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Capitalism in Action --- Ayn Rand and Her WorldAyn Rand was a women who advocated and fought for the individual against the collectivist. She was a libertarian, although she didn't claim to be. Members of the Libertarian movement claim her and hold to her teachings. She has a multitude of books and much has been written about her. Ayn Rand began writing The Fountainhead in 1935. In the character of the architect Howard Roark, she presented for the first time the kind of hero whose depiction was the chief goal of her writing: the ideal man, man as "he could be and ought to be." The Fountainhead was rejected by twelve publishers but finally accepted by the Bobbs-Merrill Company. When published in 1943, it made history by becoming a best seller through word-of-mouth two years later, and gained for its author lasting recognition as a champion of individualism. Ayn Rand returned to Hollywood in late 1943 to write the screenplay for The Fountainhead, but wartime restrictions delayed production until 1948. Working part time as a screenwriter for Hal Wallis Productions, she began her major novel, Atlas Shrugged, in 1946. In 1951 she moved back to New York City and devoted herself full time to the completion of Atlas Shrugged. Published in 1957, Atlas Shrugged was her greatest achievement and last work of fiction. In this novel she dramatized her unique philosophy in an intellectual mystery story that integrated ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, politics, economics and sex. Although she considered herself primarily a fiction writer, she realized that in order to create heroic fictional characters, she had to identify the philosophic principles which make such individuals possible. Thereafter, Ayn Rand wrote and lectured on her philosophy—Objectivism, which she characterized as "a philosophy for living on earth.". She published and edited her own periodicals from 1962 to 1976, her essays providing much of the material for six books on Objectivism and its application to the culture. Ayn Rand died on March 6, 1982, in her New York City apartment. Following are her two great speeches she wrote for two main characters. These are audio productions so you can fully enjoy and appreciate their content. "This is John Galt Speaking"from "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand"The Fountainhead" (1949)Howard Roark's Address to the JuryFree Market News, Views and UpdatesThis feature is updated frequently. Bookmark the page and come back often. Giving Science the ol' Title IX33 minutes ago featuring Neal McCluskey George Will's America 24 Jul 2008 at 6:00am featuring George F. Will The FBI's 100th Anniversary 24 Jul 2008 at 6:00am featuring Athan Theoharis Can the Fed Whip Inflation Now? 23 Jul 2008 at 6:00am featuring William A. Niskanen Pickin' on Pickens 22 Jul 2008 at 6:00am featuring Jerry Taylor War Powers Pap 21 Jul 2008 at 6:00am featuring Gene Healy McCain's Hopeful, Flawed Push for School Choice 18 Jul 2008 at 6:00am featuring Neal McCluskey Inflation, Deflation and Asset Bubbles 17 Jul 2008 at 6:00am featuring Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr. A Strategy of Restraint Overseas 16 Jul 2008 at 6:00am featuring Benjamin H. Friedman The Obama Foreign Policy 15 Jul 2008 at 6:00am featuring Justin Logan How Fannie and Freddie Got Big 14 Jul 2008 at 6:00am featuring Peter Van Doren Shrink, Privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 12 Jul 2008 at 6:00am featuring Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr. The Grand Exaggerator by Patrick J. Michaels 24 Jul 2008 at 12:00am What is it with Al Gore? Why is he compelled to exaggerate climate change (excuse me, "the climate crisis"), and then to propose impossible policy responses? It's like he's inventing the Internet all over again! OK, it's pretty much standard rhetoric in The Fed Plays With Fire by Steve H. Hanke 24 Jul 2008 at 12:00am The U.S. dollar may be cyclically weak right now, but it remains the main vehicle for foreign exchange transactions, the leading international invoice currency and the most important medium for official reserves and interventions to influence exchange rates. In T. Boone Hard-Wired for Subsidies by Jerry Taylor 24 Jul 2008 at 12:00am Virtually every claim made by T. Boone Pickens to justify the lavish subsidies he is seeking for his wind energy investments is flat wrong. First, oil imports are not the cause of high gasoline prices. On the contrary, oil imports serve to keep gasoline Captains of Today's Titanics by Richard W. Rahn 23 Jul 2008 at 12:00am The captain of the Titanic set a course for his ship through a known ice field, with the hope that it would not hit anything and cross the Atlantic in record time. The Congress of the United States created two government-sponsored mortgage corporations - Fannie Mae and Treasury's Thieves by Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr. 23 Jul 2008 at 12:00am Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's bailout plan for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be titled "The Bondholder Relief Act of 