Last year, The New York Times Sunday Book Review asked former Secretary of State and (now) Democratic candidate for President, Hillary Clinton: If you had to name one book that made you who you are today, what would it be? … Continue reading
Category: Ethics
Obama’s Phobia of Ayn Rand
In a speech at Georgetown University just today, we learned two things about President Barack Obama. One, he loves the Catholic leader, Pope Francis. Two, he hates Ayn Rand. No, it’s not really a surprise. But the specifics of Obama’s … Continue reading
Why Society Needs Self-Interested Individualists
A visitor to DrHurd.com writes: Dear Dr. Hurd: In your argument for promoting rational selfishness against self-sacrifice, your comments like “choosing to have children or not to have children is selfish” indicate to me that you have missed a major … Continue reading
What to Say When Someone Calls You “Selfish”
Watch out when people call you “selfish.” They’re trying to paralyze you with guilt. When you’re paralyzed, you will tend to comply. The term “selfish” isn’t about morality at all; it’s about control. When people call others selfish, they are … Continue reading
Love and “Empathy” for the Violent: Who Really Believes This?
Heavily armed Australian police stormed a Sydney cafe early on Tuesday morning (local time) and freed a number of hostages being held there at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a 16-hour siege in which three people including the attacker … Continue reading
The CIA Controversy and the Ethics of Survival
Yahoo.com News is reporting: The CIA and several of its past leaders are stepping up a campaign to discredit a five-year Senate investigation into the CIA’s harrowing interrogation practices after 9/11, concerned that the historical record may define them as … Continue reading
America’s Foreign Policy & the Psychology of Cowardice
“No one likes to think of himself as a coward. People prefer to think they end up yielding to what the terrorists demand, not because it’s safer or more convenient, but because it’s the right thing. Successful terrorism persuades the … Continue reading
Why Terrorism Won’t Go Away
We’re supposed to not hate anything — not even hatred itself. But if you don’t hate anything or anyone, then what does this do to principles, people or things that you love? The absence of hate makes no sense. It … Continue reading
Do We Need a Declaration of Independence for Chickens?
In a culture, as with an individual, insanity comes on in progressive stages. Erroneous premises and ideas, left uncorrected, tend to drive out rational ones. Things that make no objective sense start to overtake even simple, perceptual-level common sense. The … Continue reading
Should Age 75 Be Life’s Expiration Date?
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, one of the masterminds behind Obamacare, has now explained that he wishes to die at age 75. In an article entitled “Why I Hope to Die at 75,” in The Atlantic [9-17-14], Emanuel writes, “Seventy-five. That’s how … Continue reading
The Religion of Peace Strikes Again
Jihadist group the Islamic State [ISIS] on Tuesday claimed to have executed American journalist James Foley in revenge for US air strikes against its fighters in Iraq. The Islamist group released a video showing a masked militant purportedly beheading the … Continue reading
Why Looters Loot
According to the Washington Post, a looter in Ferguson, Missouri, expressed pride and admiration for looters and said their actions are justified. “I’m proud of us. We deserve this, and this is what’s supposed to happen when there’s injustice in … Continue reading