https://youtu.be/Dt7UQAQYTBE Although Covid vaccines are widely available in the U.S., many people refuse to take the vaccine. Should more states emulate California and Ohio in giving out million-dollar lottery prizes as incentivizes? Is it true (as some argue) that to overcome the pandemic, we need vaccine “mandates”? Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo discuss this issue, … Continue reading Vaccine False Alternatives: Bribes vs. Mandates
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBEs57RU4ko Many critics and fans think of Ayn Rand as belonging within the “conservative” movement. This view is reinforced by a number of prominent conservative figures who are self-declared fans of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. But Rand was not simply critical of “conservatism,” she repudiated it. Why? What was her evaluation of “conservatism”? In … Continue reading Why Ayn Rand Rejected ‘Conservatism’
By many of her fans and critics, Ayn Rand was often seen as belonging within the “conservative” movement. Isn’t her philosophy, people wondered, “just another form of conservatism”? That assumption outlived her. Rand’s ideas, one journalist claimed in 2019, are the intellectual backbone of everything that’s reprehensible about “conservatism.” This linkage in the public mind has been … Continue reading What Was Ayn Rand’s View of ‘Conservatism’?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddIii8xWgIA Flags fly at half-staff on Memorial Day to honor the hundreds of thousands who died serving in the U.S. armed forces. Reflecting on significant wars — both past and present — what can we learn about the fundamental drivers of war? What conditions are necessary for peace? What role if any does global trade … Continue reading What are the roots of war?
An analysis of the philosophic issues behind the deadly, intensifying conflict between Hamas and Israel. What are the moral issues at stake? What fuels this seemingly intractable conflict? What should be the U.S. approach to it? Aaron Smith interviews Elan Journo, author of What Justice Demands: America and the Israeli Palestinian Conflict. Recorded May 14, … Continue reading The Israel-Hamas Crisis
Amid the war between Hamas and Israel, Trevor Noah voices a widely resonant position. Is he right that the imbalance of “power” between the adversaries is the crucial issue?
The Dissident, a new documentary about the Khashoggi scandal, prompts us to look more closely at how the U.S. and Western countries engage with Saudi Arabia.
What, in a nutshell, is Ayn Rand’s case for capitalism? How did her views contrast with libertarianism? anarchism? conservatism? These are some of the questions addressed in my conversation with the coeditors of Foundations of a Free Society, an important new book on Ayn Rand’s political philosophy.On the book’s release, my colleague Keith Lockitch called it “a much-needed … Continue reading How Ayn Rand Ignites Appreciation of Capitalism
