Ayn Rand Institute - Blog

Filming The Fountainhead and Ayn Rand’s First Plan

Our celebration of seventy-five years of The Fountainhead continues this month with “Filming The Fountainhead: Ayn Rand’s First Plan” by Shoshana Milgram.

Help Deserving Students Attend Objectivist Summer Conference 2018!

We are just 10 weeks away from what is shaping up to be our largest Objectivist summer conference ever. With your help we could have over 500 attendees in Newport Beach, California, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead — including students who are able to attend because of our OCON scholarship program.

Introducing New Ideal, a New Online Publication from ARI

We are excited to announce New Ideal, ARI’s new online publication. The launch of New Ideal is a significant step in our mission to demonstrate the power of Ayn Rand’s ideas and their necessity in today’s world.

Vote to Make Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life Part of the National Film Registry

The National Film Registry maintains a list of films that are “deemed ‘culturally, historically or aesthetically significant’ and are earmarked for preservation by the Library of Congress. These films are not selected as the ‘best’ American films of all time, but rather as works of enduring importance to American Culture. They reflect who we are as a people and as a nation.”

Romantic Art and The Fountainhead

In his lecture, Tore Boeckmann explores some of Ayn Rand’s values, chosen in childhood, and gives special attention to the abstractions which unify Rand’s personal values into a single theme (as opposed to her moral principles, which hold for everyone).

Next on Living Objectivism: Elan Journo to Discuss What Justice Demands

Join Yaron Brook as he interviews Ayn Rand Institute fellow and foreign policy expert Elan Journo about his forthcoming book What Justice Demands: America and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

The Quotable Ayn Rand: Who Is Going to Stop Me?

One of the most popular quotes attributed to Ayn Rand is: “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” Many people are inspired by the self-confident attitude these words imply. “I don’t need anyone’s permission to live my life,” the words suggest. “All I need is an unobstructed road. As long as nobody stops me, I’ll prove myself.”

Robert Reich Video Gets Ayn Rand Wrong

Robert Reich attributes a long list of current social ills to Rand’s influence over Donald Trump, political conservatives, and the culture at large. But his argument depends on distorting Rand’s actual views and exaggerating her cultural influence.

Do You Get Entangled in Any of These Myths about Speech?

“Three Free Speech Myths” is the latest essay by Steve Simpson, the Ayn Rand Institute’s director of Legal Studies. It’s online at Merion West. Simpson will participate in a public debate and panel discussion at UC-Berkeley on March 8, “Are We Killing Free Speech?” He will be joined on the panel by Heather Mac Donald and Dave Rubin.

How Ayn Rand Built on the Ethical Ideas of The Fountainhead

Ayn Rand originally envisioned Atlas Shrugged as a socio-political novel that would build on the ethical ideas of The Fountainhead, but as she worked on Atlas, she developed and revised her ethical thought in unexpected ways. In his lecture course “Ayn Rand’s Ethics: From The Fountainhead to Atlas Shrugged,” available at ARI’s eStore, Darryl Wright explores how, and why, her ideas changed — as well as what did not change.

Objectivism Starter Kit

One of the Ayn Rand Institute’s most popular education programs is its annual essay contests. Contests on Anthem, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged collectively attract the attention of approximately fifteen to twenty thousand students each spring, as they compete to win a share of more than $130,000 in cash prizes. ARI’s goal, however, is that participation in an essay contest should mark the beginning of a lifetime’s interest in Ayn Rand’s works.

Why Did Ayn Rand Liken Ecologists to Vultures?

In her 1970 lecture The Anti-Industrial Revolution, Ayn Rand analyzes the arguments and underlying motivation of the emerging “ecology” movement, the forerunner of today’s environmentalism. Separating legitimate concerns about pollution from the movement’s deeper animus toward industrial civilization and technological progress, Rand explains her view of the proper relationship between human beings and their environment.

Books for Life

“I got the blue one, which one did you get?” “I’m reading the red one first.” This is some of the chatter I hear as a group of about thirty high school students rush up to the front of a Santa Ana classroom to choose a free book from a cardboard box. These students have just listened to Yaron Brook, chairman of the board of the Ayn Rand Institute, speak to them about selfishness.

Presidents’ Day: A Celebration of What?

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.

Tara Smith Pinpoints Confusions in the Free Speech Debate

Tara Smith has published an article designed to clarify the terms used in discussing freedom of speech in America. “The Free Speech Vernacular: Conceptual Confusions in the Way We Speak About Speech” appears in the current issue of the Texas Review of Law & Politics.

