As he prepares to depart ARI after eleven years, Don Watkins took the time to select his five favorite blog posts from among the many he has published. Here are all five, along with Don’s remarks on their appeal:

“Ayn Rand Has Influenced Conservatives More Than They Admit, but Less Than the Left Thinks” In general the pieces I most enjoyed writing were those correcting the record about Ayn Rand and her ideas. This one was particularly gratifying as the response from the author I was replying to, Kevin D. Williamson, was: “Fair point.”

“What Squeegee Bandits Can Teach Us About the Welfare State” Analogies can be enormously clarifying, but I’m generally bad at them. This was an exception.

“Why My Debate Opponent Gets Everything Wrong” The communitarian defense of the welfare state was tricky for me to untangle. Once I finally did, writing this post was enormously fun.

“What Happens to the Sick Under Capitalism” Quickly and effectively reframes the health care debate.

“The Real Reason J.K. Rowling Deserves Her Billions” A fun post that makes an important point.