 Objectivist perspective on rational self-interest, laissez-faire capitalism, and individual rights. Yaron Brooke, Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute, invites you to the conversation. The Yaron Brooke Show starts now on AM560, the answer. So does truth matter? I mean that seems like a weird question to ask, but in the world we live in today, in the political environment we live in today, I think it's crucial because you would think that the answer would be self-evidently, yes. And yet nobody seems to think that. We live, we are told, in the post-truth world because who cares about truth? What matters is whether you get things done. What matters is whether you can make America great again. And if you have to lie and you have to deceive and you have to manipulate and you have to pervert and distort in order to get into power so that you can make America great again, and so be it. Truth doesn't matter. Truth doesn't get things done. So who cares? And you know, obviously I'm referring to Donald Trump when I say this, it relates to far beyond Donald Trump, right? I mean from politicians all over the world and politicians everywhere, left, right, Santa? Suddenly much of what the left does in the newspapers is, you know, driven by not truth but by an agenda. And there are lots of websites now, all over the place websites, not dedicated to truth, not dedicated to what actually is going on, not dedicated to data and figuring out what is actually happening, not dedicated to reason, but dedicated to propaganda, dedicated to making stuff up, dedicated to a political agenda that they want to support. So if you're anti-immigration you portray all immigrants as criminals, as lying, cheating, murdering, raping, destroyers, that take jobs, don't pay taxes, and you know, whatever it takes, right? Because you're anti-immigration and you start with being anti-immigration, and then you discover, in quotes, the facts that are necessary in order to prove your point. And if you're pro-immigration, you go, no, all the immigrants in the world, the nicest people ever, they never commit any crimes and they never work for less than the minimum wage, not that I believe is a crime, but they never do that. And they don't take anybody's job, they only add jobs, they don't decrease jobs at all, and they pay more taxes than the welfare they consume, right? Because you're pro-immigration. So then you look at the world and you find all the facts that are necessary to defend your position on immigrants, right? And you can go on, on every issue out there today, every issue, I mean immigration is obvious because you have institutions dedicated to the former immigration stand, you have institutions dedicated to the anti-immigration stand, and they both come up with their own facts, their own quote, truth. Oh, you know, does lowing taxes increase economic activity or decrease economic activity? Is it good for the economy or bad for the world? It depends, right, on who you talk to. But it would be one thing if there was disagreement, but there was an honest attempt to seek out the truth. But I don't think anybody cares. It doesn't seem like anybody cares. All right, what, what, you know, so you know, we face a bizarre world in which I'm not convinced anymore that people, you people, all of us, care about whether something's true or not. What we care about is does it fit into my perceived view of the world, or does it help me achieve some aim that I have? And, you know, we'll deal with the truth later. So I think it's time that we discuss why truth is important, why it's relevant, why we should be seeking truth, and how one seeks truth. All right, if, if you want in on the conversation three, one, two, six, four, two, five, six, zero, zero, I'm interested in your perspective. Is truth important to you? And if so, what do you make of the politics of today? And if you discover truth that goes, or, or fact that goes against your priors, are you willing to change your mind? Or do you then ignore that fact? Or, or tuck it away some way and pretend it doesn't exist? Or just lie about it? Some people just lie about it when they discover truth that's not convenient for them. Right now, now I'm not saying we all have to agree about everything we're not going to, that, that legitimate disagreements. But at least it would be nice to know that we're all trying to do the same thing in the sense as well, trying to figure out what's right, what's true, what are facts. All right, three, one, two, six, four, two, five, six, zero, zero. We've got Skyler on the line. Hi, Skyler. How's it going? I'm doing well, Dr. Brooke. How are you? I'm good, I'm good. So, what do you think about truth? I think it's the greatest thing that's possible for psychologically is to have truth. Absolutely. But I had a question regarding what people in this country, in the very religious country, regard as truth. The Bible, scriptures, and when it came up, like in popular speech, the term alternative fact, the thing that came to my mind first is the Bible. Yep. So, what is that, what is it like saying, like how Jesus was a real man, he