In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Keith Lockitch discuss the full meaning of the "independence" in Independence Day and what we should be celebrating about America.

Among the topics covered:

* A message from ARI’s first CEO regarding Independence Day;* The reason the Americans declared independence from Britain: the principle of individual rights;* Why it’s ominous that the injustice the American colonists revolted against was mild compared to what today’s government’s perpetrate;* How the value of individual rights rests on the need for intellectual independence;* How today’s anti-freedom ideologies are rooted in hostility to intellectual independence;* The American Revolution’s insufficient independent thinking about morality;* The moral independence declared by Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged;* Thomas Jefferson’s own words on the meaning of Independence Day, and Rand’s view on the Declaration;* Whether there will ever be a day to celebrate the achievement of laissez-faire capitalism in America.

Mentioned in the discussion are Onkar Ghate’s talk “Atlas Shrugged: America’s Second Declaration of Independence” (text version) and Ayn Rand’s talk “A Nation’s Unity.”

This podcast was recorded on July 1, 2021. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here.

Podcast audio: