Links to Recommended Essays on the Web!

LINKS TO RECOMMENDED ESSAYS

Disclaimer: the links below are to domains separate from my own. None of the essays below are written or owned by me. Though I agree with most of whatt is written on the individual links, I do not necessarily endorse everything said on the domains on which they are found, nor do the maintainers of the domains necessarily endorse anything said on mine.

8 June 2004 Update: Please be aware that many of the links no longer work. I apologize for this inconvenience.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PHILOSOPHY TO REAL LIFE

INTRODUCTION -- PHILOSOPHY: WHO NEEDS IT

Let's Revive Philosophy
Onkar Ghate, Ph.D., former professor of philosophy in Toronto, Canada
Ayn Rand Institute, 7 February 2001

So philosophy is important. But finding a good philsophy means understanding how the use of one's mind is of the utmost importance.

THE MIND AS THE ULTIMATE SURVIVAL TOOL

Time to Celebrate Man's Mind
On Labor Day, We Should Honor Man's Mind, Not Men's Muscles, as the Real Source of Wealth and Progress
Fredric Hamber, senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute in Marina del Rey, California
Capitalism Magazine, September 1999

Natural Disasters Demonstrate Man's Power, Not Nature's
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A., philosophy columnist for Creators Syndicate and former chairman of the Center for the Moral Defense of Capitalism
Ayn Rand Institute, 5 July 2000

But, if the mind is so important, then how should one guide it--through faith or through reason?

REASON: THE ONLY ORACLE FOR MAN

Reason vs. Faith
Peter Schwartz, M.A., chairman of the board at the Ayn Rand Institute in Marina del Rey, California
7 December 1998

The Bible Belt's Assault on Education
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
Ayn Rand Institute, 24 August 1999

Graduation Day Values
Our College Graduates Must Hold Firmly to the Principles of Reason and Individualism — Despite What They Have Been Taught in Their Classes
Edwin A. Locke, Ph.D., professor of Management and Behavioral Psychology at the University of Maryland at College Park
Ayn Rand Institute, 5 June 2000

Reason is so important, that one would benefit from teaching it to his kids early on.

No, Virginia, There Is No Santa Claus
John and Bobby Sandler, members of the Objectivism Study Group on the Internet
Objectivism Study Group, 1996
Reprinted on The Intellectual Activist's Web site, 1997

Since rationality is such a value, then once must be able to distinguish between the rational and the irrational.

THE FOUNDATIONS OF KNOWLEDGE

Our Schools vs. Our Child's Minds
Andrew Bernstein, Ph.D., professor of philosophy at Pace University and the State University of New York at Purchase
Ayn Rand Institute, 9 December 1999

My Home-School Experience...
Demonstrates the Benefit of a Rational Approach to Education
Glenn Woiceshyn, M.S.
Ayn Rand Institute, 19 September 2000

Preserving America: Soros vs. Jefferson
Edwin A. Locke, Ph.D.
Ayn Rand Institute, June 1997

Once once learns to think rationally, one can spot illogical arguments, such as trying to substitute the vociferation "but that's extreme!" for an actual argument.

LOGICAL ARGUMENTS VS. ILLOGICAL ARGUMENTS

Bury the "Extremism" Smear at Barry Goldwater's Funeral
Glenn Woiceshyn, M.S., former self-employed engineer in Calgary, Canada
Capitalism Magazine, 2 June 1998

A Feeling Is Not an Argument
Alex Epstein, undergraduate philosophy major at Duke University and publisher of The Duke Review
Ayn Rand Institute, 3 April 2001

The Fallacy of...
The Stolen Concept
Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D., psychotherapist in private practice in Los Angeles, California
Originally published in The Objectivist Newsletter in January 1963

If reason trumps mysticis and faith, then do I need morality? Of course I do!

ETHICS: RATIONAL OR NOT, YOU NEED IT

WHY SHOULD ONE ACT ON PRINCIPLES?

