capitalism – Ayn Rand Institute Live!

Capitalism: The Only Moral Social System by Gregory Salmieri

June 2, 2023 arilive_user 54:34 0 Comments

“If life on earth is one’s standard of value,” wrote Ayn Rand, “then the nineteenth century moved mankind forward more than all the other centuries combined.” She attributed the century’s “creative energy” and “rising standard of living” to the introduction of the only moral social system: capitalism. In this talk, Dr. Salmieri discusses why it is the only moral system, and how its moral character makes possible an unprecedented prosperity that humanity has only begun (fitfully) to achieve.

Recorded live at Ayn Rand Con Europe 2023

Criminalizing Economic Inequality through the Prohibition on Insider Trading by Kevin Douglas

December 21, 2022 arilive_user 1:02:15 0 Comments

Mr. Douglas will describe how insider trading laws criminalize several forms of economic inequality. Property law generally protects a business owner’s freedom to profit from trade secrets and business opportunities, and by setting prices. By contrast, the prohibition on insider trading undermines the usefulness of information for its owners and treats less informed investors as victims of investors with information advantages. The result is a system of regulation that actively redistributes and even nullifies investors’ wealth—all in the name of protecting property rights in information.

Recorded live on July 5, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

Understanding Evil: The Soviet Union and the Sanction of the Victim by Nikos Sotirakopoulos

December 14, 2022 arilive_user 59:53 0 Comments

The Bolsheviks began as an insignificant, minority group that seized power in 1917, yet they maintained it for seven decades and established an empire with global reach. The regime struggled from day one, and yet it managed to sustain itself and expand. There are useful lessons to draw from this for the student of history and ideas. What does the Soviet Union’s history teach us about the nature of evil? How does it survive, and how important is the role played by the sanction of the good?

Recorded live on July 7, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

Capitalism: The System of Individual Rights by Yaron Brook

May 18, 2022 arilive_user 1:02:55 0 Comments

Do citizens have a duty to serve the state? Or does government exist to protect the freedom of individuals to pursue their own lives and happiness? What are individual rights and what are they based on? Ayn Rand often described her political views by saying that she’s not a conservative but a “radical for capitalism.” What is capitalism? And how does it differ from both socialism and conservatism?

Recorded at AynRandCon – Europe in London on April 2, 2022.

The Regulatory State: Causes and Casualties with Harry Binswanger, Peter Schwartz, and Adam Mossoff

March 18, 2022 arilive_user 1:28:10 0 Comments

Government regulations have grown inexorably over decades and now impact all aspects of our lives. Just in the last year, we’ve seen regulatory measures ranging from the taken-for-granted Covid-19 lockdowns to the growing calls for antitrust attacks on the tech industry. Why do Americans increasingly look to government to regulate more and more of our activities? What are the underlying causes, and consequences, of the ever-growing regulatory state?

Note: Do to technical difficulties, the first few minutes of audio were not recorded. This podcast begins mid conversation.

The Unknown Nuclear Crisis by Thomas Eiden

February 23, 2022 arilive_user 1:01:17 0 Comments

The worldwide supply of nuclear medicine relies on the production of radioactive materials from a mere six government-run nuclear research reactors. Each year, the reliability of the supply chain responsible for life-saving radiopharmaceuticals becomes increasingly brittle as these facilities age or are slated to be shut down. Founder/CEO Thomas Eiden explains why he left what most would consider a dream job to create Atomic Alchemy Inc., and how his company plans to end this looming crisis.

Recorded live as part of The Objectivist Conference on August 30, 2021.

The Evolution of Work by Jason Crawford

February 16, 2022 arilive_user 1:01:21 0 Comments

Man has always needed to work. But throughout history, as work moved from farms to factories to offices, it has improved in many ways. Work has become easier, safer, more reliable, more enjoyable, more flexible. Above all, it has become more productive, resulting in both soaring real wages and increased leisure. This talk will tell the story of how we got from the hunter-gatherer life to the modern working world, and will celebrate the industrial heroes who brought us here.

Recorded live as part of The Objectivist Conference on August 31, 2021.

Great Inventors as Great Capitalists by Adam Mossoff

February 9, 2022 arilive_user 1:30:49 0 Comments

We celebrate great inventors for their creations—the lightbulb, the sewing machine, the computer, the smartphone. Great innovators are often great capitalists, too. They often invent new business models, corporate organizations and other commercial mechanisms for producing, retailing and advertising their new products and services. In this talk, Adam Mossoff discusses the often-overlooked value-creating commercial innovations of great inventors in U.S. history.

Recorded live as part of The Objectivist Conference on August 29, 2021.

