AtlasAnswers.net

AtlasAnswers.net is an outreach program, created to foster a better understanding of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism. We sort fact from fiction and provide resources to enable inquiring minds to quickly grasp its basic principles.

AtlasAnswers.net is a compilation of key topics on several hundred subjects in philosophy and related fields. Browse the Search Index for answers to hundreds of topics such as: Who was Ayn Rand? What is Objectivism?  Search on Reason, Selfishness, Capitalism and other topics. Newcomers to Objectivism will find it an intriguing introduction to Ayn Rand’s thought. After sampling such entries, many readers become captivated by the logic and originality of her ideas.

Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s magnum opus, is flying off bookshelves more than a half-century after publication. Thousands of people claim, “Ayn Rand changed my life.” Her ideas permeate today’s culture, influencing the tea party phenomenon, politics, academia and countless individuals. Yet, the value of Objectivism as a guide to living is unappreciated by many people.

Who needs philosophy? Everyone does—indeed, everyone has a philosophy, which is an inescapable requirement of man’s existence. Ayn Rand explains the significance of holding a rational philosophy:

In order to live, man must act; in order to act, he must make choices; in order to make choices, he must define a code of values; in order to define a code of values, he must know what he is and where he is—i.e., he must know his own nature (including his means of knowledge) and the nature of the universe in which he acts—i.e., he needs metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, which means: philosophy. He cannot escape from this need; his only alternative is whether the philosophy guiding him is to be chosen by his mind or by chance. (The Romantic Manifesto)

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Posted below are articles by Objectivist writers, including many from the Ayn Rand Institute.

Why The Glass-Steagall Myth Persists

Forbes: by Yaron Brook and Don Watkins

The growth of government intervention over the last century was built on the back of a handful of myths. A generation ago, the dominant myth was that free markets had caused the Great Depression, . . .

The Passion of Ayn Rand’s Critics

By James Valliant | Reviewed by Donald Richmond

Two biographies of Ayn Rand (The Passion of Ayn Rand (1987) by Barbara Branden and Judgment Day (1989) by Nathaniel Branden) have been significant impediments to the advancement of Objectivism. The Brandens are . . .

Our self-crippled policy encouraged the deadly embassy attacks

FoxNews.com: By Elan Journo

The murders of American diplomatic and military personnel in Libya underscore  the consequences of America’s longstanding failure to uphold the rights of  Americans to live and speak their minds in the face of the Islamist threat.

For decades, . . .

Ayn Rand’s appeal

FoxNews.com: by Onkar Ghate

Paul Ryan is Romney’s pick for Vice President and now Ayn Rand’s name is on  everyone’s lips.

Many on the left are pillorying Ryan as an unrealistic “ideologue” because of his Rand connection. Many on the right accede, . . .

Revenge Of The Zeros: The Battle Between Ayn Rand And Collectivism Reaches A Climax

Forbes: By Harry Binswanger

With President Obama’s line “You didn’t build that,” the battle between individualism and collectivism has reached a climax. Obama has openly denied individual achievement, spitting in the face of every individual who ever had a creative thought. . . .

Obama And Romney Are Wrong: Outsourcing Is America At Its Best

Forbes: By Harry Binswanger

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are currently fighting over who is the more patriotic. Obama slams Romney for having outsourced jobs to China during his Bain Capital days. Romney punches back by labeling Obama “Outsourcer in Chief.” . . .

To Discredit The Anti-Capitalists, Pro-Capitalists Need To Learn How To Use Words

Forbes: By Harry Binswanger

It’s the concepts, stupid.

A wag in my high school said “Words are the tools of the English language.”

It was supposed to be a parody of deep-sounding but vacuous pronouncements. But the joke turns out to be on . . .

The Battle: How the Fight between Free Enterprise and Big Government Will Shape America’s Future by Arthur C. Brooks

Arthur Brooks and the Morality of Capitalism

LaissezFaire: March 1, 2012 by Don Watkins

Arthur Brooks on the need for a moral case for capitalism. Brooks is right that this is the key issue we face if we want to limit government, . . .

The Dog-Eat-Dog Welfare State Is Lose-Lose

Forbes: by Yaron Brook and Don Watkins

John Maynard Keynes—not exactly history’s greatest opponent of government spending—is reported to have said he would be worried if government outlays ever surpassed 25 percent of GDP. Well, in recent years both American and . . .

Review: Ayn Rand Nation

Amazon review: by Sarah Rolph

The author of this book gets so many things wrong about Ayn Rand that one wonders if perhaps that was his intention.

Ayn Rand “lived for politics,” he says, an assertion for which he cites no source . . .

Private Equity Firms Want Their Acquisitions To Profit, Not Fold

Investors Business Daily: By Doug Altner, June 5, 2012

Private equity firms have a bad reputation. They’re called “predators,” “job killers” and “vultures.” Consider the recent attacks on Mitt Romney in an Obama campaign advertisement. We’re told that because of Bain . . .

The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise, by Arthur C. Brooks

We refer you to our review of The Battle by Arthur C. Brooks, the predecessor to The Road to Freedom. Philosophically, that review, by Don Watkins and Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute, is just as applicable to Mr. . . .

The Battle: How the Fight between Free Enterprise and Big Government Will Shape America’s Future by Arthur C. Brooks

Arthur Brooks and the Morality of Capitalism

LaissezFaire: March 1, 2012 by Don Watkins

Arthur Brooks on the need for a moral case for capitalism. Brooks is right that this is the key issue we face if we want to limit government, . . .

Opposing view: Celebrate private equity

USA Today: By Yaron Brook and Don Watkins

It’s the same old song: Wherever you go, whatever you do, if it involves making profits, President Obama will be right there criticizing you.

These days, his administration is targeting Bain Capital and . . .

The “On Your Own” Economy

Forbes: Yaron Brook and Don Watkins

“From cradle to grave.” So goes the motto of the entitlement state, whose creator Otto von Bismarck said: “Give the working-man the right to work as long as he is healthy, assure him care when . . .

America Before The Entitlement State

Forbes: Yaron Brook and Don Watkins

Reacting to calls for cuts in entitlement programs, House Democrat Henry Waxman fumed: “The Republicans want us to repeal the twentieth century.” Sound bites don’t get much better than that. After all, the world before . . .

Why Rent Control is Immoral

Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights: Michael S. Berliner

(NY Post, June 2, 2003)

New York City rent control laws are about to expire, and supporters are avidly campaigning for a 5-year extension. This in the face of the fact that rent . . .

What We Owe Steve Jobs

Forbes: Yaron Brook and Don Watkins

Watching the world mourn Steve Jobs, we are reminded of how massive crowds of Americans used to gather to celebrate the launch of a new bridge or a new railroad. There is a widespread recognition . . .

Happy Birthday, Ayn Rand — Why are you still so misunderstood?

Fox News Opinion: Don Watkins

In the summer of 1921, a young Ayn  Rand saw Moscow for the first time. “I remember standing on a square,” she  would later recall. “And it suddenly struck me. . . . ‘How enormous it . . .