Why Should One Act on Principle?
William Thomas, M.S., former professor of the Economic History of the United States and China at the Univeristy of Michigan, and currently Manager of Research and Training at the Objectivist Center in Poughkeepsie, New York
Navigator, 1 May 1999

Since I must act on principles, then what kind of principles must I act on? Should I guide myself through mystical dogma? No. Instead, I shall use rationality. Can self-interest be rational? Let's examine the possibilities.

RATIONAL SELF-INTEREST AS ETHICAL

What's So Bad About Being Selfish?
Michael J. Hurd, Ph.D., founder and clinical psychologist of the Living Resouces Center, Inc., in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and host of the radio program Solutions--Not Excuses
Capitalism Magazine, September 1999

Reflections on the Ethics of Selflessness
Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D.
Excerpted from The Art of Living Consciously, (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1997)

If looking out for myself is good, then is it also all right to think highly of myself? Yes, provided that one has a rational basis for doing so.

THE VIRTUE OF PRIDE

The Virtue of Pride
William Thomas, M.S.
Navigator, 1 October 1999

What Self-Esteem Is and Is Not
Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D.
Excerpted from The Art of Living Consciously

Say No to the Pseudo-Self-Esteem Pushers
The Problem of Low Self-Esteem Among Students Is Caused by the Very Approach Now Proposed as the Cure
Onkar Ghate, Ph.D.
The Miami Herald, 13 September 1998

For the Record
Dr. Branden's Response to Michael Edelstein's Article in Liberty That Mischaracterized and Then Attacked Dr. Branden's Theory of Self-Esteem
Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D.
NathanielBranden.Net, 1 March 2001

Is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Perfect?
Michael J. Hurd, Ph.D.
The Living Resources Center at DrHurd.Com, 28 December 2000

But wait a minute. If pride is good, then what should I have pride in, in the first place? Should I have pride in things I had control in, such as my achievements, or accidental characteristics, such as my ethnicity? And what is a self in the first place? Is my identity determined by my conscious thoughts and actions, or is it the primary result of my being born a certain race?

YOUR VOLITION, NOT YOUR RACE, IS WHAT CONSTITUTES YOUR PERSONALITY AND FREE WILL

Nature, Nurture, and What Else?
Michael J. Hurd, Ph.D.
Living Resources Center at DrHurd.Com, 14 April 2001

What We Should Remember on Martin Luther King Day
Judge Others, Not By the Color of Their Skin, But the Content of Their Character
Edwin A. Locke, Ph.D.
Front Page Magazine, 17 January 2000

Pride vs. Prejudice
"Black Pride,” “Hispanic Pride,” “Native American Pride” Are All Illegitimate Concepts Which Destroy Genuine Pride in an Individual
Andrew Bernstein, Ph.D.
Ayn Rand Institute, 26 May 1999

All right. Let's say genuine pride and selfishness is good. But aren't there limits? Isn't a man's love for his wife the living refutation that selfishness is the ideal? No, because...

ROMANTIC LOVE IS SELFISH

Love and Selfishness
The False View of Love as Selfless and Unconditional Destroys Its Sublime Value
Gary Hull, Ph.D., professor of Business Ethics at Duke University
Ayn Rand Institute, 8 February 2001

Okay, so there is something to rational selfishness. But, in a rationally selfish society, what would protect me from being attacked by other people looking out for their welfare instead of mine? It couldn't happen, because, embodied in rational selfishness is the moral principle of self-ownership, meaning selfish individual rights to life, liberty, and property. After all, if it weren't for the existence of rights, then we'd live in violent anarchy, and, under such conditions, everyone would end up murdered, and then they wouldn't be free to be selfish, now would they?

INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS PROTECT EVERYONE'S SELF-INTEREST

Rights Are Moral Principles...
Defining a Man's Freedom of Action in a Society
Mark Da Cunha, web designer and founder of Integrate Design, Inc., based in the Bahamas
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal at Capitalism.Org

The Basis of Good Government:
The Protection of Individual Rights
Glenn Woiceshyn, M.S.
Capitalism Magazine, October 1999

This brings about further philosophical questions. How does one distinguish between what are rights, and what are not rights? First off, rights are thought-centric, meaning that thought is precondition to respecting rights. Therefore, anything incapable of having concepts is incapable of conceiving of rights, therefore incapable of respecting rights, and therefore cannot have rights itself.

RIGHTS ARE THOUGHT-CENTERED

Animal "Rights" vs. Human Rights
Andrew Bernstein, Ph.D.
Ayn Rand Institute, 20 April 2000

Animal "Rights" and the New Man Haters
Edwin A. Locke, Ph.D.
The Chicago Tribune, 21 April 1988

Paul McCartney Joins PETA's Attack on Human Rights
Edwin A. Locke, Ph.D.
Ayn Rand Institute, 14 September 1999

Okay, so plants and animals don't have rights, while humans do. But what about unborn fetuses? Since they are human tissue, do they not have rights? No, they don't, because rights apply to conscious beings with rights that do not conflict with any conscious being's rights, and cannot be applied to unconscious tissue that can only survive by directly feeding off of the body of a conscious being withrights. A fetus is human tissue, but not a human being.

GENUINE RIGHTS OF WOMEN VS. FALSE RIGHTS OF FETUSES

Abortion Rights Are Pro-Life
Leonard Peikoff, Ph.D., professor emeritus of philosophy at New York University and author of The One in the Many
Ayn Rand Institute, 19 April 1999

This even applies to partial-birth abortions.

The “Partial-Birth” Smokescreen
Glenn Woiceshyn, M.S.
Ayn Rand Institute, 20 April 2000

But, even if the fetus doesn't have rights, why does a woman have the right to abort it? Because she, being a sapient being (i.e. sapient means "thinking" and therefore having rights), has a right to life. A right to life means ownership of one's own life, which includes ownership of one's own body. You own your own body, regardless of any government official who tells you otherwise.

SELF-OWNERSHIP MEANS YOU OWN YOUR OWN BODY

Does the State Now Own Your Body?
Andrew Bernstein, Ph.D.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 October 1998

So, does the State own your body? The answer to that question, of course, is no--you do, even if the State says otherwise. But, wait a minute. If I own my own body, does that mean I even have the right to abuse it in the most unwise ways possible, such as through drugs and alcoholism? Yes, and though these things are immoral, initiatiating force against other people to stop them from using it is even more immoral.

DRUG PROHIBITION VIOLATES YOUR RIGHT TO YOUR OWN BODY

Immorality of the War on Drugs
Andrew Lewis, M.A., senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute and host of the The Andrew Lewis Show on the radio
Capitalism Magazine, October 1999

Earth to Government: Nagging Is a Waste
Michael J. Hurd, Ph.D.
The Living Resources Center at DrHurd.Com, 26 April 2001

Robert Downey Jr. Supporters Only Half Right
Amy Peikoff, J.D., attorney in private practice in New York and wife to academic philosopher Leonard Peikoff
The Los Angeles Times, Wednesday, 2 May 2001

"Now hold it, mister," you say? If my ownership of my own body and life can be taken that far, where does it end? If I own my own life, does that mean I have a right to deliberately destroy it through suicide? Yes, if ownership over something means the final say over the control of disposal over something. Hence, ownership of your life means you have the final say in the disposal of your own life if you so choose. If the government forbids you from killing yourself, it is saying that your belongs, not to you, but to the State. Your right to life means you have a right to die.

SELF-OWNERSHIP MEANS THE RIGHT TO SUICIDE

“Dr. Death” Is a Defender of Life
In His Murder Trial Jack Kevorkian Is Defending a Fundamental Right of the Individual
Andrew Bernstein, Ph.D.
Ayn Rand Institute, 23 March 1999

Assisted Suicide: A Moral Right
Thomas A. Boden, Esq., attorney in private practice in Baltimore, Maryland
Ayn Rand Institute, 20 September 2000

If my ownership of my own life can be taken that far, then what about reproductive rights? Since I own my own genes, then do I have the right to clone myself? After all, cloning violates no rights.

