Many people wonder about Alan Greenspan. As a student and associate of Ayn Rand in the 1960s, he wrote many articles on the virtue of capitalism, some appearing in her seminal work, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. An eloquent and ardent advocate of the free market, he...
Andrew Lewis
Andrew Lewis is a senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, Calif. The Institute promotes the philosophy of Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.
Abortion: When Do Rights Begin?
Individual rights begin at birth, with the creation of a new, separMorality is an issue of rationality, and a woman who becomes pregnant on a whim, then capriciously chooses an abortion, is as immoral and irrational as someone who buys an American flag and then burns it.ate human being. Rights are a concept applicable only to individual, actual human beings, not a merely potential one.
Pragmatism, Altruism, and Businessmen
Question. In a recent program, you claimed the actions of several businessmen were driven to do business with the government by the morality of altruism. Isn't pragmatism a more accurate description? Given the extent to which property rights have been eroded, long...
The Religious Right’s Descent into the Anti-Abortion Swamp Will Send Americans Reeling to the Far Left
The race for the Republican presidential nomination resembles a piety test over a single issue: the right to abortion.
The Department of Justice and Judge Jackson Commit The Crime of the Century
Forget the Lindbergh Kidnapping. The Crime of the Century is Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's Finding of "Fact" against Microsoft. The 207 page condemnation of Microsoft as a "monopoly" that "hurts consumers," is one of the most egregious violations of individual...
Is it immoral to join a political party?
Q. Is it immoral for an Objectivist to join a political party? Why doesn't the Ayn Rand Institute have its own political party? A. It is not immoral to join a political party, although given the state of the major parties today, it may well be. The reason for this is...
Clinton’s Place: Taxation and Home Ownership
Last week, the New York Times covered two recent "purchases" that demonstrate new lows in the realm of political real estate. One year ago, former Ukrainian Prime Minister, Pavlo Lazarenko, paid $6.75 million in cash for Eddie Murphy's 41-room mansion in Marin County,...
Bill Gates and Altruism
Altruism survives, in part, on its undeserved reputation as a "kind, benevolent" morality. Those who believe this would be surprised at the critical response to Bill Gates' latest charitable offering, a $1 billion scholarship fund. It is a model of politically-correct...
The Immorality of the “War on Drugs”
Much fuss has been made recently about George W. Bush's alleged drug usage. Apparently fearful of a scandal, Governor Bush has dodged the issue -- with disturbingly Presidential style -- creating a bigger scandal. Whether he has used drugs or not, he would have done...
Racism and The Jewish Day-Care Center Shooting
Many people have tried to explain the confessed killer's actions after last week's shooting in Los Angeles. Most of these explanations are glaringly inadequate, but even the best of them fail to identify the deeper philosophy behind this vicious crime, largely because...
Brothers in Ideas: The Buddhist Dalai Lama and the Internet Tax Hoaxer
A frequent visitor to the United States, the Dalai Lama's popularity increases with every trip. Forty thousand people heard him speak in Central Park recently, up from five thousand in 1991, and five thousand people from around the country are expected each day of a...
Kosovo: Tribalist Quagmire
President Clinton is invoking morality to justify military action to stop Serbia from attacking Kosovo. But the only appropriate moral principle is the one that says Clinton has no right to send American troops on a mission that cannot succeed -- and that will result...
What the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Will Really Disarm: America’s Moral Right to Self-Defense
In a largely partisan vote on Wednesday, the U.S. Senate rejected the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) against nuclear weapons testing, signed by President Clinton in 1996. The rejection has created a storm of criticism, warning of "international embarrassment,"...
The Americanization of Servitude
Volunteerism is touted as a celebration of the American spirit of community involvement. "Citizen service belongs to no party, no ideology," said President Clinton. "It is an American idea, which every American should embrace." His sentiment is shared by Presidents...
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