IRVINE, CA--Labor Day should celebrate man's mind, not his muscles, said a senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute.
      "Muscles, not the mind, are usually celebrated on Labor Day because today's intellectuals, influenced by several generations of Marxist political philosophy, still believe that wealth is created by sheer physical toil."
      "The importance of knowledge to human wealth and progress is not some recent trend, but a fact of human nature," said Fredric Hamber. "Man's mind is his tool of survival and the source of every advance in our material well-being throughout history--from the harnessing of fire, to the invention of the plough, to the discovery of electricity, to the development of the latest anti-cancer drug."
      Hamber noted that man's use of his mind is the reason for the unparalleled wealth seen in America today. He observed that: Under capitalism, even a man who has nothing to trade except his physical labor benefits from the labor-saving creations of inventors and businessmen, thus increasing his productivity and wages.
      "What Americans should celebrate on Labor Day is the spark of genius in the scientist who first identifies a law of physics, in the inventor who uses that knowledge to create a new engine or telephonic device, and in the businessmen who daily translate such ideas into tangible wealth," said Hamber.

ARI senior fellow Onkar Ghate is available for interviews on this topic.