HUMAN CLONING IS A RIGHT!

Human Cloning - Yes!
Misconceptions and Fear of the Unknown Must Not Block Biomedical Progress
Harry Binswanger, Ph.D., professor of philosophy at the Ayn Rand Institute's Objectivist Graduate Center and former professor of philosophy at Hunter College in New York City
The Lexington Herald-Leader, 28 July 1998

Whoa! Here's another question. Do people only have rights in countries with limited government? No! Rights are necessary outgrowth of the human being's ability to think, hence rights belong to all nonviolent people and transcend national boundaries. If one lives in a nation where the government violates right, he should be allowed to seek refuge in the U.S.

IMMIGRATION RIGHTS

Opposition to Immigration Is Un-American
Restrictions on “H-1B” Visas Punish Ability and Trample the Rights of Employer and Employee
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
Ayn Rand Institute, 1999

I see, so my self-ownership means I have a right to my own life, liberty, and property. But what if I'm needy and desperate? Then, if, to further my own life, I steal other people's property, am I defending my own right to my life? No, because a right to something only means that you can pursue or sustain that value under the condition you do not violate anyone else's right to do so; it doesn't mean that you are entitled to it enough to warrant your violating rights to obtain or preserve it. A right to property means that other people can't damage or steal your property; it doesn't mean that, if you have no property, you are entitled to property and therefore have a right to steal. A right to violate property rights would invert the concept of rights, make it into a contradiction, and thus destroy the purpose of having rights in the first place.

GENUINE RIGHTS VS. "ENTITLEMENT" RIGHTS

The U.N.'s Distortion of Rights
Fiftieth Anniversary of The U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights — an Insidious Document That Undermines Genuine Rights
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
The Chicago Tribune, 10 December 1998

Health Care Is Not a Right
Leonard Peikoff, Ph.D.
Americans for Free Choice in Medicine, speech first delivered in 1993

Here's another area in which people get confused about rights. As already explained, a right only means that you don't have violence used on you; a right does not mean you are guaranteed a physical object or a service from any other person. For example, censorship is the forceful violation of free speech through physical violence or the threat thereof. If you're a Hollywood screenwriter peddling a script, it wouldbe censorship if the government tried to put you in jail for its contents. But it's notcensorship if all the studios simply refuse to buy your script for any reason.

ONLY PHYSICAL FORCE, AND NOT ECONOMIC BOYCOTTS, CAN ACCURATELY BE CALLED CENSORSHIP

Blacklists Are Not Censorship
Thomas A. Bowden, Esq.
Ayn Rand Institute, 21 March 1999

The Big Lie in Hollywood
The Hollywood Ten Were Not Victims But Villains
Michael S. Berliner, Ph.D., former professor of philsophy and Philosophy of Eduation and chairman of the Department of Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education at California State University at Northridge
Los Angeles Times, 16 November 1997

Do I have so much of a right to not be hated that people should be arrested for hating me? No. Then that means that, if one commits a crime out of hatred (who ever heard of a "love crime"?), then he should be prosecuted by for his act and not his emotions.

SAY NO TO THE THOUGHT POLICE

Hate Crimes Law Not Answer to Gay, Racial Killings
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
Ayn Rand Institute, 21 June 1999

There's no right to "not be hated." But, if genuine rights are inalienable, then doesn't that mean you can't use force against people who initiated it (i.e., murderers and thieves)? No, because rights are not inalienable per se. It would be more accurate to say that the sole condition of having rights is adhering to the rights of others (and that's the ONLY condition of rights, which are otherwise inalienable. By violating others' rights, murderers and thieves forfeit their own. If they still had rights, then no one could arrest them and attack them, then they'd go on killing with impunity, and that would render rights unenforceable, thus defeating the purpose of having them in the first place.

