By Andrew Bernstein Ayn Rand showed that the moral is the practical—and this course, based on Andrew Bernstein’s book Capitalist Solutions, demonstrates this in contemporary issues. The United States faces profound moral problems as it approaches, and moves beyond, the 2012 presidential elections. Health care is a major issue, as is environmentalism and its claim of man-made global warming. Islamic totalitarianism threatens our very lives, not merely our freedom. Education is a perennial problem. Immigration, gay marriage, the war on drugs, abortion, the right to bear arms, and other issues must be resolved. In an attempt to provide solutions, the United States government pushes us remorselessly toward socialism. But, contrary to the government’s policies, proper solutions lie only in moving to the opposite political system: the individual rights embodied in laissez-faire capitalism. This course focuses on three of these issues—education, Islamic totalitarianism and environmentalism’s charge of man-made global warming. The course examines these contemporary problems by applying three fundamental Objectivist principles: objectivity involves the widest cognitive integration possible in one’s context of knowledge; individual rights are required to promote man’s life; and the moral is the practical, the immoral is the impractical. By applying these principles, rational solutions to these problems become evident. This course was recorded at the Objectivist Summer Conference 2012 in San Diego, CA. (MP3 download; 3 hrs., 6 mins., 133.50 MB)
