Apr 30, 2019 | Politics
The Soho Forum hosted a debate about the Israeli – Palestinian conflict and whether the Palestinian movement has a right to exist. Israeli author Elan Journo, the Ayn Rand Institute’s research director, debated U.S. Army Strategist Major Danny Sjursen at the Subculture Theater in New York City.
Comments Elan Journo at New Ideal:
The debate vividly brought out an important contrast between my opponent’s approach to the issue and mine. In my own remarks, I highlighted my book’s distinctive approach to the conflict: a secular, individualist moral framework. I take the principle of individual freedom as a standard for evaluating the adversaries. Central to my view is that we must evaluate the nature of the Palestinian movement. The evidence shows that this movement is hostile to freedom; its main factions strive to establish militant authoritarian and theocratic regimes. To resolve the conflict, then, we must start by taking seriously this movement’s ideological aims. My opponent, by contrast, challenged the premise that there’s any coherence to the “Palestinian movement,” denied the importance of its ideological outlook, and urged a return to solutions that have demonstrably made matters worse.
Link: Soho Forum Debate on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict | C-SPAN.orgFor further reading: What Justice Demands
Apr 24, 2019 | Politics
Writes Matthew Walther on Obstruction is the new collusion inThe Week:
“Obstruction of justice is the new, even lamer sequel to collusion.”
[…]
“Instead we have moved in the space of about five minutes from theorizing about Trump’s 30-plus years of experience working for the KGB to arguing that his unwillingness to pretend that he really enjoyed having his presidency undermined for half of his first term was a pleasant experience makes him guilty of something called ‘obstruction of justice.’ “
“What kind of person do you have to be to spend two years insisting on the basis of no evidence whatsoever that a crime occurred and then, virtually the minute your baseless assertions are proven false, start banging on about how the suspect’s attempts to prove himself innocent are themselves criminal?”
Mar 20, 2019 | Business, Politics
Economist Steven Kates speaks with Tom Woods on why the Keynesian attack on Say’s Law is the truly fundamental error in the Keynesian system.A wonderful listen for fans of pro-capitalist economics.For a more comprehensive coverage of all of these issues and why they matter, read Kate’s Free Market Economics: an Introduction for the General Reader.
Feb 16, 2019 | Business, Politics
Ayn Rand Student Conference Europe (AynRandCon) is officially underway in Prague, the Czech Republic! This is ARI’s first ever conference in Europe and the theme is “Individualism in an Age of Tribalism.”Some particular new talks and panels of note:- An Individualist Doing Business in Collectivist Europe – Mr. Christensen, co-founder of Denmark’s Saxo Bank and founder of the private equity firm Seier Capital, has had a long, successful career as an innovator in banking and finance. In this talk, he discusses some of the challenges he’s faced as a staunch individualist (indeed, an Objectivist!) doing business in collectivist Europe.
Panel + Q&A: Immigration and Islam
The issue of Muslim immigration is one of the major sources of political and cultural tension in Europe today. This panel will explore the controversies over immigration and Islam and the future of Europe.
- Panel + Q&A: Capitalism, Individualism and the Welfare State – This panel will discuss the ways in which tribalism leads to the “mixed economy” welfare state—and how that political-economic system reinforces the anti-individual mindset. The result is a vicious circle of increasingly collectivist policies and an increasingly collectivist electorate that both supports and is victimized by the system.
Even if you are not at AynRandCon, you have the opportunity to join attendees and speakers and watch all or some of the program live on the Ayn Rand Institute’s YouTube channel, beginning this Saturday, February 16 at 8:40 AM CET. (Note that Prague is on Central European Standard Time or six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.)Link: Ayn Rand Institute’s YouTube channel
