Objectivism around the World

TOC's Washington D.C. director, Ed Hudgins, recently has heard firsthand about the widespread influence of Ayn Rand and her ideas around the world. Barun Mitra is the head of the Julian L. Simon Centre of the Liberty Institute in New Delhi, India, where he tries to bring the ideas of individual freedom and free markets to his country. As part of this effort, he told Hudgins, he is running his seventh annual Fountainhead essay contest. Students from several hundred high schools usually send in their essays about Rand's great novel. This is an excellent way both to bring Rand to the attention of students and to find those who might be future fighters for freedom in India.

The Liberal Düsünce Toplulugu (Association for Liberal Thinking) in Ankara, Turkey, seeks to bring to the Turkish public the values of individual freedom, rule of law, and tolerance, and to promote academic research on these themes. To this end, Ozlem Calgar Yilmaz of that group told Hudgins that they offer copies of Ayn Rand's Anthem, or Ben in Turkish. They also have published Rand's Playboy interview in their journal Liberal Düsünce."

The Istituto Bruno Leoni, named for the great jurist and thinker from Turin, promotes a pro-liberty, individualist, free-market, and anti-statist culture in Italy. A special focus for the organization is the danger of a European superstate. The institute's director of globalization and competition is Alberto Mingardi, a young libertarian who argues for economic liberty on more than just economic grounds. For example, he wrote a recent piece entitled "The EU's Immoral Case Against Microsoft."

Carolina de Bolívar is the head of the Instituto Cultural Ludwig von Mises in Mexico. Named after the great Austrian economist, her institute has fought for years to establish free markets in America's neighbor south of the border. Of course, adherence to objective law is crucial for economic freedom.

On a recent visit to TOC's Washington office, Bolívar showed Hudgins her new project: she has developed dozens of hours of course material on DVDs that she uses to train police in her country to be honest and to abandon the corruption that plagues Mexico and hampers the development of both free markets and the rule of law. Dr. Rosa Argentina Rivas Lacayo, who works with Bolívar and also heads the Asociacion Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Humano (Latin American Association for Human Development), explained to Hudgins that a key means of promoting honesty in officers is to promote self-esteem. Sound familiar? She tells Hudgins that she uses concepts from Nathaniel Branden in her work.

Objectivist ideas are not just changing America—they're changing the world!