November 9, 2011

Changing the Culture—The New Intellectuals

We would like to share with you the following message to donors from Yaron Brook.

Dear Contributor:

Over the past two years, I have written to you almost every month, and in nearly every one of those updates I have tried to convey to you the incredible opportunity we have right now to make an unprecedented—and desperately needed—change in the culture.

Understandably, people are deeply distressed over the course our nation is taking. As a result, interest in ARI and our mission has never been greater.

This increased interest is perfectly understandable. After all, recent headlines read like the pages of Atlas Shrugged: observe the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and its clashes with law enforcement from Wall Street to Oakland, California; Standard and Poor’s downgrade of America’s credit rating; the spectacle of a U.S. senator demanding a public boycott of Bank of America; the ongoing roll-out of Dodd-Frank and Obamacare; “Operation Twist” and the prospect of yet another round of so-called quantitative easing; and the Solyndra debacle.

And for a preview of future horrors, consider recent events in Greece and the euro-zone.

At ARI and at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights, we are doing everything we can in order to capitalize upon the continued growth in interest in Ayn Rand and her ideas, an interest that has been propelled in recent years by the unprecedented threats to individual rights, and by the unrelenting attacks on capitalism that all of us have witnessed.

Through a number of new and expanded programs ARI and ARC have sought to participate wherever possible in the groundswell of opposition to the current destructive trends in our politics and culture. Scores of talks and thousands of publications have attracted the attention, and support, of tens of thousands of concerned Americans. Hundreds of thousands of people have come to our web properties and Facebook pages to learn about our work and how they can get involved in supporting ARI and changing the culture.

Funding of our activities has grown, and we thank you for that part of our success.

In short, we are growing, moving forward and having a significant impact in the public discourse—influencing, to an unprecedented degree, the debate over America’s future at a time when that future has perhaps never before been so precarious.

However, despite our progress, much more needs to be done.

One of the most critical challenges we face right now at ARI is our pressing need for in-house intellectuals. These specialists are essential if we are to grow our capacity to develop and communicate pro-liberty, pro-capitalist Objectivist content on a wide range of public-policy issues.

The good news is that these writers and analysts already exist, and are ready, willing and able to go to work teaching, writing and speaking on behalf of the Institute—in short, working on behalf of our values.

Just this past spring, for instance, nineteen highly qualified men and women graduated from the Objectivist Academic Center. While many will pursue careers in academia, meeting a vital need in that sector, there are others who would be well-suited for, and enthusiastic about, working at ARI—either as teachers, or as analysts and writers in support of our outreach and advocacy efforts.

The challenge we face is lack of funding.

We need to raise between $60,000 and $100,000 per year to support one in-house intellectual, depending on background, experience and policy specialty.

Raising these funds is not easy, but if we want to continue to move forward, it is imperative.

With your support, we can address this need and continue to move forward in promoting Ayn Rand’s vision of a civilization of reason, freedom and capitalism.

Thank you, as always, for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Yaron Brook
President and Executive Director

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