About Michael Berliner

Dr. Berliner is the senior advisor to the Ayn Rand Archives. He was the executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute from its founding in 1985 to January 2000.

Dr. Berliner is the editor of Letters of Ayn Rand (Penguin Dutton, 1995), Russian Writings on Hollywood by Ayn Rand (ARI Press, 1999) and is author of Penguin’s “Teacher’s Guide to Anthem.”

His editorials on such topics as Western civilization and multiculturalism have been published in the Los Angeles Times and other major newspapers. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy and taught philosophy and philosophy of education for many years at California State University, Northridge, where he served as chairman of the Department of Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education.
 



Articles by Michael Berliner

Put the "Independence" Back in Independence Day (July 1, 2009)
Jefferson and Washington fought a war for the principle of independence, meaning the moral right of an individual to live his own life as he sees fit.

The Danger of Environmentalism (April 19, 2009)
Environmentalism's goal is not the advancement of human health, human happiness, and human life; rather, it is a subhuman world where "nature" is worshipped like the totem of some primitive religion.

Ayn Rand: A Legacy of Reason and Freedom (February 2, 2009)
A sui generis philosopher, who looked at the world anew, Ayn Rand has long puzzled the intellectual establishment.

Columbus Day: A Time to Celebrate (October 10, 2008)
The politically correct view is that Columbus did not discover America, because people had lived here for thousands of years. Worse yet, it's claimed, the main legacy of Columbus is death and destruction. Columbus is routinely vilified as a symbol of slavery and genocide, and the celebration of his arrival likened to a celebration of Hitler and the Holocaust. The attacks on Columbus are ominous, because the actual target is Western civilization.

Whittaker Chambers's Review of Ayn Rand's Novel "Atlas Shrugged" in The National Review (November 26, 2007)
Why the National Review and Whittaker Chambers still don't get it.

Put the Independence Back in Independence Day (June 27, 2007)
Jefferson and Washington fought a war for the principle of independence, meaning the moral right of an individual to live his own life as he sees fit.

The Christopher Columbus Controversy: Western Civilization vs. Primitivism (October 8, 2006)
Underlying the political collectivism of the anti-Columbus crowd is a racist view of human nature.

On Earth Day, Remember: If Environmentalism Succeeds, It Will Make Human Life Impossible (April 21, 2006)
To save mankind requires the wholesale rejection of environmentalism as hatred of science, technology, progress, and human life.

Ayn Rand: A Legacy of Reason and Freedom (February 2, 2005)
Born 100 years ago in Holy Mother Russia and educated under the Soviets, Ayn Rand became the quintessential American writer and philosopher, upholding the supreme value of the individual's life on earth. She herself led a "rags to riches" life, wrote best-selling novels that championed individualism, and developed a philosophy of reason that validates the American spirit of achievement and independence.

On Columbus Day, Celebrate Western Civilization, And Not The Cruel Hoax of Multiculturalism (October 10, 2004)
The values of Western civilization are values for all men; they cut across gender, ethnicity, and geography. We should honor Western civilization not for the ethnocentric reason that some of us happen to have European ancestors but because it is the objectively superior culture.

Independence: The Forgotten Meaning of America (July 3, 2004)
"Independence Day" is a critically important title. It signifies the fundamental meaning of this nation, not just of the holiday. The American Revolution remains unique in human history: a revolution--and a nation--founded on a moral principle, the principle of individual rights.

On Earth Day Remember: If Environmentalists Succeed, They Will Make Human Life Impossible (April 20, 2004)
The fundamental goal of environmentalists is not clean air and clean water; rather it is the demolition of technological/industrial civilization. Their goal is not the advancement of human health, human happiness, and human life; rather it is a subhuman world where "nature" is worshipped like the totem of some primitive religion.

Terrorists vs. America: What America Stands For and Why the Terrorists Hate Us (November 30, 2003)
The fundamental battle we face today consists not of bombs and rockets, but of ideas--the ideas of those who value human life on earth versus the ideas of those who oppose it.

The Big Lie in Hollywood: The Hollywood Ten Were Not Victims But Villains (November 24, 2003)
The Hollywood ten have been portrayed as "humanitarian idealists." This Big Lie maintains the fantasy that the Left is the victim rather than the perpetrator of a massive injustice.

Why Rent Control is Immoral (August 29, 2003)
Rent controls don't work, and its advocates know it. Rent controls create shortages and decrease the quality of housing. Yet the activists for rent control don't care that it doesn't work. They -- and much of the public --think that rent controls are 'humanitarian.' After all, isn't the government helping out poor people and keeping them out of the clutches of greedy, gouging landlords? What drives these activists are not issues of practicality but issues of morality. They are possessed by the same moral fervor that still leads leftists to claim that socialism is the best system, despite the collapse of the USSR and all the model socialist economies. In fact, there is nothing moral about rent controls.

Did Christopher Columbus "Discover" America? (October 10, 2002)
It was Columbus' discovery for Western Europe that led to the influx of ideas and people on which America was founded--and on which it still rests.

Put The "Independence" Back In Independence Day--The Forgotten Meaning of America (July 3, 2002)
The Fourth of July is Independence Day, but America's leaders and intellectuals have been trying to move us further and further away from the meaning of Independence Day, away from the philosophy that created this country.

Diversity and Multiculturalism: The New Racism (November 1, 1999)
"Ethnic diversity" is the highest priority of a university education today, the politically correct educational establishment states, pointing to its race, class and gender standards for hiring and promoting faculty, admitting and housing students, and even choosing the content of courses. While claiming that its primary goal is to eradicate racism, the "diversity" movement is not imparting knowledge to students or helping them to develop the skill of reasoning, but promoting the ideas of racism instead.

The Christopher Columbus Controversy: Western Civilization vs. Primitivism (October 14, 1999)
Did Columbus "discover" America? Yes -- in every important respect.

The Big Lie in Hollywood: The Hollywood Ten Were Not Victims But Villains (November 30, 1997)
The Hollywood ten have been portrayed as "humanitarian idealists." This Big Lie maintains the fantasy that the Left is the victim rather than the perpetrator of a massive injustice.