Over the past two years, Yaron Brook, ARI executive chairman, has given four lectures in Poland, organized by the Independent Student Association, European Students for Liberty (ESFL) Poland and the Freedom & Entrepreneurship Foundation.

On October 27, Brook was once again in Poland, giving a talk titled “The Evil of Socialism.” It was followed by a debate on capitalism versus socialism. There were approximately 270 students in attendance with hundreds more viewing via livestream on YouTube. Since then, the video has been viewed more than 4,000 times.

After the lively debate, which sparked significant interest on both sides, the debaters took questions from the audience for more than an hour.

“We see a lot of interest in Ayn Rand in Poland — in spite of their Catholic heritage,” Brook states. “And we are working well with our partner Obiektywizm on various programs.

Tomek Kołodziejczuk, Objectivist Venture Fund recipient and Objectivist Summer Conference 2016 attendee, is the founder and head of Obiektywizm. He was also the debate’s moderator. Kołodziejczuk has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of Rand’s ideas at his home in Poland. His efforts have included forging a community of Polish Objectivists who meet regularly, as well as building a robust website, fan page and YouTube channel to reach larger audiences online.

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