti-free trade organizations protesting and getting media coverage. He seems to be forgetting a few things.

First off, be it accurate or not, capitalism is perceived as being the status quo. Walks for things that are considered radical are, as a general rule, given much more media coverage than walks that are not. Furthermore, even if it does get coverage, it will likely be bad, and this is not a case of �all publicity is good publicity.� The ways many Objectivists act during rallies are as droll as Prodos�s pictures, and if the media covered it at all, people would likely only laugh. Getting laughter because of one�s protest is far worse than causing outrage. Outrage at least shows that someone thinks you�re a threat. Laughter just shows that they think you�re not worth taking seriously. Is this the image that those for capitalism want to project? I would hope not.

So what to do if one really wants to advocate capitalism? In short, something. Don�t live the abstraction, live the reality. Picket signs and catchy slogans will always fall to dedicated and committed plans of action. Want a more capitalistic society? Make money. Start businesses. Donate to political campaigns of those who support your beliefs � hell, become a politician yourself if you�re oily enough. Write books � at least those are taken somewhat seriously. If you�re a talented public speaker, find some way to do informative talks and hold question and answer sessions or debates. Even talking to and having well-reasoned arguments with friends and family members can be useful. But please, don�t act as if this protest could accomplish anything good. Don�t act as if just whining about a dream will ever make it come true � no matter how many people whine in chorus.