walked the earth, but I don't think the ascending into heaven part is facts or truth. Well, how about walking on water and turning bread into something else, a stone into bread or whatever, right? Yeah, no, I think that religion conditions us not to care about the truth. Religion tells us stories and expects that to believe them on faith. And the whole point of religion is faith. And as a consequence, since we were brought up like that from very, very little, and we are taught to accept certain things just on faith and not to look for evidence, and we don't want to know if somebody questions something in religion or somebody questions a fact about religion or somebody points out an inconsistency in religion, we just don't want to know because the prior is the truth of religion. And then any fact, anything else that comes in the way, we dismiss, we put aside, we ignore, we evade. And now, if you internalize that method of thinking, if you make that your habit, that is your habit is I'm gonna place my faith in X, religion, global warming, immigration's bad, you know, trade is bad, all immigration's good, trade is good, you know, you can do the flip side of this as well. And I am, I'm gonna take those on faith now. And that's the way in which I use my mind, that is the mechanism by which I relate to reality. Now, every time there's a new fact that comes out, you know, I'm not interested. So, so you take, you take religion, you take the mechanism of religion, you take the mechanism of faith, and now you apply them to a bunch of different topics. And it conditions your mind to do it. So, once you do it with religion, well, why not do it with Donald Trump? Why not do it with global warming? Why not do it with, with trade? Why not do it with any issue, right? Once you get committed to it, once you internalize it, once it becomes part of your set of beliefs, you're not interested in facts anymore, just like with religion. We're not interested in facts, because indeed, if we were really interested in facts, there would be a lot, lot less religious people out there. And I know that most of the people listening right now are probably religious, but the fact is that religion stands on nothing. It stands on faith. It stands on no evidence. It stands on the negation of evidence. And again, challenge me. Three, one, two, six, four, two, five, six, zero, zero. If you want to point out facts to me that negate what I'm saying, I'm open to facts. I'm open to new evidence because I'm seeking the truth always. It's about the truth. And why am I seeking the truth? I'll tell you that in a little while. That makes sense, Skyler? Yes, sir. I appreciate that you breaking it down for me. Thank you. Yeah. So our minds, thanks, Skyler. Really appreciate the call. And look, our minds, we get into certain thinking patterns, thinking habits. And those habits are often conditioned when we're pretty young. And we have to make an effort to change those habits. And what is the habit that religion conditions us to have? The habit that religion conditions us to have is not to look for truth, not to look for fact, accept on faith because it's written in a book somewhere. And the book happens to be the Bible, but the book could be a history book. The book could be a physics book. Once our mind is conditioned that way, we just accept it. So we don't want any evidence that suggests that evolution is real because that contradicts what we've already accepted as the truth. And therefore we invent stories, we invent conspiracy theories, we invent all these things in order to justify our belief in creationism, even though there's not a shred of fact or evidence or anything. And there's tons and tons of evidence. Indeed, it's the truth that evolution is real. All right, you're listening to everyone's book show. We'll take on real issues like religion and truth. We'll be right back. Stuck in traffic, we've got the answer from the Woodfield Nissan.com traffic center. I'm Kevin Henry, checking the roads, the inbound Eden's taking you a half hour from Lake Cook to the Junction, another 22 from there on the Kennedy into downtown, 40 total from O'Hare. Back to the Junction, 13, 12 in the Express, 20 back to Lake Cook, 31 back to O'Hare. Lake Shore Drive, southbound, you're jammed from north down to Chicago and Jackson to Roosevelt as well as 18th to the Stevenson with the roadwork. Northbound from Soldier Field up to Grand Park where you have closures in place on Congress, Balbo Jackson and Columbus for setup of tomorrow. Shamrock, Shuffle, 8k race, everything should be reopened by three tomorrow. Delays, Dorothea there from Wacker up to Chicago. Right now you're looking at 55 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. Turning sunny later this afternoon, a high of 47, dropping to 40 overnight, a high of 51 on Sunday with some sun. Next update in 15 minutes on AM 560, the answer. Do you own or run a business in Illinois that succeeded in this challenging economic environment? If so, we want to hear about it. AM 560's business tour 2017 presented by Signature Bank will be highlighting business success stories. Tell