• • • americasfuture.org/doublethink/2013/01/calling-for-a-free-market-revolution/ 
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Ayn Rand Institute  |Capitalism  |Don Watkins  |Egoism  |Individual Rights  |Yaron Brook  | The Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government, Yaron Brook’s and Don Watkins’ clarion call for unbridled capitalism, challenges you to defend Ayn Rand’s ideals of capitalism as philosophical and moral principles and to shrink government dramatically.  

• • • Ayn Rand’s Paradox 
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Capitalism  |Egoism  |Individualism  |Paul Ryan  |Image  | With Paul Ryan’s ascent to the Republican ticket, Ayn Rand returned to contemporary political conversation. Her artistic abilities aside – she has all the weaknesses of Wordsworth’s Romantics with none of their attendant strengths –Rand’s supporters tout her Objectivist individualism as an answer to the claims of Leviathan. But, paradoxically, her defense of individual freedom provides a self-defeating apologia for the American welfare state.  

• • • Ayn Rand defended individual freedom 
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Atheism  |Atlas Shrugged movie  |Atlas Shrugged  |Capitalism  |Egoism  |Individualism  |Paul Ryan  |Image  |Objectivist author  | The days following the addition of Paul Ryan to the Republican presidential ticket have been difficult for anyone who admires, appreciates, or respects the ideas of philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand. Never before have mainstream political writers, reporters and commentators expelled so much energy to discuss Rand or her impact on the contemporary cultural climate. While it’s nice to hear her name repeated in the mainstream, what’s concerning is the associations being thrown around with it.  

• • • Spreading the gospel 
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Ayn Rand Institute  |Capitalism  |Yaron Brook  | On the opening of the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights.
People are excited about finding a small clique of individuals in Washington, D.C. who quietly roll their eyes when another lengthy lecture on public service begins. Conversations are excitedly punctuated with “I know!” and “I mean, really!” and references to 1,000 page tomes of philosophical fiction do not have to be explained. In the hallway outside, the Objectivist Society has set up a table adorned with literature. Passersby shuffle nervously in front of it, unsure if standard protocol applies. Yes, a woman smiles as if to assure them, you can take them. These, at least, are free.  

• What’s your story?: Amy Alkon 
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Profile of syndicated advice columnist Amy Alkon.
As opinionated as Alkon is, she refuses to be pigeonholed when it comes to politics: “I’m not Left or Right…I find both parties creepy.” When I ask if she voted in the recent primaries, Alkon hesitates, and then admits she voted for Barack Obama, but only because she wanted to vote “against Hillary Clinton.” She also cops to a brief Ayn Rand phase—“I was mostly insufferable during my college days,” she laughs—though she’s not entirely sure about the “libertarian” label. Still, she counts herself as a big fan of Reason and its editor, Matt Welch, a former Angeleno. She’s found the Right more welcoming than the Left, but, as a self-professed “godless harlot,” doesn’t care for the religious bent of the Republican party.