This is me and my wife (I am the one in the white shirt)

See more pictures of me and my family

My favorite movie	My favorite book	My favorite TV show	My favorite board game	My favorite sport to practice	My favorite sport to watch
Amadeus - 1984	"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand	The Simpsons	Diplomacy	Alpine skiing	Basketball

My life:

I was born on February 11, 1964 in Bucharest - Romania. Don't confuse Bucharest with Budapest which is in Hungary. I studied Electrical Engineering and to everybody's surprise I managed to get a Masters Degree in 1989. I moved to Montreal, Canada in December 1995 and became Canadian citizen in 1999. I am a software developer.

My Philosophy:

The philosophy I embrace is Objectivism. Objectivism says basically that man is free, his main tool in his quest of understanding the world is his mind, that the sole role of the government is the protection of human rights (not the protection of humans) and that human rights can be violated only by initiation of physical force. Objectivism promotes rational selfishness, which means that the goal of each individual should be to achieve personal happiness.

Many people believe that philosophy is just something completely theoretical, which has nothing to do with real life and that it makes no sense to read about it, except maybe for making a good impression at fancy parties. The most beautiful thing about Objectivism is that it is completely and fundamentally earthly. It applies to every aspect of life, in all domains: environment, society, family, culture and, the one that I like the most, personal. Objectivism clarified for me many, if not all, issues I ever had doubts about. Here are a few things I stopped wondering about because now I know the answers (I know this sounds like a religious catch phrase, but I assure you, it is not). For the answers, click on the numbers.

1. Freedom is good, too much freedom is not. Where do we draw the compromising line?

2. What do we do with the people who are brain dead on life support? Do we pull the plug? Who takes the decision?

3. Euthanasia should be illegal because it can lead to abuse. Or should it?

4. My friend asked me if he could borrow 100$ from me until next week. I gave it to him, even though I know he won't be able to pay it back, but he's my friend and needs help. I am sure I did the right thing, didn't I?

5. Today, this beggar tried to tell me something, but I ignored him and kept walking. What if he was not a beggar and just wanted to ask me for directions? Maybe I should have stopped to see what he wanted.

6. A man drives his wife to the emergency room, she had a heart attack. At 90 miles per hour, the man runs over a pedestrian and kills him. She survives only because she got to the hospital on time. The woman has a right to life, neither more, nor less than the pedestrian. Therefore, the driver should get away, or at least get a lesser penalty because he took a life but saved another. But, still, why should the pedestrian pay for it?

7. My company is not doing very well, I have to cut a few jobs. I will let go mostly people who have no children and I will wait one more week until after Christmas so that I don't ruin their holidays. Am I not a really good person for doing this?

8. Using mobile phones should be illegal while driving because it leads to accidents.

9. Do animals have rights?

10. So, what do we do with the hungry, the poor and the sick? We let them die?

... and a few hundreds more.

And the one that I like the most:

Why was I born? What is my role in this world?

 

If you read more about Objectivism, you will see that many of the issues above are false mainly because of ambiguous definitions or undefined concepts, and tricky phrasing. Objectivism defines concepts so clearly and, well, objectively, that after a while you start wondering how was it possible to even consider those issues as "problems". There is only one thing you should be aware of: If you really want to understand, to find the answers, to be able to identify without a shadow of doubt the 'good' and the 'bad' every second of your life, you absolutely must use your mind and not your heart. You won't like some of the things you will come to understand, you will even hate them, you will consider them cruel, inhuman, selfish (this one for sure), but it's really worth making the effort to see the things as they are and not as you wish they were and analyze the issues rationally and not emotionally. If you are able to do this, you will see that the definitions themselves of 'cruel', 'inhuman' etc. were twisted, and you believed they were correct only because the system of values you have been upholding was upside-down.

Read more about Objectivism at the links below.

"Atlas Shrugged" is, according to a poll by the Library of Congress, the second most influential book in America. It is also considered by many as the best English novel of the 20^th century. This book presents the very essence of Objectivism. If you really want to make sense out of this world, you have to read this book. It costs only $7.19 and you can have it from Amazon.com in 24 hours.

"Capitalism : The Unknown Ideal" is a collection of essays by Ayn Rand and other authors which show that Capitalism is the only moral system available, the only system which is based on individual rights and the only system which works. Before I read this book, I thought that Capitalism was about murder, corruption and drugs. This book showed me how wrong I was. It costs only $6.39 and you can have it from Amazon.com in 24 hours.

Links:

The fundamentals of Objectivism.  

The official web site for the moral social system: laissez-faire capitalism.

A monthly magazine that examines current cultural and political events from an uncompromising pro-reason, pro-individualist perspective. 

A diplomacy adjudicator for Windows. 

Page created by Bogdan Florescu