Back in November, Amy Nasir posted some good advice for people looking to create a local Objectivist group. Based on my experience with the highly successful Front Range Objectivism, I think such groups should focus on discussing Objectivism — particularly essays by Ayn Rand — with the goal of understanding how the principles of the philosophy apply to their own lives.

Such groups have three major benefits, in my view:

1. They can help people deepen their understanding of Objectivism. Personally, I find it enormously helpful to be committed to reading and discussing two or three essays by Ayn Rand (or another other Objectivist philosopher) each month in FROG. I learn something new each time I do that, and I know I’m not alone.

2. They can be a great resources for friendships with like-minded people. Paul and I have a really fantastic slew of friends in Colorado, almost all found through FROG. Not everyone has been fantastic, but the few real duds have made themselves scarce.
3. They can be a springboard for local activism. Not everyone in a discussion group will become an activist. But a few might be inspired to do so in a serious way, and some others might be willing and able to contribute on occasion. And given #1, they’ll have the requisite knowledge to do that relatively well.

If you want to see how we conduct our FROG meetings, see this page.