More than fifty years after Ayn Rand described big business as “America’s persecuted minority,” businesspeople are still being subjected to widespread moral denunciation and regulatory oppression. But such continuing injustices do not warrant giving in to discouragement, observes Ayn Rand Institute senior fellow Onkar Ghate.

History shows that seemingly hopeless causes can triumph when pressed forward as positive campaigns for justice. Pointing to historical examples — including the American Revolution and the anti-slavery, women’s suffrage, civil rights and gay pride movements — Ghate argues that it will be necessary for businesspeople to expose and denounce their outrageous mistreatment by the regulatory state, despite the very real economic and personal risks in doing so.

This talk was delivered at the Ayn Rand Institute’s Building a Future of Reason and Capitalism conference at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City on September 29, 2015.

Image: max sattana via Shutterstock.com