What People Get Wrong About Evil and the Iran War

Morality & Religion Podcasts

What People Get Wrong About Evil and the Iran War

April 16, 2026

1 min read

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Elan Journo and Onkar Ghate discuss Ayn Rand’s view of evil as fundamentally impotent, and what it reveals about Soviet Russia, Iran, and the failures of American foreign policy.

The standard view of evil
Evil as impotent
Paradox of Soviet danger
Illusion of Soviet technology
Overstating Iran’s power
Altruism empowering evil

Resources:

Ayn Rand, Lexicon entry on Evil and Sanction of the Victim
Ayn Rand, “Galt’s Speech” in For the New Intellectual
Ayn Rand, “Altruism as Appeasement” in The Voice of Reason
Ayn Rand, “The Anatomy of Compromise” in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal
Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo’s, Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism: What Went Wrong After 9/11
Elan Journo, Winning the Unwinnable War: America’s Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism

This episode was recorded on 04/10/2026.

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