MEN WHO INITIATE VIOLENCE FORFEIT THEIR OWN RIGHTS

The Initiation of Force
Mark Da Cunha, web designer and founder of Integrate Design, Inc.
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal at Capitalism.Org, created by Da Cunha

Death Penalty
Mark Da Cunha
Capitalism.Org

If, to enforce my rights, I have the moral legimitacy to use force in retaliation against attackers who initiated violence on me, then that means I have the right to own a gun to protect myself. It's ridiculous to say a legal ban on guns would stop the initation of force, because violent criminals would obtain guns via the black market, and the gun ban initiates force against innocent citizens by threatening violence upon them for the mere possession of a tool (a gun) with which they could defend themselves.

GUNS AND THE RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE

The Perils of Gun Ownership?
A Quiz for Million Mom Marchers to Consider; OK Now, No Cheating
Mark Da Cunha
Capitalism Magazine, 22 July 2000

So I have rights to my own life, liberty, and property, and the right to defend these things. But who, besides violent criminals, are the enemies of my rights? There are too many to list. Among the most popular ones are mainstream politicians, such as the Democrats and the Republicans, particularly followers of the "liberal" ideology.

SOME POPULAR ENEMIES OF RIGHTS

Liberalism vs. Individual Rights
Liberals Consistently Violate the Individual Rights of the Very People They Profess to Defend
Andrew Bernstein, Ph.D.
Ayn Rand Institute, 19 March 2001

But isn't it selfish to be so concerned about my rights? Shouldn't I just sacrifice those rights for the "common good," as people always tell me without bothering to explain why I should? Actually,a better question is: Why should I have to sacrifice myself anyway? To tell you the truth, the doctrine of altruism is not kindness at all; it is downright hostile to human happiness. Take, for instance, altruists trying to legally bar people from being able to sell their organs. The fact that they can sell organs means that more organs are available for transplant, thus saving more lives. But the altruists want to stop organ-selling, even though organ-selling would mean more lives being saved, because it undermines the gesture of sacrifice. That's saying that altruists getting to feel smug about sacrificing themselves is more important than increasing the number of lives actually being saved.

ALTRUISM IS NOT KINDNESS, BUT THE OPPOSITE

ONE ALTRUISTIC LAW THAT KILLS

Enough of Waiting in Line
17 People Die Every Day Waiting in Line for Organ Transplants, Thanks to the Ban on Profiting from Organ-Selling
David Holcberg, M.S., private civil engineer based in Marina del Rey, California
Capitalism Magazine, 16 March 2001

I want to stress here that, though allowing organ-selling would save more lives, "the greatest good for the greatest number" is notthe final justification for lifting the ban on organ selling. A more important justificatin is thatselling one's own organs to a willing customer violates no one's rights, and the final justification is that, for a person to be paid for rendering a valuable service (such as saving a life) is just plain justice. And there are more insane attempts to make altruism the law, which are just plain unkind. Take, for instance, the obscene contradiction of forced "volunteerism."

FORCED "VOLUNTEERISM"

Compulsory Service for High School Students:
Whose Life Is It, Anyway?
Thomas A. Bowden, Esq.
Ayn Rand Institute, 1999

A Boy's Life or Death
A Short Parable About "Volunteerism"
Scott A. McConnell, director of communications for the Ayn Rand Institute in Marina del Rey, California
Lima News, 12 April 1998

Public Service and Private Misery
Or, How Selfishness Made America Great
David Harriman, M.S., former professor of philosophy at the California State University at San Bernandino, and former physicist for the U.S. Department of Defense
USA Today, 23 April 1997

Okay, so maybe it's bad to initiate force on children so that they work in soup kitchens. But I often hear people telling me I have a duty to sacrifice my material comfort for "wetlands" (translation: swamps) and spotted owls. But the question is: Why do such an irrational thing? Contrary to the arbitrary assertions of "deep ecologists," you have no obligation to trees or swamps or rocks or mud puddles.