Philosophy and Energy by Alex Epstein

January 12, 2022 arilive_user 0 Comments

Today, the energy industry—the industry that powers every other industry—is under unprecedented attack, with widespread calls to eliminate fossil fuels and continue the strangulation of nuclear power.In this talk, Alex Epstein, author of The New York Times bestseller The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, will draw on his new book Fossil Future and explain why the root cause of this attack is bad philosophy, and why the root solution is good philosophy. Recorded live as part of The Objectivist Conference on September 01, 2021.

All Regulation is Over-Regulation by Harry Binswanger

January 5, 2022 arilive_user 01:29:14 0 Comments

Conservatives complain about “over-regulation,” but all governmental regulation—regulation as such—is destructive and evil. Ayn Rand wrote that the premise of regulation is “the concept that a man is guilty until he is proved innocent by the permissive rubber stamp of a commissar or a Gauleiter.” Dr. Binswanger will argue that government must have “probable cause” before it can use force against someone—and he will discuss how this applies not only to business activity, but also to immigration, “public health” and gun ownership. Recorded live as part of The Objectivist Conference on August 31, 2021.

Productive Achievement: Man’s “Noblest Activity” by Onkar Ghate

May 19, 2021 arilive_user 1:23:56 0 Comments

Most thinkers throughout history have held a negative or, at best, neutral view of productive work. If not scorned outright, production has usually been viewed as having no moral significance. But Ayn Rand had a unique view of the human potential, central to which is the importance she accords to the act of production. Productive achievement, in her philosophy, is man’s “noblest activity.” This talk explores what Objectivism means by the virtue of productiveness and discusses aspects of our culture’s positive and negative attitudes toward producers and productive activity.

Onkar Ghate is senior fellow and chief content officer at the Ayn Rand Institute. Tara Smith, who participates in the question period, is professor of philosophy and BB&T Chair for the Study of Objectivism at the University of Texas at Austin. This talk was delivered at Objectivist Summer Conference 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, June 10, 2017.

Reclaiming Americanism Panel

March 31, 2021 arilive_user 1:29:14 0 Comments

A New Textbook of Americanism: The Politics of Ayn Rand (2018) presents Rand’s distinctive philosophical conception of “Americanism” and shows why it is so urgently needed today. This panel features the book’s editor Jonathan Hoenig and several contributors.

Recorded live at OCON on June 24, 2019

Capitalism Versus Statism: The Real Lessons of the Berlin Wall by Yaron Brook

January 20, 2021 arilive_user 59:54 0 Comments

Recorded live at Ayn Rand Conference Europe 2020

Yaron Brook and David Pakman Debate: “Does Pure Capitalism Work?”

November 11, 2020 arilive_user 39:05 0 Comments

Listen to the final installment in a series of four discussions between Ayn Rand Institute chairman Yaron Brook and David Pakman about Ayn Rand and Objectivism. Pakman is the host of the internationally syndicated television and radio program The David Pakman Show.

Yaron Brook and David Pakman Debate: “Should We Have Welfare Programs?”

November 4, 2020 arilive_user 39:24 0 Comments

Listen to the third in a series of four discussions between Ayn Rand Institute chairman Yaron Brook and David Pakman about Ayn Rand and Objectivism. Pakman is the host of the internationally syndicated television and radio program The David Pakman Show.

Yaron Brook and David Pakman Debate: “Is Capitalism Moral?”

October 28, 2020 arilive_user 40:02 0 Comments

The second of four debates between Yaron Brook and David Pakman. This debate covers the question: “Is Capitalism Moral?”

Yaron Brook Debates David Pakman on Ayn Rand

October 21, 2020 arilive_user 36:11 0 Comments

Listen to the first in a series of four discussions between Ayn Rand Institute chairman Yaron Brook and David Pakman about Ayn Rand and Objectivism. Pakman is the host of the internationally syndicated television and radio program The David Pakman Show.

Free Speech, Free Minds, Free Markets by Tara Smith

June 10, 2020 arilive_user 01:27:46 0 Comments

Many people believe that while freedom of speech is a vital human liberty, economic freedom is entirely separate, merely a distant and inferior relation. This lecture exposes their error by examining the underappreciated implications of free speech on free markets. After isolating the First Amendment’s core concern as intellectual freedom, Smith demonstrates how the mind is the bridge between speech and property—between intellectual activity, on the other hand, and its manifold material rewards, on the other.

Recorded Live in Cleveland on Thursday June 27th, 2019.

Fighting Socialism in Latin America with Gloria Alvarez, Yaron Brook and Agustina Vergara Cid

October 30, 2019 arilive_user 1:04:24 0 Comments

Recorded Live, Monday June 24th, 2019

Tribalism in Economics by Yaron Brook

June 12, 2019 arilive_user 42:06 0 Comments

Popular discussions of economics—with their focus on macroeconomic factors such as GDP, total unemployment, total jobs numbers, etc.—often reflect a collectivist mindset. This contributes to the America-versus-the-world tribalism inherent in today’s calls for tariffs and immigration restrictions. By contrast, the individualist approach embraces economic freedom and global trade.

