Senior Fellow, the Ayn Rand Institute. Views expressed are my own, I am not authorized to speak for my employer. (Image credit Quintin Soloviev.)
Austin, TX
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I'm excited to release a new in-depth piece that's been in the works for a long time. It's also the final chapter of a new book of my essays that will soon be released.
new-ideal.aynrand.org/p/how-…
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Ben Bayer retweeted
@DouglasKMurray opens an article by asking: “Can a country allow mass lawbreaking and retain its integrity? For almost any crime you can think of, the answer is no.”
Evidently he can’t think of jaywalking, moderate speeding, or failing to report cash tips to taxation authorities, and he’s never heard of a dead-letter law.
He also seems to have somehow forgotten that gay sex remains illegal in much of the world—or else perhaps he thinks that his country lost its integrity in the years when it had ceased vigorously enforcing the laws against private consensual homosexual acts, but hadn’t yet repealed them.
Some crimes are trivial. And many criminalized human activities are such that criminalizing and prosecuting them is itself a breach of any decent country’s integrity.
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As both an ARI employee and an Austinite, I could not be more excited and inspired by the headquarters we are building at the corner of San Gabriel and MLK.
The Ayn Rand Center Groundbreaking
This month, the Ayn Rand Institute celebrated a historic milestone: the groundbreaking of the new Ayn Rand Center in Austin, Texas. @elanjourno and ARI CEO @taltsfany share footage from the ceremony and discuss the vision for this building as a lasting physical home for Rand's ideas.
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Just arrived at @TexasTribune's #tribunefest in Austin where I'll be on a panel this Saturday. Any other followers in attendance?
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Congrats @windyjosh92!
A federal court has ordered immigration officers in Alabama to stop warrantless raids of private construction sites and to stop detaining workers without individualized suspicion.
The ruling comes after construction worker and U.S. citizen Leo Garcia Venegas was detained 3 times—even though he repeatedly presented a state-issued REAL ID.
🧵
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Just received in the mail, a copy of @FreeInquiry with my article on @BartEhrman’s new book on the cover. Coming online soon. Stay tuned.
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Ben Bayer retweeted
Why Academic Philosophy Fails to Understand Capitalism
Is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s entry on capitalism biased, or does it reflect academic philosophy's hostility toward free markets? The hosts discuss Marxist bias, the failure to define capitalism, and Ayn Rand’s moral alternative.
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Ben Bayer retweeted
What Democratic Socialists Truly Want
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) published a political program that calls for nationalization of major corporations and a fundamental transformation of the American government. @BakulaRobertas and Onkar Ghate analyze this platform and explain why the usual charges of ignorance and hypocrisy are inadequate criticisms of socialism.
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Ben Bayer retweeted
"Animal Farm" doesn't criticize socialism—it only critiques Stalin while fundamentally defending socialism’s basic premise. By contrast, Ayn Rand’s "Anthem" exposes the deadly moral root of the whole ideology. Explore the contrast with our new article: Anthem versus Animal Farm.
Learn more below 👇
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Having now seen The Odyssey, I have little to add (apart from mentioning bad acting), because the right interpretation has already been given. It's not as narrowly about Trump's America as this author suggests, but I do think it's about how "we [in the West, more broadly ] are the sea people": hereswhykevin.substack.com/p…
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Looks like Matt Yglesias is also on to this interpretation, but I can't see the whole article:
slowboring.com/p/the-message…
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Ben Bayer retweeted
ARU Core: Study Ayn Rand's Ideas with Expert Instruction
In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, @donswriting, Onkar Ghate, and @lockitch discuss the Institute's recently announced educational program on Objectivism: ARU Core.
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Re-upping this piece, originally published in @Quillette, in light of latest scandal with Jason Arday at Cambridge.
new-ideal.aynrand.org/p/the-…
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Ben Bayer retweeted
Socialism Everywhere — and No One Wants to Know Why
In response to recent socialist electoral victories, many are calling for for “moderation” not “extremism.” Why don’t critics want to name what extreme socialism is actually guilty of?
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Thanks @taltsfany for this recent interview, in which I talk more about my current work at ARI and how I came to adopt my philosophical views.
piped.video/6Bmck6m0DF4?si=oyUP…
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