SHOULD MANKIND SACRIFICE ITSELF FOR THE WILDERNESS'S SAKE?

Green Thumbs vs. "Green" Politics
Enjoying Nature Is Anti-Environmentalism
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
Capitalism Magazine, Sunday, 22 April 2001

Man: The Endangered Species
Glenn Woiceshyn, M.S. Ayn Rand Institute, 2 May 2001

Return of the Spotted Owl
"Earth First" Means "Humans Last"
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
Capitalism Magazine, 11 December 2000

America's Terrorists
ELF: "If You Build It, We Will Burn It"
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
Capitalism Magazine, 26 February 2001

The "Green" Unabomber
Environmental Regulations Themselves Kill More People Than Eco-Terrorists Like the Unabomber Do
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal, 7 January 1998

Are organ-selling-bans, mandatory "volunteerism," and radical "deep ecology" the only doctrines demanding self-annihilation? No, there are many more, including forms of religion.

RELIGIONS DEMAND SELF-IMMOLATION

The Crucifix vs. the Easter Egg
Easter’s Mixture of the Benevolent and the Horrific Reveals Religion’s Antagonism to Human Life
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
Ayn Rand Institute, 13 April 2000

Religion and Capitalism Are Antithetical
The Defenders of Capitalism Should Invoke Secularism and Reason, Not Religion and Faith, as Their Justification
Andrew Bernstein, Ph.D.
Ayn Rand Institute, 19 January 2000

Why Christmas Should Be More Commercial
Leonard Peikoff, Ph.D.
Ayn Rand Institute, 15 December 1999

One variant of altruism says that anyone who has a lot of money has a duty to give his money away. But no one ever logically explains why he has such a "duty" in the first place.

BILLIONAIRES OWE "THE PUBLIC" NOTHING!

Why Bill Gates Should Keep His Billions
Bill Gates Earned His Fortune and Has No Obligation To "Give It Back" To Those Who Didn't Earn It
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
Center for the Moral Defense of Capitalism, 20 August 1999

Is It Nobler to Give Than to Create?
David C. Kelley, Ph.D., former professor of philosophy at Vassar College and Brandeis University and current founder and executive director of the Objectivist Center in Poughkeepsie, New York
Navigator, 1 February 1998

Making Money, Not Giving It Away, Is a Virtue
Bill Gates Should Be Morally Praised, Not for Giving Away His Wealth, but for Having Produced It
Andrew Bernstein, Ph.D.
Ayn Rand Institute, 23 August 1999

The altruist-collectivists put another spin on the "duty to give money away" argument as well. They also say that it's evil for one man to have more money than another, and that wealth for each person should be equal, or that jobs should be equally distributed--even while inequality remains among each person's productivity.

EGALITARIANISM IS UNFAIR

Egalitarianism: The New Torture Rack
Gary Hull, Ph.D.
News-Shield, 23 April 1997

Feminism's War on Objectivity
Peter Schwartz, M.A.
The Foothill Leader, 28 December 1991

The Assault on Ability
Jesse Jackson’s Campaign for Racial “Right to Capital” Favors Race Over Ability
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
Ayn Rand Institute, 5 May 1999

Graduated Tax for Medicare Is Immoral
Arthur Mode, M.D., psychiatrist in private practice in Falls Church, Virginia
Ayn Rand Institute, July 1997

How Much Is Enough?
Capitalism.Com, a development stage company based in Richmond Virginia
2000

Why America Should Care About Antitrust
The Antitrust Laws’ Assault on Success Threatens Everyone’s Goals and Ambitions
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
Center for the Moral Defense of Capitalism, 2 February 2001
|MoralDefense.Com Version|Capitalism Magazine Version|

