Ben Bayer
@benbayer.bsky.social
Senior Fellow, the Ayn Rand Institute. Former philosophy prof. Views expressed are my own, I am not authorized to speak for my employer.
https://ari.aynrand.org/experts/ben-bayer/
https://ari.aynrand.org/experts/ben-bayer/
I will give Trump credit for striking Iran’s nuclear program. But the real threat Iran poses is way broader than nukes. Hoping that Israel will continue to be the real man in the room and change the regime.
June 22, 2025 at 1:07 AM
I will give Trump credit for striking Iran’s nuclear program. But the real threat Iran poses is way broader than nukes. Hoping that Israel will continue to be the real man in the room and change the regime.
Submitted without comment.
June 15, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Submitted without comment.
The problem with the army parade is the opposite of what was expected (that it'd be goose-stepping fascism). The soldiers look like they don't want to be there, & the reviewing politicians (including Trump) look bored. This perfunctory display is disrespectful of our military.
June 14, 2025 at 11:19 PM
The problem with the army parade is the opposite of what was expected (that it'd be goose-stepping fascism). The soldiers look like they don't want to be there, & the reviewing politicians (including Trump) look bored. This perfunctory display is disrespectful of our military.
How can anyone still think Trump is anything other than a populist statist when he wants to cooperate with Elizabeth Warren to remove the ceiling for government spending? Does anyone want to try to defend him as an ally for free markets and limited government?
I’m listening.
I’m listening.
June 4, 2025 at 8:30 PM
How can anyone still think Trump is anything other than a populist statist when he wants to cooperate with Elizabeth Warren to remove the ceiling for government spending? Does anyone want to try to defend him as an ally for free markets and limited government?
I’m listening.
I’m listening.
If I wrote the constitution, I'd make immigration easy but citizenship hard. But who cares how I'd write it? The actual constitution makes citizenship pretty easy. But it won't be if Trump gets his way, not even for those born here to parents who were born here! To wit:
May 22, 2025 at 4:25 AM
If I wrote the constitution, I'd make immigration easy but citizenship hard. But who cares how I'd write it? The actual constitution makes citizenship pretty easy. But it won't be if Trump gets his way, not even for those born here to parents who were born here! To wit:
It's so interesting how atheists think it's a criticism of someone like Vance to not be Christian enough!
May 15, 2025 at 7:13 PM
It's so interesting how atheists think it's a criticism of someone like Vance to not be Christian enough!
AR was also critical of the right for its religiosity, for its betrayal of individual freedom. No she never went on food stamps (why think that?), but did think people who were victims of the mixed economy shouldn't have any conflict about taking welfare.
newideal.aynrand.org/ayn-rand-on-...
newideal.aynrand.org/ayn-rand-on-...
May 15, 2025 at 7:13 PM
AR was also critical of the right for its religiosity, for its betrayal of individual freedom. No she never went on food stamps (why think that?), but did think people who were victims of the mixed economy shouldn't have any conflict about taking welfare.
newideal.aynrand.org/ayn-rand-on-...
newideal.aynrand.org/ayn-rand-on-...
So strange to think AR just wanted to rationalize delusions of grandeurs of the rich, when some of her villains were rich and she criticizes their delusions, including their attempts to make slaves of everyone through collectivism.
May 15, 2025 at 7:13 PM
So strange to think AR just wanted to rationalize delusions of grandeurs of the rich, when some of her villains were rich and she criticizes their delusions, including their attempts to make slaves of everyone through collectivism.
What's dehumanizing about altruism isn't its position on empathy, it's what it says our actual moral obligation. Our spouse deserves no more love than what we owe 8 billion other people. That's not how people feel, but it's how Peter Singer thinks we should act.
May 15, 2025 at 7:13 PM
What's dehumanizing about altruism isn't its position on empathy, it's what it says our actual moral obligation. Our spouse deserves no more love than what we owe 8 billion other people. That's not how people feel, but it's how Peter Singer thinks we should act.
The piece doesn't use the word empathy, I'm not against empathy, neither was Ayn Rand. You often should empathize with the struggles of strangers when you hear of them. But sacrificing your well-being for anyone you empathize with is another thing, and that's what she opposed.
