February 2nd is the birthday of Ayn Rand, the author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Ayn Rand developed and defended Objectivism, a philosophy that advocates “rational selfishness.”
Harry Binswanger
Dr. Binswanger, a longtime associate of Ayn Rand, is an professor of philosophy at the Objectivist Academic Center of the Ayn Rand Institute. He is the author of How We Know: Epistemology on an Objectivist Foundation and is the creator of The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z.
Dr. Binswanger blogs at HBLetter.com (HBL)--an email list for Objectivists for discussing philosophic and cultural issues. A free trial is available at: HBLetter.com.
Slavery Did Not Benefit “Whites”
The truth is that, aside from the plantation owners (a tiny minority), the white population of the South was hurt by slavery—kept poor by it—rather than enriched.
Government vs. The “Public Health”
Government has no “public health” role. It has only a “public freedom” role.
Selfishness Without a Self: Trump’s True Colors Revealed
The Republican Party nominated, worked to elect, then stood behind a man who is amoral and unhinged, a man who is the tribal lone wolf that Ayn Rand described in “Selfishness Without a Self.”
Government Force Sabotages Vaccine Delivery
The only reason that the commentators are bewailing the “staggering difficulties” of getting everyone vaccinated is that they never dream of putting the vaccine on the free market.
How a Laissez-faire Capitalist Society Deals with a Vaccine
Under real capitalism, there is no government policy at all regarding how people are to conduct themselves in a pandemic. With no barriers to innovation, production, and distribution, the pharmaceutical industry would be rocketing us into an almost disease-free future.
The Real Meaning of the “Stimulus”: A 2.2 Trillion-Dollar Capital Consumption Program
The proper name for “government stimulus” is: “capital destruction.” It’s the unreplaced using up of the factors of production.
The Federal Death Agency (FDA)
The path to genetic cures and radical life extension begins with the abolition of that Servant of Death: the FDA.
How Ayn Rand’s Philosophy of Objectivism Can Rescue Hayek’s Economics
In economics Hayek is a radical; but in philosophy, unlike Ayn Rand, Hayek is a conservative.
‘Buy American’ is un-American
A patriotic American acts as a capitalist and an individualist: he buys the best, wherever it may be found.
Defending Capitalism: Ayn Rand vs. Hayek
Ayn Rand publicly recommended the works of Mises but not of Hayek. Today, when Hayek is much better known than Mises, it's worth seeing why. I came to the full realization of what's wrong with Hayek's approach while re-reading Atlas Shrugged. No, not in Galt's speech,...
Capitalism and Culture
There will be no real and lasting political-economic improvement until the metaphysical, epistemological, and moral principles underlying capitalism are firmly grasped and understood in a first-handed way by at least a sizable minority of the intellectuals.
Altruism and Economics
How do people’s ideas on morality affect their economics?
Happy Randsday! Give Yourself A Present This Randsday!
To celebrate Randsday, you do something not done on any other holiday: you give yourself a present. Randsday is for getting that longed-for luxury you ordinarily would not buy for yourself.
Obama vs The Rule of Law: On The President’s Selective Enforcement of Immigration Laws
If immigration laws are, as I hold, violations of individual rights, it is up to the courts, not the President, to determine that.
The Governmental Shutdown
The blame for the shutdown belongs on those who want to spend beyond all limits.
Obama’s State of the Union Speech: Deception, Cliche, and Danger
Obama is the new Baghdad Bob.
The Nature of the Anti-Gun Control Campaign
Why are the political and intellectual leaders—people who are socialist or beyond—so interested in this issue? We’re talking not about the guy next door who voted Democratic but about the Tooheys.
Collectivist Arizona Immigration Law is Anti-Capitalist
Now that the Arizona immigration-control law is at the Supreme Court, it's time to analyze that law. There are two levels: the philosophic level and the level of Constitutional law. Fortunately, they both point to the same conclusion. The philosophical issue is my...
Greg Smith vs. Goldman Sachs
Just now I can't summon the energy to write the post that should be written to defend Goldman Sachs against the disgusting, publicity-seeking attack made on it last week by ex-employee Greg Smith. (Mr. Smith was not highly placed at the firm: he was one of 12,000...
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