Samantha WatkinsTrump’s second term has led to increasing fear of the breakdown of rule of law and the threat of a constitutional crisis. In a recent episode of The Yaron Brook Show, Yaron Brook, chairman of ARI’s board, interviews Onkar Ghate, ARI’s chief philosophy officer, on some of these recent political controversies and their implication for America’s future.
In this episode, Ghate discusses legal battles over education funding, rapid cuts to federal programs by the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and contests of will between the president and the courts over immigration. He examines how the administration’s actions are undermining the American ideal of a nation of laws and a government that acts only by permission. He addresses whether and to what extent it is reasonable to draw parallels between the Trump phenomenon and the rise of the Nazis. He suggests that the greatest threat to America may not come from Trump himself, but from the power-hungry officials he’s surrounded himself with. But throughout the episode, he offers constructive advice on how to think rationally to separate real from imagined dangers in contemporary politics.
Also in this episode, Ghate shares how unexamined Rand’s ideas are on university campuses today, as well as in mainstream culture, and identifies the root of this issue in the education system. He also explains why Objectivist intellectuals at all levels are as vitally needed as ever — both to bring Rand’s ideas to an ever-wider audience and to transform the corrupt state of modern education.
During the second half of the show, Ghate and Brook field live questions from the audience. Topics include:
- Judging an intellectual movement’s impact on cultural change;
- How to approach learning a philosophy;
- Whether fascism is inevitable or we’re “destined” for dictatorship;
- The long-term impact of DOGE on government overreach and cuts.
Ricardo Pinto
Marek Michulka