us your story. It'd be a part of a live broadcast of Chicago's morning answer with Dan and Amy. Find out more and submit your information at 560theanswer.com slash business. That's 560theanswer.com slash business. Ein Rand was a radical thinker whose philosophical novels challenge students to reconsider their views on fundamental issues. The fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged and Anthem, these works have become classics of American literature that never fail to engage young people and stimulate intense classroom discussion. By offering these works for free to teachers, the Ein Rand Institute hopes to encourage greater awareness and understanding of Rand's stimulating perspective. If you're a teacher who would like Ein Rand's books in your classroom, visit EinRand.org. This is at no cost to you. Go to EinRand.org today. If you like what you hear on the Iran Brook show and want to engage more with host Iran Brook, be sure to follow him on social media. Lucky for you, it's easier than ever to get updates. Ask questions and hear answers from one of the leading minds in Objectivism. Follow Iran today on Twitter, at Iran Brook. YouTube, Y Brook. That's Twitter, at Iran Brook. And YouTube, Y Brook. You can also sign up for show updates at Blog Talk Radio. Simply search the Iran Brook show. Acme Home Insurance. Yes, I'd like to make a claim. What are you wanting to claim, sir? My water heater broke down. Sorry, but your homeowner's insurance doesn't cover water heater breakdowns. So, what do you cover? Home damage from things like earthquakes, volcanoes, a zombie apocalypse. A zombie apocalypse? But that'll never happen. But if it did, you'd be covered, sir. But not my water heater? I'm afraid not. But his water heater could have been covered with a home warranty from American Home Shield, plus components of 20 other major home systems and appliances, like his electrical system plumbing, refrigerator, and more. For valuable free information, call 1-800-300-2127. Home insurance can cover what might happen. Zombies are coming! But a home warranty helps cover what will happen. Now the dryer won't work! Life happens. Have a plan. Get a home warranty from American Home Shield for valuable free information. Call 1-800-300-2127. That's 1-800-300-2127. 1-800-300-2127. Entreat, inspired, and possibly even angered. Welcome back to the Iran Brooke Show on AM560. The answer. All right, so today we're talking about truth. Truth. Because you know what? It's in the news. Truth is in the news. Who would have thought? Right? Because we live in what some are calling a post-truth era, where everybody acknowledges that the left is manipulating facts and manipulating evidence, and the right is manipulating facts and the manipulating evidence, and that truth doesn't matter anymore because the only thing that matters is what you get done, what you achieve. And if you can manipulate the facts and manipulate evidence and lie and cheat in order to get your way, then well, who cares? Right? Who cares? As long as you got your way, and your way is right. Now I often wonder what these people think right is. Well, I guess it's whatever people want. And how do they want it? Well, if they don't have truth, then maybe just because that's what they feel like it? Is that what's really going on? So I must admit, I comment all this from a kind of a certain deficit because I don't get what they're trying to achieve. But let's step back a second. Let's talk about what truth is. And by the way, if you want in, if you want to tell me, yell at me, tell me why truth is not relevant, or why what's important is power, and why we should think about political power and forget about truth, or that you think, I don't know, that religion actually conditions us to think about the truth and discover the truth and be scientific about it. I'm open to all of those. 312642 5600 or any questions or anything else. But what is truth? Let's start with that. How about that? What is truth? What does truth come from? Indeed, part of the problem that we face is that we don't have a good definition of truth out there in the culture. And historically, there have been two versions of how we get truth. And they, they, they're both very philosophical. So one comes from Plato. And Plato's version of how we get to the truth is through revelation, through revelation. Some special people have the power to see real reality, to see the truth, to see what's really there. And, and this is kind of the source of much of religion, right? Because we, we anoint, anoint those people as, as the specialists, as the popes, as the people who talk to God and let us know what the truth is. And the rest of us just follow. The rest of us do what we're told. And, and this is why it was so important for the kings in ancient times to be perceived as representatives of God. Because from, from that, they got the truth, and then they conveyed the truth to us. And, and, you know, we're just, we're just, we're just people in a cave according to Plato. We don't see the real truth. We don't see the light. We just follow orders. So the rest of us don't have