Ayn Rand in Ayn Rand Answers, by Robert Mayhew


On Civil Rights: Adults should be completely free to practice homosexuality

"All laws against homosexual acts should be repealed. I do not approve of such practices or regard them as necessarily moral, but it is improper for the law to interfere with a relationship between consenting adults. Laws against corrupting the morals of minors are proper, but adults should be completely free." [Quoted from a lecture given in 1968]
Source: Ayn Rand Answers, by Robert Mayhew, p. 18 Jan 1, 2005

On Drugs: All restrictions on drugs should be removed

I do not approve of any government controls over consumption, so all restrictions on drugs should be removed (except, of course, on the sale to minors). The government has no right to tell an adult what to do with his own health and life. That places a much greater moral responsibility on the individual; but adults should be free to kill themselves in any way they want. I would fight for your legal right to use marijuana; I would fight you to the death that you morally should not do it, because it destroys the mind. What the government should do is protect citizens from the criminal consequences of those who take drugs. But drugs would be much cheaper if it weren't for government.
Source: "Ayn Rand Answers," by Robert Mayhew, p. 14 Nov 1, 2005

On Crime: Let ten guilty go free rather than execute one innocent man

The valid argument against capital punishment comes from the fact that humans, including juries, are fallible; mistakes can be made. It is moral to let ten guilty men go free rather than execute one innocent man. It is better to condemn murderers to jail for life than risk taking the life of an innocent man,
Source: "Ayn Rand Answers," by Robert Mayhew, p. 45-46 Nov 1, 2005

The above quotations are from Ayn Rand Answers
The Best of her Q & A
by Robert Mayhew.
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The Best of her Q & A
by Robert Mayhew.
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Page last updated: Feb 21, 2019