At the recent Heartland Institute 2009 conference on climate change (featuring dissent views to the environmentalist orthodoxy), Yaron Brook gave a lecture on the reasons people keep accepting bad environmental science.
He dissects the bad moral premises that Americans unwittingly accept (and must be challenged) in order to defeat the underlying anti-man ideology.
You can listen to his lecture here.
(Via VfR.)
The September 19, 2008 issue of Time magazine recently quoted Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, in its recent article on the economic crisis:
What Would Ayn Rand Have Done?…But as the largest bailout in government history unfolded in almost dizzying waves over recent days, a very different view prevailed at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights, an outpost of free-market, anti-government thinking located just a few blocks from the newly aggressive and highly interventionist Department of Treasury in downtown Washington.
“It’s a complete disaster,” said Yaron Brook, the executive director of the center. “Its a form of national socialism of the financial markets…This is socialism 101.”
…Brook doesn’t blame speculators, traders or financiers for the market’s near-collapse, but instead blames government for having overregulated the markets in the first place. The business leaders bailed out by government this week “are victims,” he said, “and the government set it up.” Washington underreacted to previous crisis, let Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac spin wildly out of control as quasigovernment agencies while taxpayers piled up unsecured debt in their names. The crisis, he added, was “really fed throughout by government policies.”
He also notes that the current Republican administration is doing more harm in intervening in the marketplace than a Democratic administration likely could have.
Most NoodleFood readers should be aware that the Ayn Rand Institute is in the process of opening a Washington, DC office. If you haven’t heard, here’s the official press release:
Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights Press ReleaseAyn Rand Center for Individual Rights to Open in Washington, D.C.
August 18, 2008Irvine, CA–The Ayn Rand Institute is preparing to launch its new public policy and media center, the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights, which will open later this year in Washington, D.C. The Center’s Web site has already been launched, and can be visited at http://www.aynrandcenter.org.
The Ayn Rand Center is named after author and philosopher Ayn Rand (19051982), who is best known for her novels “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged,” and for her original philosophy Objectivism.
According to Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, “The Ayn Rand Center’s mission is to advance individual rights–the rights of each person to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness–as the moral basis for a fully free, laissez-faire capitalist society.”
Toward this end, the Ayn Rand Center will promote the philosophical case for individual rights and laissez-faire capitalism to the public policy and business communities, the media, the general public, and elected officials and their staffs.
Among its various activities, the Ayn Rand Center will sponsor writing and research; create audio and video commentaries; provide experts to discuss current issues in the media; host public events, talks, lectures, forums, panel discussions, and debates; offer programs to businessmen; reach out to policymakers; and assist victims of governmental abuse in their efforts to defend themselves on moral grounds. The Ayn Rand Center will also produce articles, op-eds, press releases and letters to the editor, all of which were formerly produced by the Ayn Rand Institute.
“We are confident,” said Dr. Brook, “that the Ayn Rand Center will be instrumental in establishing a future society in which each individual is left free to think and to act on his own best judgment, in which production and profit are seen as virtuous, and in which government is strictly limited to a single function: protecting the legitimate rights of its citizens.”
However, some of you might not be aware that my very best friend in the whole wide world, Lin Zinser, has abandoned her beloved Colorado to take charge of that office. Here’s her official employee description from the web site:
Lin Zinser
Vice President of Public OutreachLin Zinser oversees operations of the Ayn Rand Center and its public outreach programs, including media and think tank relations, along with outreach to professional groups.
For the past few weeks, Lin has been working for ARI from Colorado, with occasional trips to Irvine. She left Colorado for good on Monday. She will be settling into her new office in Washington next week.
I must admit: the reality of Lin’s departure has yet to sink in for me. We will feel the loss of her enormously here in Colorado. However, I am super-excited for her — and for ARI. She’s going to do fantastic work in DC.
For anyone still wondering about the difference between the Ayn Rand Institute and The Atlas Society, I offer the following two video interviews by UFM.edu:
(Courtesy of an anonymous contributor to the Sunday Open Thread, embedding not permitted.)
The interviewer is the same in both interviews. The questions are quite similar. Yet the interviews couldn’t be more different.
Yaron Brook is clear and direct. With every question, he immediately hones in on the fundamental, often a crucial moral point. He clearly conveys the importance of the ideas he’s espousing, and his confidence in the truth of his answers. He knows his stuff, and he makes us eager to hear more.
David Kelley wanders and stammers in his answers. He is routinely lost in his own pointless digressions and qualifications. He speaks in terms of his own beliefs, not in terms of the truth. He displays no facility with the answers to these basic questions, nor passion for what he’s saying. It’s painful to watch.
(David is much, much worse in this interview than I ever remember him. It seems that his commitment to a subjectivist approach to ideas, Objectivism in particular, continues to take its toll on him.)
The difference between the two interviews is so great that even I’m shocked. Yet it’s so perfectly representative of the moral and epistemological gulf between the two organizations. And that’s why I’m such an ardent supporter of the the Ayn Rand Institute, particularly under the guidance of Yaron Brook.
Now that OCON is over and done, NoodleFood will resume its regular blogging on matters of more general interest. I do hope that folks enjoyed the reports, even though usually pretty brief. I’d love to hear whether people might be more (or less!?!) interested in attending an OCON as a result.
(Written and posted from my iPhone in the airport.)
Here are highlights from the Ayn Rand Institute’s summer conference (a.k.a. OCON), Day Eight:
Yaron Brook on “Cultural Movements: Creating Change,” Lecture 3 of 3:
Eric Daniels on Freedom of Speech in American History, Lecture 3 of 3:
Paul and I will be returning home tomorrow. I’m looking forward to that, although apparently it’s hot hot hot in Denver.
Here are highlights from the Ayn Rand Institute’s summer conference (a.k.a. OCON), Day Seven:
Eric Daniels on Freedom of Speech in American History, Lecture 2 of 3:
Now to bed!
Here are highlights from the Ayn Rand Institute’s summer conference (a.k.a. OCON), Day Six:
Eric Daniels on Freedom of Speech in American History, Lecture 1 of 3:
Since I’m only taking one optional course this week, that single class was my whole conference today. So I spent some time working on my dissertation, talking with friends, and goofing off. Plus I got in a painfully good workout.
Finally, Paul and I had a particularly delightful dinner with friends — the kind of evening that I hope to vividly and fondly recall 50 years from now. That was beyond fantastic.
Oh and I forgot to mention this tidbit earlier: As of a few days ago, OCON 2008 had 455 attendees — and that was still growing. It’s a darn big conference.
Objectivist philosopher Michael Berliner speaks on the meaning and importance of this anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence:
Here’s the text version of this op-ed.
Happy Independence Day!
Here are highlights from the Ayn Rand Institute’s summer conference (a.k.a. OCON), Day Five:
Tore Boeckmann on “The Novels of Ayn Rand and the Metaphysics of Value“
Onkar Ghate on “Cultural Movements: Creating Change“
Academic Panel:
Now, bedtime!
