This week at the Ayn Rand Institute, employees got a sneak peek at a new Atlas Shrugged banner, created in celebration of the novel’s 60th anniversary. The banner features various Atlas Shrugged book covers from around the world. “These are graphically interesting covers from Japan to Russia,” according to Ayn Rand Archives curator Jeff Britting.
The life of a creature without free will is determined by factors outside its control, so it is not responsible for what it does or what becomes of it. But because human beings have free will, the shape our lives take is up to us. True, we are born into circumstances that are not of our own making, and there are facts of nature that we cannot change, but there are countless lives possible to each of us, and by recognizing what you cannot control and taking responsibility for what you can, you can create a life of which you can be proud and in which you will be happy.
Over a period of six days last month, Yaron Brook, ARI’s executive chairman, spoke to more than 700 students at seven of the most prestigious schools in Great Britain. This speaking tour comes on the heels of the announcement in February that the 2017 UK curriculum for A-Level Politics taught in secondary and pre-university schools includes Ayn Rand as a key thinker. In the schools that adopt the new curriculum, students will study Rand and her ideas for the first time.
Here’s a postscript to my new piece at The Hill today, where I argue that U.S. policy toward Egypt needs to be put on an honest footing. Instead of playing down its authoritarianism, we need confront Egypt about its violation of individual rights.
In a wide-ranging discussion, the panelists answer questions arising from their previous presentations on free will and its implications in issues such as immigration, free speech, Objectivism and foreign policy. This Q&A was recorded at Ayn Rand Student Conference 2016.
After the attack outside Parliament in London on March 22, four people died and more than 40 were injured. Heading toward the Parliament buildings, the assailant drove at high speed on the sidewalk of Westminster Bridge, mowing down pedestrians. Then he got out of the car wielding a knife, sprinted inside the Parliament gates, and managed to stab to death one policeman, before being overpowered. The Islamic State has praised the 52-year-old killer, who was born and raised in England, as one of its soldiers.
In this keynote talk by Yaron Brook, executive chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute and co-author of Equal Is Unfair: America’s Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality, examines how the arguments of today’s critics of economic inequality rest on the denial of the individual’s power of choice.
Occasionally, in a blog post, we will highlight important parts of the Ayn Rand Institute’s Annual Report. For 2016, our focus is on the Institute’s Free Books to Teachers program from the perspective of Shoshana Milgram, associate professor of English at Virginia Tech and long-time supporter of the program.
You’ve heard the stories. Charles Murray was attacked by a mob after giving a talk at Middlebury College. Not long after that, a riot broke out at U.C. Berkeley over a scheduled appearance by Milo Yiannopoulos. Berkeley’s student newspaper later published a series of essays justifying the violence as “self-defense.”