Romantic Love

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we asked Jeff Britting, curator of the Ayn Rand Archives, to supply us with images and text from an article he wrote that originally appeared in the Ayn Rand Institute’s newsletter, Impact, in 2012. The feature commemorates Valentine’s Day, discusses Ayn Rand’s view of romantic love and the bond between Ayn Rand and her husband, Frank O’Connor. The images that accompany this feature are from the Archives collection.

The Value of Judging Others

Contrary to the mores of our society, Objectivism holds that pronouncing moral judgment is crucial to man’s life. For Objectivism, justice is a virtue.

Meet Christopher MacCarthy, 2018 Legal Fellow

ARI invites law students to apply to our Legal Fellowship program, which involves in-depth policy research on topics at the intersection of law and philosophy. Our legal fellows work with ARI’s director of Legal Studies, Steve Simpson, an experienced constitutional lawyer who for many years worked at the Institute for Justice. Today we’d like to introduce you to 2018 legal fellow Christopher MacCarthy.

The Fountainhead and the Projection of an Ideal Man

2018 marks the 75th anniversary of the publication of Ayn Rand’s bestselling novel The Fountainhead. Its themes of independence and integrity — and its protagonist, Howard Roark — continue to resonate with and inspire readers of all ages.

Quote of the Day: How to Fight Racism

“No man, neither Negro nor white, has any claim to the property of another man. A man’s rights are not violated by a private individual’s refusal to deal with him.”

What Do You Call a Self-Respecting, Self-Supporting Man?

“There is a fundamental moral difference between a man who sees his self-interest in production and a man who sees it in robbery. The evil of a robber does not lie in the fact that he pursues his own interests, but in what he regards as to his own interest. . .”

The Ayn Rand Institute 2017 Annual Report

ARI’s 2017 Annual Report focuses on a few of the men and women who support ARI and some of the reasons why they do so.

Celebrating the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., offers Americans an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to eradicating racism in all its forms. A good place to start is with Ayn Rand’s 1963 article, “Racism.”

Ayn Rand’s Reaction to the Birth of Environmentalism

A new audio-visual course based on an important Ayn Rand lecture is now up on ARI Campus. The Anti-Industrial Revolution analyzes the arguments and underlying motivation of the emerging “ecology” movement, the forerunner of today’s environmentalism.

Happy New Year from the “New Guy” at ARI

Jason Bateman, ARI’s new director of Development Operations, is embracing his role as the “New Guy” at ARI. “I’m excited to help take ARI to new levels of expansion and reach,” Bateman says, “as we leverage our mighty group of donors and supporters in the fight for reason, individualism, rational self-interest and liberty.”

Click, Click, Click. Explore the Lexicon

Although Ayn Rand was a prolific author, she never wrote a treatise on Objectivism — her philosophical thinking and cultural commentary are spread out among more than a dozen books.

Do You Have a Question for Yaron Brook?

Yaron Brook, chairman of the board of the Ayn Rand Institute, discusses news, culture and politics from an Objectivist perspective on The Yaron Brook Show.

Read Now: Why Peter Schwartz Celebrates Christmas

Peter Schwartz, distinguished fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute, reflects in this 2014 Washington Post op-ed, on why platitudes like “give back” or “remember the needy,” don’t represent his perspective on the Christmas season.

Merry Christma$: Commercialism Only Adds to Joy of the Holidays

In this op-ed, “ARI’s Onkar Ghate explains why Christmas is “a spiritual holiday whose leitmotif is personal, selfish pleasure and joy” and why the commercialism of the season, “far from detracting from this celebration, as we’re often told, is integral to it.”

Ayn Rand on Christmas

“The secular meaning of the Christmas holiday is wider than the tenets of any particular religion: it is good will toward men. . .”

Take Christ out of Christmas

In this classic Christmas article, “Why Christmas Should Be More Commercial,” Leonard Peikoff argues that, “It is time to take the Christ out of Christmas, and turn the holiday into a guiltlessly egoistic, pro-reason, this-worldly, commercial celebration.”

This Is How Ayn Rand Celebrated Christmas

To celebrate Christmas, we asked Jeff Britting, curator of the Ayn Rand Archives, to supply us with images and text from an article he wrote that originally appeared in the Ayn Rand Institute’s newsletter, Impact, in 2010. The article was devoted to anecdotes about Christmas visits, letters from Ayn Rand’s family in Russia about Christmas, images of Rand and her husband, Frank O’Connor, at Christmas and Christmas cards she and Frank gave and received.

Paul Ryan and the Ayn Rand Factor

An implication of many current commentaries is that Paul Ryan is nothing more than a mouthpiece for Ayn Rand’s political views. Not so.

Good Riddance to “Net Neutrality” Rules

Yesterday the Federal Communications Commission repealed the “net neutrality” rules it had enacted in 2015.