2008": The taxpayers will be providing the relief to holders of Fannie/Freddie debt, many of whom are How Good Was the Good War? by Ted Galen Carpenter 22 Jul 2008 at 12:00am The World War II experience is so pervasive in American culture that it's nearly imprinted on the national DNA. People who know nothing about other periods of U.S. and world history know?or think they know?the lessons of World War II. The pop-culture version is roughly US Keeps Taiwan at Arm's Length by David Isenberg 22 Jul 2008 at 12:00am The past month has seen some convoluted twists and turns in what seems to be the never-ending saga of Taiwanese arms procurement. In the second half of June it was reported in the Taiwanese media that the Taiwanese government had requested that the US Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Should Be Cut Down and Cut Loose by Alan Reynolds 21 Jul 2008 at 12:00am Why should Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac enjoy special tax and regulatory privileges unavailable to other publicly traded corporations? Why should U.S. taxpayers be required to lend them money, or pick up the tab if they can't pay their bills? The answer of John McCain on Foreign Policy: Even Worse Than Bush by Ted Galen Carpenter 21 Jul 2008 at 12:00am Over the years, John McCain has acquired a reputation as a maverick Republican. Independents and even some Democrats who loathe George W. Bush's foreign-policy record seem to believe that McCain would be a significant improvement. In several GOP primaries earlier this The Day the Music Dies by Timothy B. Lee 21 Jul 2008 at 12:00am This fall customers of the now-defunct MSN Music Store, Microsoft's abortive attempt to compete with iTunes, will be in for a nasty surprise: They will no longer be able to transfer their music to new computers. Worse, thanks to the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act Hyperinflation: Mugabe Versus Milosevic by Steve H. Hanke 21 Jul 2008 at 12:00am When a country's monthly inflation rate exceeds 50% ? that is close to an annual rate of 13,000% ? it qualifies as a hyperinflation. Episodes of hyperinflation are rare. they have only occurred when the supply of money has been Trade, Growth: Weep Not for Doha by Daniel J. Ikenson 20 Jul 2008 at 12:00am The Doha Round of multilateral trade talks has already died a thousand deaths. But, apart from the bureaucracies in Geneva, Brussels and Washington, few are grieving. That's because the world economy is moving forward without a World Trade A Reality Check on Iran by David Isenberg 19 Jul 2008 at 12:00am The world has over the past months witnessed one of the periodic upsurges of speculation in the ongoing drama over whether the United States will attack Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons program. Tehran test-fired some of its long-range ballistic missiles The Con Side of Contractors by David Isenberg 18 Jul 2008 at 12:00am Much of the discussion about the rights and wrongs of private military and security contractors in Iraq is framed either as a capabilities question — can U.S. forces operate without them? — or a values question — should private contractors have such a Shame the Beloved Country by Marian L. Tupy 18 Jul 2008 at 12:00am What do authoritarian regimes like China, Libya, Russia, Vietnam, and a democracy like South Africa have in common? Their representatives voted against an arms embargo on Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe during the recent U.N. Security Council meeting in New York. The Why Not to Panic on Inflation by Alan Reynolds 18 Jul 2008 at 12:00am RELAX — inflation is not galloping out of control. At least, the number pointed to as proof of a crisis doesn't tell us anything like that. Behind the panic was this week's release of the latest Consumer Price Index figure — a 5 percent rise from U.S. Should Import More Skilled Workers by Will Wilkinson 16 Jul 2008 at 12:00am If you're a highly-skilled worker, America needs you. But if you've got a foreign passport, we probably won't let you in. The U.S. issues only 65,000 H-1B visas for skilled workers each year and that's not very many. Senators McCain and Obama have both said Disarming the World by Malou Innocent 16 Jul 2008 at 12:00am McCain's plan against nukes is counterproductive. One of John McCain's more surprising policy positions is his explicit endorsement of complete global nuclear disarmament. "A quarter of a century ago," McCain noted, "President Ronald Trading Places? by Justin Logan 16 Jul 2008 at 12:00am An inward-looking America could relinquish its economic leadership to 21st-century Asia International trade has lifted millions of people in Asia out of poverty in recent decades and has done a great deal to bring China's economy closer Economic Nonadvisers by Richard W. Rahn 16 Jul 2008 at 12:00am Do you think the economic, energy and environmental policies of the presidential candidates are clear, understandable and plausible? If you answered "no" for at least one of the candidates, it is, in part, because the advisers have not done an adequate job. A policy
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