The People Promoting Life, Reason, and Liberty—Even in a War Zone
by Thomas Walker-Werth
Traveling to different countries to speak at conferences is a big part of my work, and I love it. But when I was asked to speak at Ayn Rand Center Ukraine (ARCU)’s 2025 Intellectual Bootcamp in Kyiv, I was hesitant. I have enough Ukrainian friends to know that large parts of the country are safer than it appears in Western news coverage. Nonetheless, the real danger of frequent Russian air raids, the nationwide state of martial law, and the complexity of visiting a country with completely closed airspace were all off-putting.
What convinced me to go regardless was the remarkable spirit of the people organizing and attending the event. Although this would be my first time visiting Ukraine in person, I had previously spoken at several ARCU events remotely, my face and presentation projected onto a wall at the conference. Each time, I was impressed by the dedication of the people coming together in the middle of a war to sit in a shelter and discuss ideas for living better lives and advancing the cause of freedom. Not only were they not letting the war stop them from living their lives—they were proactively working to enhance their lives despite it. Their spirit embodies much of what I believe in, and it was clear to me that taking the comparatively small risk of going to join and support them was the right thing to do.
Now, looking back on the conference, I’m enormously thankful that I went. My goal in taking part was to inspire, educate, and motivate the attendees, but in truth it was they who inspired me. Here were people who took the ideas they believed in so seriously that they’d taken trains across a country constantly threatened by drone and missile attacks to discuss and promote those ideas. If they could display such dedication, how could I justify letting the trivial inconveniences of everyday life in the West hold me back from advancing my goals to the best of my ability?
Virtually all the young students I met at the Intellectual Bootcamp had a proactive, optimistic outlook. I see that kind of mentality in only a select few individuals at such events elsewhere. These were people who, faced with the massive threat to human life that is Putin’s war machine, were determined to embody the very human spirit that the invaders seek to crush. Their spirit reminds me of the stories I’ve heard of Britain during World War II—a culture of defiant positivity, of laughter in the face of tyranny, and of an unashamed commitment to living life.
Ukraine is one of the front lines in the fight not only for freedom but for the human spirit. That spirit was embodied beautifully in Ayn Rand Center Ukraine’s Intellectual Bootcamp. For all my trepidation before the trip, I am enormously glad I went, and I cannot wait for my next opportunity to benefit from spending time with such passionate advocates of freedom and human life.