Calling All Objectivists To Ogle Moogul!
by Luke Setzer
Since its inception as a formal philosophy in 1958 with the formation of the Nathaniel Branden Institute (NBI), Objectivism has built a steadily growing body of literature in various formats. These include books, articles, essays, and audio and video presentations. Some of this material makes its way to local libraries, but much of it remains out of reach of the cash strapped student of Objectivism. The purchase of programs like Branden's original lecture series Basic Principles of Objectivism can cost hundreds of dollars when bought at retail prices. Even a single audio tape of a live lecture from an Objectivist conference can run fifteen to twenty dollars after accounting for shipping. Worst of all, most of the value of these lectures comes with the first listen only, and limited space in the home often leads an Objectivist to re-sell these products to attempt to recoup spent money and lost storage space.
The general isolation of Objectivists in the past has prevented much opportunity for mutually sharing these expensive materials in a trade of value for value. The Internet has opened many windows of opportunity for Objectivists to interact globally for the sake of sharing ideas in forums such as those on SOLO. Meanwhile, eBay and other auction sites have empowered Objectivists to sell their items to other Objectivists for substantially more money than they otherwise could get without Internet assistance.
Now a new site exists which raises the power of Internet trading to the next level. Imagine a library system in which you need only to pay shipping costs in order to borrow expensive retail items for a limited duration before returning them to their rightful owners. Such a system would need mechanisms to protect both lender and borrower according to mutually agreeable terms. It would take advantage of many proven Internet payment systems such as PayPal. It would strive continually to improve itself in response to customer feedback.
That system exists today. Its operators call it Moogul!
Moogul allows anyone to post anything to their site to lend to anyone according to mutually agreeable terms and conditions. Although few Objectivist items currently populate the site, the service could supply a boon to SOLO members who want a reliable way to lend and to borrow Objectivist materials. Currently, anyone who wants to enjoy an expensive program such as Leonard Peikoff's audio series Objectivism through Induction must either pay full retail cost for it, have the luck to find it on eBay at a more affordable price, join a campus club affiliated with ARI that has borrowed it, or have enough good fortune to know someone personally willing to lend it.
Moogul greatly improves the feasibility of that last option.
Objectivists openly respect copyright laws and other intellectual property rights. Those who use Moogul will need to exercise their own best judgments and codes of conscience to assure they do not violate such rights. In general, as long as one charges only for shipping and handling costs and not actual rent costs for these materials, a Moogul user should not run afoul of such laws.
Quite understandably, those who own costly programs may feel leery of lending them to strangers for fear of never seeing them again. To allay this legitimate fear, Moogul includes options for lenders to charge refundable deposits to borrowers. Should a lender's copy of Understanding Objectivism vanish without a trace, the lender will have the security deposit at his disposal to purchase a replacement copy should he so choose.
The SOLO Clubs page has added a section for Objectivist items on Moogul. Please contact me through SOLO Mail should you have Moogul items you wish to list on the SOLO Clubs page.
The SOLO Forums have discussed many different options for growing SOLO into the world class organization it has all the potential of becoming. To make this happen requires employing all available resources into the service of the SOLO Credo. In line with that great call to arms, Moogul can help SOLO to become a phenomenon in Objectivism that will "ultimately tower over all others."
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