At the 2015 Summer Objectivist Conference Elan Journo, author of Winning the Unwinnable War, presented a talk on the jihadist movement. While he touches on the material strength and successes they have had, e.g. attacks in Paris, Copenhagen and Garland as well as the spread of ISIS, the main emphasis was on what provides the moral strength of the movement. As he states early in the talk:
But more significant than all those material gains and measures of its strength is the moral strength.
Barry Wood
During one of Yaron Brook’s radio shows earlier this year, a listener in the chat linked to a lecture series by Barry Wood titled “The Battle over Reason in the Islamic World (and How it Was Lost).” I have finally had time to listen to the series, and it is quite fascinating, especially as I have been trying to learn a bit more about Islam since the attack on Charlie Hebdo.
Mr. Wood begins the series by pointing out that Islam had some positive elements that set it apart from
A panel discussion by Dr. Yaron Brook, Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute and Dr. Daniel Pipes, Director of Middle East Forum, on free speech from 2006, about a year after cartoons critical of Islam were published in Denmark and riots protesting them broke out across the Muslim world.
Dr. Pipes makes the point that this was not really about the cartoons, but the more fundamental question of whether the West will accept some form or aspect of Sharia law. The cartoons were just the
Here are this week’s episodes from the Objectivism related podcasts I try to listen to. They are all great sources of information and insight on applying objectivist principles to everyday life.
Philosophy in Action with Dr. Diana Hsieh
I really enjoy listening to Leonard Peikoff’s podcasts, both when Dr Peikoff covers philosophy and morality and when Dr Brook covers polics, economics, and foreign polocy.
This week Yaron Brook answers more questions on foreign policy on episode 285 of Leonard Peikoff’s podcast. Topics include:
Why does the United States not allow India to do what is necessary to protect itself from terrorists who gain support from Pakistan?
Muslims in the US and UK
Guantanamo Bay
At the end he recommended
I don’t agree with everything this boy says, there is a fair dose of egalitarianism, but his thinking is remarkable clear.
Assuming the translation is accurate, and the boy is being truthful, he came to his ideas by listening, reading and using his own mind to think about the issues facing his country. I would wager there are many adults who might not see the contradiction in the Egyptian constitution saying “women are equal to men in all matters, except matters that contradict Islamic