Happy holidays! And welcome to the Winter 2014–2015 issue of The Objective Standard.

As the left doubles down on its efforts to pass and expand rights-violating laws, to throttle industrial progress, to appease America’s murderous enemies, and generally to wreak destruction on the Land of Liberty, TOS remains dedicated to delivering crystal-clear articles that unpack and expose leftist lies, and that offer positive arguments in defense of individual rights and civilized society. The articles at hand span the breadth of the political landscape in this regard.

First up is “The Equality Equivocation,” in which I address a key aspect of the left’s “equality” agenda that muddles Americans’ thinking on the issue and enables the left to turn people’s good intentions against their genuine interests.

Next up, in his essay “On the Moral Use of ‘Smart Drugs,’” new TOS contributor Mitchell Feinberg provides a fascinating look at the nature and potential value of cognitive enhancement drugs, laying to rest some of the hype and fear-mongering surrounding their use.

In concert with the publication of Alex Epstein’s new book, The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, Ari Armstrong chats with Mr. Epstein about the book, the nature of the environmentalist movement, what it means to be a “humanist,” how fossil fuels save lives, and how to defend industrial civilization against those who seek to end it.

Next, Robert Begley interviews Alexander McCobin, cofounder of Students For Liberty, who provides an inside look at how SFL got started, its accomplishments to date, how it has expanded to practically every corner of the globe, and what the organization has in store for the future.

In “The Jihad Against America and How to End It,” I examine the nature of the present threat to Americans posed by jihadist groups and their main sponsors—namely, the regimes in Iran and Saudi Arabia—and I set forth what I regard as the best approach to ending this god-awful problem as quickly as possible and with the least risk to the lives of Americans.

In “The Causes of War and Those of Peace,” I discuss the fundamental causes of these conditions in five areas—politics, ideology, morality, philosophy, and psychology—placing the opposing causes in parallel for additional clarity.

In “The Evil of Whitewashing Islam,” I look at some basic and near-universally known facts about Islam and jihad; show that many people today—from politicians to leftist intellectuals to celebrities—pretend that Islam is “a religion of peace” or the like; and call on lovers of liberty to recognize and condemn those who whitewash this evil religion as evil for whitewashing it.

Under film reviews, Ari Armstrong favorably reviews three movies (all of which are now in my queue): America: Imagine the World Without Her, directed by Dinesh D’Souza and John Sullivan; Rocky Mountain Heist, directed by Jason Killian Meath; and Chef, directed by Jon Favreau.

As always, in our section From TOS Blog, we offer a sampling of our daily commentary from the past several weeks. (If you’d like to receive our weekly blog digest, simply join our email list via the website.)

In addition to reading The Objective Standard and TOS Blog, be sure to join us on Facebook and Twitter for a steady stream of interesting links and stimulating conversation; and check out our YouTube channel, where you’ll find my Reason at Large videos and much more.

From all of us at TOS, have a wonderful holiday season! —Craig Biddle

Correction: In the transcription of the debate between Craig Biddle and Max Borders, “Moral Diversity: Asset or Liability for Liberty?” (TOS, Fall 2014), Dr. Aeon Skoble’s name was misspelled. Our apologies to Dr. Skoble.

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