This event, attended by a standing-room-only audience of nearly 400, was also filmed by C-SPAN for broadcast.

Ayn Rand originated a revolutionary code of ethics based on the principle of rational self-interest. Her code views the pursuit of your values—material or spiritual—as noble, and views the act of self-sacrifice as a vice. This talk examines the meaning of this radical morality. Mr. Schwartz explains what genuine selfishness consists of and how it rests, not on indulging in mindless whims, but on embracing the strict guidance of reason. He demonstrates why, under a proper ethics, the moral and the practical are always in harmony. He shows the destructiveness of self-sacrifice and the impossibility of peaceful cooperation among men under the code of altruism. Finally, he discusses why political freedom can ultimately be upheld only if selfishness is recognized as a virtue.

The United States is the world’s preeminent military power. Why then are its foreign-policy efforts so regularly frustrated? From Vietnam to Lebanon to Somalia to the current morass in Iraq, why has America been so incapable of decisively defeating its enemies—enemies that are militarily far inferior?

In this talk, Peter Schwartz of the Ayn Rand Institute maintains that success in foreign policy, including success in waging war, depends ultimately on the strength not of a nation’s weapons, but of its moral philosophy. And in that area, our country has been tragically deficient. The fundamental reason we have been failing to defend America’s interests is that our intellectual and political leaders embrace the altruist premise that the pursuit of self-interest is morally wrong. And, Mr. Schwartz argues, unless we uphold the opposite philosophy—the view that self-interest is morally good—we will not be able to protect America’s freedom against foreign threats.

© 2010 Ayn Rand Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction or linking is prohibited.

In 1996, California voters, in a blow to advocates of Affirmative Action, passed Proposition 209, banning public entities from discriminating on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, and national origin.

Opponents of the proposition responded with claims that, far from promoting discrimination, Affirmative Action provides just compensation for past harms done to minorities and is an important tool for creating racial equality and promoting diversity.

What are the actual effects of Affirmative Action programs? And what are the ideas and ideals that lead many to support it? What should be the government’s role in fighting discrimination or promoting diversity?

In this discussion, held on the 11th anniversary of the passing of Proposition 209, a distinguished panel of speakers delivers a variety of critical perspectives on Affirmative Action.

The stagnant oppressiveness of the Middle Ages was swept aside centuries ago by the Renaissance and the rise of its radical philosophy: the primacy of reason and the value of the individual. Today, however, the medieval mentality is being resurrected. In the tribalism of multiculturalism, the anti-science of environmentalism and the overt mysticism and statism of religion—we are witnessing a return to primitivism.

In this talk Peter Schwartz examines the roots of this tragic development—and presents the case for a philosophy of reason, science, progress and capitalism.