Introduction
The Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), http://www.aynrand.org/site, was established in 1985 and is headquartered in Irvine, California. Ayn
Rand (1905-1982) was an ardent advocate of reason, rational self-interest, individual rights and free-market capitalism.
ARI seeks to promote these principles, spearheading a "cultural renaissance" that will reverse the anti-reason, anti-individualism, anti-freedom, anti-capitalist trends in
today's culture. The major battleground in this fight for reason and capitalism is the educational institutions—high
schools, and above all, the universities, where students learn the ideas that shape their lives.
Ayn Rand's philosophy—known as Objectivism—holds that historical trends are the inescapable product of philosophy.
To reverse the current political and economic trends in America and throughout the world requires a reversal of our society's fundamental philosophy. Victory in this war of ideas will ultimately mean
the defeat of the widely held, pernicious ideologies that dominate contemporary culture and threaten our liberty—ideologies such as statism, multiculturalism, environmentalism, racism
and mysticism.
The Ayn Rand Renaissance
Ayn Rand's visibility—and interest in her philosophy—have increased dramatically in recent years. 500,000 copies of Ayn
Rand's books were sold last year alone—more than two decades after Rand's death. Total sales of Rand's fiction and nonfiction now exceed 23 million copies.
A 1991 Library of Congress and Book of the Month Club joint survey revealed that Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged was the second most influential book among readers polled, surpassed in popularity
only by the Bible.
The documentary film biography of Rand, Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, was nominated for an Academy Award in
1998.
The U.S. Postal Service issued a special commemorative stamp in 1999 to honor Ayn Rand as part of its American Literary Arts series.
Media mentions of Rand's life and work have increased to levels not seen since her death in 1982; the phenomenon prompted a 1995 Newsweek magazine article that declared of Ayn Rand: "she's everywhere."