Ayn Rand Institute



The Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism (ARI) was established in 1985, three years after Ayn Rand's death, by Leonard Peikoff, Rand's legal heir. ARI promotes Ayn Rand's movement, called Objectivism. It is based in Irvine, California and the executive director is Yaron Brook.

As part of its promotional effort ARI sponsors op-ed writers, lecturers, letters to the editor, high school essay competitions, summer lecture series, and an Objectivism education program, which is primarily aimed at college and graduate students.

Context
The Ayn Rand Institute, like its rival, The Atlas Society, considers itself the best and most genuine advocate of Objectivism; the ARI and TAS each deny that the other organization is actually Objectivist. Prior to the foundation of the ARI, the last organization to promote Objectivism was the Foundation for the New Intellectual, and before that, the Nathaniel Branden Institute.

Programs
The Ayn Rand Institute has spent more than $5 million on educational programs advancing Objectivism, including scholarships and clubs, and offered free copies of Anthem and The Fountainhead to teachers all across North America. This is consistent with taking advantage of the fact that "an enthusiasm for Ayn Rand usually begins in high school or the early years of college."

Religion in politics
Atheism being a tenet of Objectivism, the Institute promotes the separation of church and state, and its writers argue that the Religious Right is a threat to individual rights. The Institute also supports abortion rights, including intact dilation and extraction, and voluntary euthanasia. Its writers have argued against displaying religious symbols (such as the Ten Commandments) in government facilities and against faith-based initiatives. The Institute argues that religion is incompatible with American ideals and opposes the teaching of intelligent design in public schools.

Views on Islam and the War on Terror
The Institute has taken many controversial positions with respect to the Islamic world. It has started what it calls a Free Speech Campaign in response to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. According to the UCLA Daily Bruin of October 17, 2006, Institute chairman Yaron Brook has called for the killing of hundreds of thousands of citizens of states that support Islamic terrorism to combat "Islamic totalitarianism,", and during an appearance on The O'Reilly Factor, he said that the United States should "turn Fallujah into dust." Institute fellow Onkar Ghate has written that: "In fact, victory with a minimum of one's own casualties sometimes requires a free nation to deliberately target the civilians of an aggressor nation in order to cripple its economic production and/or break its will. This is what the U.S. did in WWII when it dropped fire bombs on Dresden and Hamburg and atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombings were moral acts.". Though some at the Institute supported the invasion of Iraq, it now opposes how the Iraq War is being handled. The Institute is generally supportive of Israel, though critical of Zionism.

Environmentalism and animal rights
The Ayn Rand Institute is highly critical of environmentalism and animal rights, arguing that they are destructive of human well-being.

Diversity, affirmative action, and multiculturalism
The Institute is also highly critical of diversity and affirmative action programs, as well as multiculturalism, arguing that they are based on racist premises.

Charitable status
Charity Navigator, which rates charitable and educational organizations to inform potential donors, gives the Institute three out of four stars. According to the latest data from Charity Navigator, the Institute spends 80.6% of its expenses on programs, 11.3% on fundraising, and only 8% on administration..