On Presidents’ Day, most Americans would like to celebrate the men who have been leaders of the greatest country in the world. If we go back to the Founding Fathers, there are many such men to admire.
Peter Schwartz, distinguished fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute and author of In Defense of Selfishness, recently published an article in The Hill in which he explains what it means to truly put “America First."
Today we at ARI will unapologetically celebrate Columbus Day — and so should you. Why? Because Columbus Day celebrates the life-promoting core of Western Civilization; namely, reason and individualism.
What motivates the Islamic terrorists? Why are our intellectuals unable and unwilling to recognize the moral distinction between America and her enemies? Why are those thought leaders busy philosophically disarming America?
Traditionally, the Fourth of July is a day for fireworks and cookouts. But we should take the time to also appreciate the deeper meaning of Independence Day.
What specific principles lead the heroes of Atlas Shrugged to go on strike? And what does it look like for an individual or a movement to implement these principles today in a world that resembles that of the novel in some ways but not in others? What decisions do we face that are analogous to those faced by the protagonists, and what can we learn from the novel about which course is right and which wrong?
“Give me liberty or give me death.” This inspiring slogan from the American revolutionary period is all the more impressive when we remember that the revolutionaries were not trying to flee a totalitarian dictatorship but were rebelling against one of the freest, most prosperous nations of their age. There is an important insight here — American revolutionaries demanded, in full, the political freedom expressed in the Declaration of Independence as a matter of principle. What was the principle these revolutionaries held so dear and why don’t Americans see it the same way today?
This video moment from the Ayn Rand Institute highlights novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand’s escape from Soviet Russia and why she chose to build a new life in America.
