Share this postThe Objective StandardVolume 20, No. 1: Spring 2025Copy linkFacebookEmailNotesMoreVolume 20, No. 1: Spring 2025If you are a paid subscriber, can access PDF and EPUB versions of this issue here.In this issue:From the EditorThe Spring 2025 Issue of TOS Is Published!Craig Biddle·Mar 6With this issue, we begin not only our twentieth year of publication but also our first year at our new digital home on Substack. Read full storyPolitics and RightsPhilosophyFree Will: Who Has ItCraig Biddle·Mar 6If someone builds a business, cures a disease, or writes a symphony, did he choose to exert the effort that caused the achievement? Could he have done otherwise? Or was he moved by forces beyond his control?Read full storyPolitics & RightsTrump’s Tariffs: Immoral, Indefensible, and IlliberalMar 6Tariffs don’t tax foreign businesses or governments—they tax you.Read full storyPolitics & RightsDOGE Should Protect Rights, Not ‘Democracy’Mar 6Donald Trump ran on a platform that promised major cost-cutting initiatives spearheaded by a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The creation of DOGE by executive order is being challenged as unconstitutional. Legal wrangling aside, the most fundamental question is whether the government should even be engaged in the spending DOGE is now investigating.Read full storyThe People Promoting Life, Reason, and Liberty—Even in a War ZoneThomas Walker-Werth·Feb 20Traveling to different countries to speak at conferences is a big part of my work, and I love it. But when I was asked to speak at Ayn Rand Center Ukraine (ARCU)’s 2025 Intellectual Bootcamp in Kyiv, I was hesitant.Read full storyHeroesPhilosophyGiordano Bruno: Herald of the EnlightenmentMar 6"The night of the Middle Ages lasted for a thousand years. The first star that enriched the horizon of this universal gloom was Giordano Bruno. He was the herald of the dawn." —Robert IngersollRead full storyGood LivingCharlie Munger’s Value Investing: A Philosophical ApproachMar 6On May 4, 2024, “Woodstock for Capitalists” took place in Omaha, Nebraska. But one important figure was notably absent.Read full storyHistoryRichard Trevithick: The Forgotten Hero of SteamThomas Walker-Werth·Jan 22Richard Trevithick, “perhaps the outstanding mechanical engineer of his generation,” transformed human life by pioneering high-pressure steam engines.Read full storyThe ArtsArts & CultureLessons on Liberty and Self-Esteem from The Handmaid’s TaleAngelica Walker-Werth·Mar 6Margaret Atwood’s classic dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, shows a population ground down by an authoritarian government. It depicts in depth the psychological effects of this regime on the main character, Offred—especially the destruction of her self-esteem.Read full storyArts & CultureThe Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha ChristieMar 6Agatha Christie’s writing career began with a bet. At the height of World War I, while Christie was working at a hospital dispensary, her sister Madge claimed that Christie would not be able to write a murder mystery novel in which the reader is given the same clues as the detective but is unable to correctly identify the murderer.Read full storyArts & CultureWhy Does Hollywood Have an Originality Problem?Angelica Walker-Werth·Jan 30Commenting on the lack of originality in Hollywood today has become cliché. But films can be—and many of the best are—original works of art.Read full storyArts & CultureNew Who at Twenty: The Doctor Who Revival’s Best EpisodesThomas Walker-Werth·Jan 14In its best seasons, Doctor Who probed hard-hitting moral questions and delivered fascinating sci-fi concepts, heroic stories, and captivating characters.Read full storyArts & CultureTwin Peaks, Created by David Lynch and Mark FrostMar 6"The clues are all there for a correct interpretation, and I keep saying that, in a lot of ways, it’s a straight-ahead story. There are only a few things that are a hair off." —David LynchRead full storyArts & CultureIt Ends With Us, Directed by Justin BaldoniAngelica Walker-Werth·Mar 6Colleen Hoover's It Ends With Us, adapted for the big screen last year, has a number of problems. The movie improves on some but not all these issues.Read full story
