Buchanan vs. the West 
Jan 9, 2002    

MARINA DEL REY, CA--In his new book The Death of the West, Pat Buchanan argues that Western Civilization is dying, particularly in America, because we have abandoned faith. Our only moral choice, he claims, is between liberal hedonism/nihilism and conservative Christianity.

"I agree that Western Civilization is dying," said Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), "but for reasons exactly the opposite of Buchanan's. He maintains that this country was based on religion and that faith in God is the precondition of a free society. 'Where faith dies, populations begin to die, cultures die and eventually civilizations die.'"

"But the fact is," said Dr. Brook, "the precondition of this country was the opposite of faith--reason. In creating this nation, the Founding Fathers explicitly created a rational, secular political system, founded on the supreme value of the individual, and a haven for the rational mind. Jefferson, for instance, exhorted us to make reason our sole guide in life: 'Fix reason firmly in her seat and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God.' It is not the loss of faith but the rejection of reason, in favor of religion on the right and hedonism/nihilism on the left, that is rapidly destroying this nation and with it Western Civilization."

"But America and Western Civilization do not have to die," concluded Dr. Brook. "A rebirth of reason has happened before in history and can happen again. And that is precisely the goal toward which we at ARI are working."

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Dr. Yaron Brook is available for interviews. To interview Dr. Brook or book him for your show, please e-mail media@aynrandcenter.org

For more articles by Yaron Brook, and his bio, click here.