Eleven Favorite Moments from the Rise & Fall Podcast

Rise & Fall: How Ideas Move the World, a podcast hosted by ARI’s Amanda Maxham, looks at the power of ideas to shape human affairs. Here are some of our favorite moments from the show so far.

Read Now: “Is Ayn Rand Affecting Trump’s America? An Interview with Steve Simpson”

Merion West’s Alex Baltzegar interviews Steve Simpson, director of Legal Studies at the Ayn Rand Institute, on Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, how it applies to free speech and foreign policy, and whether one can reconcile Christianity with her philosophy.

Twenty Thousand Books Purchased with #TradingTuesday Dollars

ARI employees were up bright and early this week at a nearby warehouse collecting copies of Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead and Anthem to distribute for our Free Books to Teachers program. Twenty thousand books to be exact.

Reply to an Ant on Behalf of Thunder

Philosopher Robert Mayhew discusses the inability of a New York Times drama critic to appreciate Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead: “The sound perception of an ant does not include thunder.”

Elan Journo on Trump’s Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital

ARI foreign policy expert Elan Journo went on Facebook Live yesterday to share his perspective on the Trump administration’s controversial announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In the video, Journo evaluates the administration’s decision and considers the wider implications for America’s approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Quote of the Day: Freedom as the Fundamental Requirement of Man’s Mind

“Since knowledge, thinking, and rational action are properties of the individual, since the choice to exercise his rational faculty or not depends on the individual, man’s survival requires that those who think be free of the interference of those who don’t.”

Watch Now: Ayn Rand Experts Discuss Ivo Van Hove Staging of The Fountainhead

Following the recent Ivo Van Hove international production of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Gilman Opera House, a panel discussion appeared on Facebook Live. The panelists were Gregory Salmieri, philosophy fellow at the Anthem Foundation; Shoshana Milgram, associate professor of English at Virginia Tech; and Ann Ciccolella, artistic director at Austin Shakespeare.

Read Now: “How to Recover Our Respect for the Finance Industry”

The Federalist recently published an adapted excerpt from Yaron Brook and Don Watkins’s new book In Pursuit of Wealth: The Moral Case for Finance, in which they indicate why Ayn Rand’s philosophy is “indispensable for understanding and defending the morality of finance.”

#TradingTuesday Mission — Accomplished!

As the world celebrated a national day of giving, #GivingTuesday, on November 28, ARI launched its own campaign, #TradingTuesday, in honor of what Ayn Rand calls the “trader principle.” We encouraged fans of Rand to advance their values by contributing to ARI's Free Books to Teachers program. The program places Rand’s novels in the hands of students across the country.

A Grateful Teacher Receives Free Ayn Rand Novels

Each year, the Ayn Rand Institute distributes hundreds of thousands of copies of Ayn Rand’s novels and nonfiction books to schools through our Free Books to Teachers program. Putting a book directly into the hands of students is a powerful way to expose them personally to Ayn Rand’s ideas. Most of these books are sent by mail to middle schools, high schools and colleges across the United States and Canada. So it’s a rare treat when we can deliver the books face-to-face.

Turn Giving Tuesday into Trading Tuesday

Since 2012, the Tuesday following “Black Friday” has been publicized as “Giving Tuesday.” Touted as a remedy for the selfish commercialism of the holiday shopping season, the idea is that charitable contributions (“giving back”) will relieve the guilt you're expected to be feeling.

Listen Now: “The Anti-Intellectuality of Donald Trump: Why Ayn Rand Would Have Despised a President Trump”

This is the audio version of Onkar Ghate’s November 6, 2017, post, “The Anti-Intellectuality of Donald Trump: Why Ayn Rand Would Have Despised a President Trump.”

New YouTube Playlist on the Noble Profession of Finance

While you’re waiting for your copy to arrive in the mail, check out this new YouTube playlist devoted exclusively to the themes found in In Pursuit of Wealth: The Moral Case for Finance, the new book edited by Yaron Brook and Don Watkins.

“Enlightenment Atlanta”: Ayn Rand Student Conference 2017

In my last blog post, I reported on how Greg Salmieri and I had done a special Atlas Project live broadcast from Atlanta, where we had both been attending the 2017 Ayn Rand Student Conference. The conference was exciting enough to warrant its own post.

On This Holiday, Give Thanks to the Producers

In Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, there’s an unforgettable Thanksgiving scene at the mansion of Hank Rearden, a self-made millionaire industrialist whose achievements include the invention — after ten years of toil — of a revolutionary new metal, stronger, cheaper and more durable than steel. In addition to Rearden, seated at the table for Thanksgiving dinner are his mother, his wife Lillian, and his brother Philip, all of whom are wholly dependent on Rearden and his wealth.