Microsoft: Victim of the “Market Share” Myth
Richard M. Salsman, M.B.A., CFA, founder, president & Chief Market Strategist of InterMarket Forecasting, Inc., an economics advisory firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts

In spite of all the efforts of the liberals, the American economy is still dominated by rational self-interest and its logical consequence, individual rights. But there have been other parts of the world where the altruist-collectivists succeeded in making altruism-collectivism the law. Those places were Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

ALTRUISM-COLLECTIVISM AS THE FOUNDATION FOR NAZISM AND COMMUNISM

Why It Can Happen Again
The Fundamental Cause of the Holocaust Is the Anti-Individualist Morality of Self-Sacrifice
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
Ayn Rand Institute, 23 April 2000

Fall of Berlin Wall Does Not Guarantee Freedom
Anniversary of Wall’s Fall Shows Why Collapse of Communism Does Not Ensure Rise of Capitalism
Edwin A. Locke, Ph.D.
Ayn Rand Institute, 3 November 1999

With altruism-by-mandate being the root of communism, it should be pointed out that, if the U.S. government drafted Americans to "fight communism" in some other country (like Vietnam), the U.S. itself would be enacting the communistic law, stating, "If you don't sacrifice your life 'for the country' or 'for democracy,' I'll jail or kill you."

ALTRUISTIC WARS AND THE DRAFT ARE COMMUNIST

Fighting Communism With Communism
Michael J. Hurd, Ph.D.
The Living Resources Center at DrHurd.Com, 7 May 2001

Giving Real Meaning to Veterans Day
Honoring Our Past Soldiers Requires That We Ask Our Future Ones Not to Sacrifice Their Values, but to Uphold Them
Edwin A. Locke, Ph.D.
Ayn Rand Institute, 2 November 1999

America’s Real Threat: The “Isolationism” Smear
“Isolationism” Is a Smear Against Those Who Assert American Interests Rather than Sacrifice Them to International “Cooperation”
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
Ayn Rand Institute, 2000

Isolationism and Imperlialism
Mark Da Cunha
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal at Capitalism.Org

I understand now! But, if altruism's and collectivism's logical consequence is totalitarianism, then what is the alternative? Like I said before, it's a system of government based upon individual rights (in which each person respects another's right to pursue his own happiness, i.e. the right to be selfish). And that governmental system is...

CAPITALISM:
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY
OF INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

CAPITALISM:
THE ECONOMY OF FREEDOM AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

The Basis of Good Government
The Protection of Individual Rights
Glenn Woiceshyn, M.S.
Capitalism Magazine, October 1999

What Is Capitalism Based On?
Capitalism.Com

The Capitalism Visual Tour
Mark Da Cunha
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal at Capitalism.Org
Note: This particular link is more of a slide-show than an essay

The Moral Basis of Capitalism
Robert W. Tracinski, M.A.
Center for the Moral Defense of Capitalism, 1999

The Moral and the Practical
Robert W. Tracinksi, M.A.
Center for the Moral Defense of Capitalism, 1999

Production vs. Force
Robert W. Tracinksi, M.A.
Center for the Moral Defense of Capitalism, 5 September 1999

The Meaning of Money
Ayn Rand, 1905-1982, novelist-philosopher who authored The Fountainhead, The Virtue of Selfishness, and Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal
Excerpted from her most famous work, Atlas Shrugged, (New York, NY: Random House, 1957)

Capitalism is so great, that its wonders transcend all geographic boundaries. Therefore, America should be more open to international trade.

"Buy American" Is Un-American
Harry Binswanger, Ph.D.
The Asian Wall Street Journal and Flint Journal, 1 September 1992

But hold on a minute! Isn't capitalism evil? For instance, in high school and college, my teachers told me that, during the rise of free-market capitalism during the Industrial Revolution and other points in history, all sorts of awful things happened as a result of economic freedom. Actually, your teachers unwittingly told you lies devised by socialists. I'll bust as many myths as I can for you, one by one.