Ayn Rand Institute

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The Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism ( ARI ) is an American think tank in Irvine (California) that disseminates Ayn Rand's ideas , known as " objectivism ". The think tank was founded in 1985, three years after Rand's death, by Leonard Peikoff , a student of Rand. Yaron Brook is the Executive Director of ARI.

activities

Activities include courses in objectivism and related topics offered by the Objectivist Academic Center . In addition, the ARI organizes public lectures, organizes author competitions for Rand's novels, provides material on objectivism for campus clubs, distributes Rand's writings to schools and among professors, and arranges interviewees for radio and TV stations.

Political positioning

The Ayn Rand Institute and its staff regularly provide opinions and comments on political issues and events. It was u. a. demanded a very tough approach in the war on terror , expressed a clear criticism of multiculturalism and denied anthropogenic climate change .

criticism

The Ayn Rand Institute and objectivism came under repeated criticism because of the emphasis on egoism , among other things after a spokesman for the think tank demanded that no tax money should be donated to the victims of the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia . The ARI later published a "clarification" on the subject. In a completely free, "perfect" society advocated by the ARI, the government would not have the power to tax citizens and redistribute their wealth for charity, either domestically or abroad. Short-term disaster aid to foreign victims of a natural disaster is still one of the most harmless types of legal violations by the state. It was therefore inappropriate to single out and condemn disaster aid. Although it would have been better to use the aid money for a “legitimate” state purpose (such as equipping and arming US troops in Iraq ), there are thousands of state actions that are more damaging to “our” rights. It would have been far worse, for example, if the government had pumped the money into the anti-cartel department of the Ministry of Justice, which is directly responsible for “prosecuting” successful business people.

As part of the US government's Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the institute has applied for a loan of $ 350,000 to $ 1 million from the responsible Small Business Administration (SBA) to finance the salaries of its employees during the Corona crisis. As a justification, the institute refers to a short-term service announcement from May 2020. According to the statement of its Chairman of the Board of Directors Harry Binswanger and the senior editor of the podcast organ “New Ideal” of the objectivism epigones, the institute claims Onkar Ghate, the public aid for damage caused by government directives, regulatory measures by the authorities and dictatorial interference by the government. It would turn justice for capitalists on its head not to take advantage of this exonerating aid. In this context, it would also be morally wrong for proponents of capitalism to step aside and watch the fresh money be distributed only to anti-capitalists.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Leonard Peikoff , End States Who Sponsor Terrorism , published in The New York Times , October 2, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  2. ^ Michael S. Berliner and Gary Hull: Diversity and Multiculturalism: The New Racism . Retrieved May 24, 2016. - See Elan Journo: Multiculturalism's War on Education , in: Bucks County Courier Times , September 26, 2004. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  3. ↑ The Last Person On Earth To Turn To Now Is Ayn Rand , by Johann Hari , in: The Huffington Post , March 10, 2009.
  4. ↑ a b U.S. Government Should Not Help Tsunami Victims (Updated) (original ARI article and later "clarification" in Capitalism Magazine )
  5. ↑ James Crowley: 'Laisssez-Faire Capitalism' Advocate Ayn Rand Institute Approved for PPP Loan. Newsweek, July 7, 2020, accessed August 18, 2020 .

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