May 15, 2025 at 7:13 PM
The piece doesn't use the word empathy, I'm not against empathy, neither was Ayn Rand. You often should empathize with the struggles of strangers when you hear of them. But sacrificing your well-being for anyone you empathize with is another thing, and that's what she opposed.
Trump continues to reveal the naked leftist statism that all populists have at their core. Last week he was talking favorably about tax hikes on the rich, now price controls on pharmaceuticals. Next stop socialized medicine??
May 12, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Trump continues to reveal the naked leftist statism that all populists have at their core. Last week he was talking favorably about tax hikes on the rich, now price controls on pharmaceuticals. Next stop socialized medicine??
The main problem with "de facto atheism" is that it is not de jure.
May 9, 2025 at 5:45 PM
The main problem with "de facto atheism" is that it is not de jure.
New from ARI's own Marek Michulka:
May 6, 2025 at 7:15 PM
New from ARI's own Marek Michulka:
Remember what sparked the Tea Party protests in 2009? Government bailout of the finance industry for woes government regulations had caused. What do those former Tea Partiers now think of Trump's moves to bailout the industries he's damaged through his tariffs?
April 23, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Remember what sparked the Tea Party protests in 2009? Government bailout of the finance industry for woes government regulations had caused. What do those former Tea Partiers now think of Trump's moves to bailout the industries he's damaged through his tariffs?
That Trump might stand up to Iran and unleash Israel was one of the few things I told people he had going for him. So instead of a war on an evil regime we get a war on trade. Nothing to see here, probably just “fake news,” right? Right?
April 17, 2025 at 12:01 AM
That Trump might stand up to Iran and unleash Israel was one of the few things I told people he had going for him. So instead of a war on an evil regime we get a war on trade. Nothing to see here, probably just “fake news,” right? Right?
Boston. July 4. Be there.
April 15, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Boston. July 4. Be there.
Did anyone ever notice how similar the protectionist concern for the "trade deficit" is to the Marxist conception of "surplus value"? If you think about it, the trade deficit concept is even more of a distortion, because it's more collectivist than Marx's idea.
April 8, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Did anyone ever notice how similar the protectionist concern for the "trade deficit" is to the Marxist conception of "surplus value"? If you think about it, the trade deficit concept is even more of a distortion, because it's more collectivist than Marx's idea.
My article encouraging Jerry Coyne @evolutionistrue.bsky.social and other atheists to give up the "humility" fad prompted Coyne to write an article length reply. Some comments follow.
whyevolutionistrue.com/2025/04/04/s...
whyevolutionistrue.com/2025/04/04/s...
April 5, 2025 at 4:45 PM
My article encouraging Jerry Coyne @evolutionistrue.bsky.social and other atheists to give up the "humility" fad prompted Coyne to write an article length reply. Some comments follow.
whyevolutionistrue.com/2025/04/04/s...
whyevolutionistrue.com/2025/04/04/s...
On “virtual representation” (from Gordon Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, 1969, p. 174):
April 3, 2025 at 2:38 PM
On “virtual representation” (from Gordon Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, 1969, p. 174):
On the Townshend Act (from Benjamin Woods Labaree, The Boston Tea Party, 1964, p. 21):
April 3, 2025 at 2:38 PM
On the Townshend Act (from Benjamin Woods Labaree, The Boston Tea Party, 1964, p. 21):
The colonists who revolted against import taxes had more representation than we do today. At least theirs were passed by parliament, which claimed to represent the colonies "virtually" (as they did Manchester & Birmingham, which had no MPs). Ours were declared by the executive.
April 3, 2025 at 2:38 PM
The colonists who revolted against import taxes had more representation than we do today. At least theirs were passed by parliament, which claimed to represent the colonies "virtually" (as they did Manchester & Birmingham, which had no MPs). Ours were declared by the executive.
We the Living, in which escaping across that border comes to symbolize the whole metaphysical meaning of the novel:
March 20, 2025 at 12:57 PM
We the Living, in which escaping across that border comes to symbolize the whole metaphysical meaning of the novel:
We the Living, in which that character makes on last, desperate attempt to escape across the border with Latvia:
March 20, 2025 at 12:57 PM
We the Living, in which that character makes on last, desperate attempt to escape across the border with Latvia: