Gina Rinehart Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
Making Alliances in Australia at Epochal Summit
Eight years ago, The Atlas Society began our tradition of presenting our Lifetime Achievement Award at our annual gala to luminary leaders who embody the courage, vision and heroic achievements that Ayn Rand so dramatically celebrated in Atlas Shrugged. Since then recipients of our Lifetime Achievement Award have included entrepreneurs like Chip Wilson, Peter Diamandis, Michael Saylor, Peter Thiel, and most recently Ricardo Salinas of Mexico.
But as Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman recently reflected, “Since the inception of the Lifetime Achievement Award, there has been one ideal—and yet elusive—candidate for this honor, a real-life Dagny Taggart and Francisco D’Anconia rolled into one, and that’s Gina Rinehart of Australia.”
Just as it fell to Dagny Taggart to try and save the railroad company her grandfather, Nat Taggart founded, so it fell to Gina Rinehart in 1992 to transform the financially troubled Hancock Prospecting, founded by her father, from a struggling mineral exploration and extraction company into the largest and most successful private company in Australia’s history, and one of the largest private mining houses in the world.
When, at long last, the opportunity presented itself to honor Mrs. Rinehart, there was a small hitch: as the largest private sponsor of several of Australia’s Olympic teams, she would be presiding over the games in Paris this summer, conflicting with the timing of our combined student conference/gala in Washington, D.C., July 24th–26th. So we said, in good Aussie fashion, “no worries, mate”—if she couldn’t come to America, we would come to Australia, to present the award and sit down with Mrs. Rinehart, for an exclusive video interview to air at this year's gala in D.C. on July 25th at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
The presentation capped off a historic conference, Australia: The Road Ahead, sponsored by the country’s leading liberty-minded think tanks. Over 600 Western Australians gathered in Perth to hear from speakers addressing challenges ranging from energy security to economic stagnation. In providing an American and British perspective, Grossman teamed up with the brilliant Brendan O’Neill, Chief Political Writer for Spiked magazine, author of A Heretic’s Manifesto: Essays on the Unsayable, who previously joined us on The Atlas Society Asks.
Stay tuned for the video of the panel, and join us in Washington, D.C., this summer as we officially honor Gina Rinehart at our eighth annual gala.
Morals & Markets Presents: Paternalism, Infantilism, and the Welfare State
Join Atlas Society Senior Scholar Richard Salsman, Ph.D., Tuesday, May 28 @ 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET for our quarterly Morals & Markets webinar. This month, Dr. Salsman covers paternalism, infantalism, and the welfare state:
"A free society depends not only on rational philosophy, capitalist economics, and rights-respecting politics but a psychology of mental health rooted in self-esteem and its corollaries (self-confidence, self-responsibility, self-reliance). Many people are anxious, angry, and even phobic about living in a free, vibrant, dynamic culture. Preferring security to liberty, they lose both. The result—the welfare state—is as much demanded as it is supplied by pandering politicians. . . ." — Richard Salsman, Ph.D.
Those interested in attending should register HERE. Can’t join us live? Check out the Morals & Markets podcast to catch the webinar after the fact.
Nuala Walsh on The Atlas Society Asks
The Atlas Society Asks Nuala Walsh on Wednesday, May 1 @ 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET. Nuala Walsh is an award-winning business consultant, behavioral scientist, and independent non-executive director. Her new book, TUNE IN: How to Make Smarter Decisions in a Noisy World, champions understanding behavior as an insurance policy against mishearing, misinformation, and misjudgment. Nuala reached millions through a popular TEDx talk about overcoming indecision and has published more than 100+ articles for Forbes, Inc, and Psychology Today, with her insights featured in the Financial Times, BBC World Series, Harvard Business Review and on Fox Business. Join the conversation and ask your questions LIVE on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, YouTube, and LinkedIn or register HERE on ZOOM.
COMING SOON!!
“Ask Me Anything About Philosophy” with Stephen Hicks: Join Atlas Society Senior Scholar, Stephen Hicks, Ph.D., Wednesday, May 7 @ 3:30 PM PT / 6:30 PM ET for a special “Ask Me Anything” event where Dr. Hicks will answer your questions on philosophy, Objectivism, and more. Those interested can join HERE.
Miss yesterday’s webinar with John Agresto? Watch this deep-dive discussion into the decline of the liberal arts education, and how multiculturalism has morphed into an attack on learning about Western Civilization as explored in Professor Agresto’s book, The Death of Learning: How American Education Has Failed Our Students and What to Do About It. You can watch the replay on YouTube and Facebook or download and listen to it as a podcast (Spotify, Amazon, Apple).
Throwback Thursday: Three Best Arguments Against Liberal Capitalism
The case for a free society is strong, but many remain unconvinced. Why? This is what Atlas Society Senior Scholar and expert on Postmodernist thought, Stephen Hicks, Ph.D., explored during a lecture at the 2015 Atlas Summit. Listen as Professor Hicks presents the three strongest arguments against liberal capitalism and their weaknesses.
Make Atlas Shrugged Fiction Again
According to Ayn Rand, “Atlas Shrugged is not a prophecy of our unavoidable destruction, but a manifesto of our power to avoid it, if we choose to change our course.” Signal your decision to change course away from a dystopian future with our “Make Atlas Shrugged Fiction Again” t-shirt, sure to spark conversations that may inspire new readers—and forge new friendships.
Be sure to also browse our online store for all things Ayn Rand!
