About Don Watkins

Don Watkins is a writer and research specialist at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights. The Ayn Rand Center is a division of the Ayn Rand Institute and promotes the philosophy of Ayn Rand, author of “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead.”


Articles by Don Watkins

Big Government, not Big Media, Threatens Free Speech (January 28, 2009)
Contrary to widespread cries that media consolidation threatens free speech, the real threat comes from laws regulating media ownership.

Fleeting Freedom: The Indecent Assault on Broadcasters (October 30, 2008)
The fleeting expletive case before the Supreme Court is about more than broadcasters' ability to air dirty words--it's about whether 'community standards' should be allowed to override free speech.

Free Speech or Censorship: Their Is No Middle Ground (December 1, 2007)
If we allow this progression to continue, it is only a matter of time before the FCC starts restricting "offensive" philosophic or scientific views (as some religious opponents of evolution would like). And having gutted free speech on radio and television, what is to stop the government from censoring the Internet, books, and newspapers?

Anti-Smoking Paternalism: A Cancer on American Liberty (October 4, 2007)
By employing government coercion to deprive us of the freedom to judge for ourselves what we inhale or consume, the anti-smoking movement has become an enemy, not an ally, in the quest for health and happiness.

Action and Error (August 25, 2005)
It's his starting premise Williams must check. The fact that man is neither omniscient nor infallible doesn't mean certainty is impossible.

Killing "Innocents" In War (August 16, 2005)
The responsibility for all deaths in war lies with the aggressor who initiates force, not with those who defend themselves.

Kant vs. Darwin: Creationism ("Intelligent Design") vs. Evolution is Philosophical Debate (August 8, 2005)
As the evolution debate starts to stir once again, you might be wondering why a scientific question is of such concern to politicians, journalists, and religious leaders. The reason is that evolution versus creationism, or Darwinism versus Intelligent Design, is not a scientific debate (that debate has long been settled) -- it is a philosophical one.