This video was recorded at AynRandCon in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 3, 2018.

A Philosophy of Success with John Allison and Dave Rubin

April 17, 2019 arilive_user 29:54 0 Comments

This is the eleventh episode in a series looking at Objectivism’s approach to Happiness. John Allison joins Dave Rubin to discuss how the Objectivist ethics enabled his business success.

Free Speech and the Internet by Yaron Brook

February 8, 2019 arilive_user 1:39:19 0 Comments

In recent years, the internet has become the focus of debates about free speech, and the issue is rapidly coming to a head.

The internet provides a platform to bring people closer together and to empower individuals by enabling new voices to be heard and sparking the formation of new communities and new movements. But some of these communities are rife with hatred and bullying, and there are worries that social media is coarsening our political discourse. Many people think that social media outlets have too much power over how we speak and interact on the internet and that more government oversight is needed.

Where does this leave the idea of free speech? What sorts of speech should be permitted and prohibited online? And who should decide?

Patrick Bet-David Interviews Yaron Brook

January 27, 2019 arilive_user 1:36:56 0 Comments

In this video, recorded at Objectivist Summer Conference 2018, Patrick Bet-David interviews Yaron Brook to discuss Objectivism and Capitalism. Brook responds to questions such as: Is Objectivism a philosophy for elitists? Is it sustainable to run a nation based on this philosophy? How is world peace achieved? Has religion done more good or bad for the world? Was Ayn Rand’s move to America as a young woman a “leap of faith”? What would the world look like if everyone accepted Objectivism? Does the virtue of selfishness work in every aspect of life? And more. . . .

Yaron Brook is chairman of the board of the Ayn Rand Institute and travels extensively as ARI’s spokesman.

Brook can be heard weekly on The Yaron Brook Show, which airs live on the BlogTalkRadio podcast. He is also a frequent guest on national radio and television programs. He is the coauthor, with Don Watkins, of the national best-seller Free Market Revolution; How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government and of Equal Is Unfair: America’s Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality.

Brook serves on the boards of the Ayn Rand Institute, the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism and CEHE (Center for Excellence in Higher Education), and he is a member of the Association of Private Enterprise Education and the Mont Pelerin Society.

Mr. Bet-David is passionate about shaping the next generation of leaders by teaching entrepreneurship and disrupting the traditional approach to a career. His popular YouTube videos “The Life of an Entrepreneur” and others are available on Valuetainment, a channel for entrepreneurs. He has hosted one-on-one interviews with NBA Hall of Famers James Worthy and Magic Johnson; author Robert Greene; entrepreneur and NBA team owner Mark Cuban; Indy-500 winner Al Unser Jr. and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

What It Means to Be Selfish in Life and in Politics: Yaron Brook at Exeter University

January 4, 2019 arilive_user 1:31:20 0 Comments

In this talk, Yaron Brook discusses what it means to be selfish, what role selfishness has in politics, and how selfishness contributes to creating a happy productive life.

This talk was streamed live from Exeter University on November 13, 2018.

Howard Roark and the Great Heroes of Literature by Andrew Bernstein

December 21, 2018 arilive_user 1:04:45 0 Comments

This talk shows that there are several attributes of literary heroism: the promotion of life-affirming values, the depth of virtue(s) manifested, the power of antagonists faced, and the hero’s degree of prowess. When we deploy such criteria and compare and contrast Howard Roark to some of literature’s other great heroes-for example, Odysseus, Cyrano, Doctor Stockmann, and Shane-where do we find he stands in the pantheon of literary heroism? This talk examines and answers this question.

What Is Killing Western Civilization? with Douglas Murray, Claire Fox and Yaron Brook

December 7, 2018 arilive_user 1:38:36 0 Comments

Cultural observers have often noted that Europe — and, more broadly, Western civilization — despite historically unprecedented success, is in danger of losing itself. But what exactly is being lost, and why? And what can be done about it?

In a recent panel discussion entitled “What Is Killing Western Civilization?,” Yaron Brook (chairman of the board of the Ayn Rand Institute) and Douglas Murray (author of The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam) met at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers lecture theatre in central London to discuss the future of Western civilization in the context of its own identity crisis and the growing trend of immigration to the West from those outside it — and, in some cases, hostile to it. The panel, moderated by Claire Fox (director and founder of Academy of Ideas), addressed such questions as:

What is Western civilization?
What is the nature of the crisis that the West faces?
How should one think about immigration in today’s world?

Free Speech, Free Minds, Free Markets with Yaron Brook, Dave Rubin and Eric Weinstein

November 23, 2018 arilive_user 1:51:02 0 Comments

A conversation about freedom, between Yaron Brook, Dave Rubin and Eric Weinstein.