Who gets access to Google’s advertising space should be entirely up to Google. The fact that Google has created such prime advertising real estate by offering a peerless search engine does not mean that competitors are entitled to advertise on it.
Why has Ayn Rand been so influential on the right? That was one of the questions a segment on CNN today tried to answer. According to one of the guests, Rand critic Gary Weiss, the answer is simple: “Ayn Rand made it morally acceptable to be harsh in your treatment of the poor.”
Ayn Rand, author of the 1957 classic Atlas Shrugged, is one of history’s most celebrated champions of capitalism. Her books have sold in the tens of millions, and her ideas continue to be debated thirty years after her death. Many of today’s top opinion leaders, businessmen, and politicians—everyone from Rush Limbaugh to Mark Cuban to Paul Ryan—have cited Rand as an important influence on their development.
In his new book The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise, AEI President Arthur Brooks makes the point that the egalitarian supporters of wealth redistribution have no right to claim that they are the representatives of “fairness.”
The egalitarians equate fairness with equality, writes Brooks, and therefore conclude that income inequality is unfair. Solution? Take from those with high incomes and give to those with low incomes.
In light of Elena Kagan’s impending confirmation for the Supreme Court, I’m troubled by the clash between her legal philosophy and that of America’s Founding Fathers.
