Summer 2022 • Vol 17, No. 2
From the Editor, Summer 2022
Welcome to the Summer 2022 issue of The Objective Standard. Articles in this issue address economics, war, abortion, space travel, literature, film, music, and more. Continue »
Cover Article
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, Economics, Philosophy
Ayn Rand vs. Classical Economists
Ayn Rand’s case for capitalism stands in marked contrast to what might be termed the classical defense of capitalism. “The classical economists attempted a tribal justification of capitalism on the ground that it provides the best ‘allocation’ of a community’s ‘resources,’” she wrote.
Features
Ayn Rand & Objectivism
Advancing Ayn Rand’s Ideas in Europe and Beyond
Organizations supported by Prometheus Foundation are advancing Ayn Rand’s ideas in Europe and around the world. I am delighted to be part of these efforts.
Arts & Culture, Ayn Rand & Objectivism
Dominique Francon: Ayn Rand’s Profoundly Misunderstood Heroine
Because Dominique is The Fountainhead's heroine and second most important character, we will not fully understand the book (arguably one of the greatest novels in literature) if we do not comprehend her character.
Philosophy, Politics & Rights
The Collectivist Roots of Russian Atrocities
What is happening now in Ukraine is a kind of barbarism many in the West thought was consigned to history. The only antidote to it is a principled defense of the very ideas Putin opposes: individualism and individual rights.
Arts & Culture
John Williams’s ‘Love Affair with Orchestra’ Continues
No single recording could exhaustively capture even just the highlights of Williams’s career, spanning six decades, but Deutsche Grammophon’s latest culls a varied set of gems, from the uplifting Olympic theme, to the sinister sounds of Close Encounters, to anthems from the beloved Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars franchises.
Science & Technology
How Going to Space Can Enhance Human Flourishing, with Dr. Robert Zubrin
"We have a revolution in spaceflight right now," says Dr. Robert Zubrin, "and it's being caused by freedom." In this interview he discusses how becoming a spacefaring species has the potential to greatly enhance human flourishing and revolutionize our society.
Arts & Culture, Ayn Rand & Objectivism
Ayn Rand’s We the Living: Back on the Silver Screen—and Better Than Ever
Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Duncan Scott is preparing a newly restored high-definition edition of the 1942 movie of Ayn Rand's novel, We the Living. Set during the Russian Revolution—a period that Rand witnessed firsthand—We the Living shows how a totalitarian state makes human life impossible.
Arts & Culture
Seven Poems on the Power of Music
Including works by Amy Lowell, Robert Herrick, Walter de la Mare, William Shakespeare, Thomas Moore, G. K. Chesterton, and John Dryden.
Shorts
Politics & Rights
Abortion and the Questions We Must Answer
People are asking the wrong questions about abortion. To determine whether a fetus has rights, the questions we must answer are not “When does life begin?” or “Is a fetus a human being?” Rather, the questions are: What are rights? Where do they come from? How do we know it? To whom do rights apply?
Politics & Rights
Russia Shows Why Britain Was Right to Send Weapons to Ukraine
Russia has firmly and unquestionably established itself as a threat to Britain and the civilized world. Western governments should recognize the Russian regime for what it is: A despotic dictatorship bent on conquest with no regard for the lives or rights of individuals.
Politics & Rights
Putin, Planes, and Dealing with Dictators
The Russian government of Vladimir Putin has issued a mandate effectively seizing the planes of European companies. Western companies should learn from this experience and pull out of all rights-violating nations.
Science & Technology
Washington Post ‘Journalist’ Tries to Smear Alex Epstein
Justice requires that the Washington Post fire Maxine Joselow for journalistic malpractice and publicly commit to honest journalism, free of smearing.
Reviews
Arts & Culture, Reviews
3 Idiots, Written and Directed by Rajkumar Hirani
3 Idiots (2009), a Hindi-language coming-of-age film, follows the story of three engineering students at one of the top engineering universities in India. It focuses on the happiness a man can achieve when he lives for himself.
Arts & Culture, History, Reviews
The Sinner and the Saint: Dostoevsky and the Gentleman Murderer Who Inspired a Masterpiece by Kevin Birmingham
Despite occasional oversights, Kevin Birmingham's The Sinner and the Saint: Dostoevsky and the Gentleman Murderer Who Inspired a Masterpiece offers a dramatic and enlightening introduction to the complicated context in which one of literature’s greatest and most horrifying novels was created.