it. And all authoritarian regimes come from that idea that it's, you know, it's some revelation that only special people have. A second approach to the truth is, you know, it's whatever you make of it. Everybody has their own truth. There is no reality. We make it up in our own heads, in our own minds. And this leads to all the relativism and the nonsense and ultimately to complete anarchy. There is no right. There is no wrong. There is no truth. There is no reality. All there is is your whims versus my whims. And all that leads to is, since there is no truth, there's only my truth and your truth. If I want my truth to win, the only way to convince you is basically to kill you. It's to go to war. And this means fighting, everybody fighting against one another. But you see, I believe there's such a thing as objective truth, truth that is in reality that we observe as human beings. Truth is the recognition of reality, the recognition of facts, of what's really out there. And there really is something out there. A is A. Reality is what it is. It's not dependent on whether you could see it or not. It is there. Reason, our reason is our only means of discovering the truth, not revelation, not reading a book, but looking out there into the world, experimenting, figuring it out, using logic, using our reason, being rational is the only way to discover truth. All right, Sean wants to give me a hard time, as he always does. Hey, Sean, how's it going? Well, who are you? You, of course. It's within the lie that the power is. You're going to get pulled off in the religious debate, and I understand your promise, and I get it. I really do. But the real profitable lie, religion is a profitable exaggeration, there's no question about it. The ultimate profitable lie, the one that enslaved us all, is the lie of government. Government is only made up of men. Men, we give them arbitrary power over us, that most often goes unquestioned. Now, when you can control the debate in which it's questioned, now you've got the scam, day to day scam, and that's what we have when we have Republicans and Democrats. Lies, both of them. Similarities are unquestioned. You see it this week more than others, right? Who is the big challenge to both Democrats and to Republicans? It's this little group of congressmen rejecting the lies of both of them. And they have a great name. It's called the Freedom Caucus. We must target that. So, Iran, here's the situation. Our entire economy is a lie. You're looking at a stock market. Only 50% of the people even hold an interest in it. Most of that 50% doesn't even know they do, right? It's tied up in retirement. Pension plans for one case, all kinds of other instruments. They don't own particular stocks. Right now can tell you why the stock market is at this arbitrarily outrageously inflated number based on nothing but the lie of lending and the lie of free money and the lie of the Federal Reserve. So, you've got way more than a couple of people being in tambourines outside of an airport calling themselves Christians who think they're being prodded. You've got everybody in every house right now paying mortgages that don't realize they're paying three times the purchase price. They don't realize what a loan is. Well, that's not completely right, Sean. A loan, a loan you're paying in order to be able to consume early, you're willing to pay overtime and you're paying an interest on that because you get to use the money that somebody else doesn't have an opportunity to use. There's nothing wrong with interest. There's nothing wrong with bankers charging you interest on a loan. Now, the fact that the interest rate is artificial, in this case, artificially low, so you're getting a great deal on your mortgage, which wouldn't happen in a free market. The fact that they can inflate that money and if they do inflate and you have a mortgage right now, you'll get your home Scott free at somebody else's expense. All of that, I agree with you. But the very fact that you have a mortgage, who cares? Well, but you do own it. No, no, no. We don't agree on this, Sean. Of course, you own it and you're taking a loan against it, which is completely legit, is very well established in law. You can do that versus a business. You can do it versus any property. You can take it. You own it, but you owe money and you can pay the money. And if you only in the case of defaulting on the money, does the bank take possession of it? Oh, it's a good thing. It's lean. It's only 30 years old. Yeah, but lean. No, it's much more than 30 years old. They were mortgages. They were mortgages before the Great Depression. They've always been mortgages. And if you go back to the, even to the Medici's, there were kinds of mortgages even back then. There's always been this lending that's collateralized by a physical asset. And that's all, all this leans off. That's all it is. And it's great. It actually allows people to buy a home they can afford. What's that? Should not have the illusion of ownership until the day. I believe you don't own your home because try not paying your property taxes. That's where you don't own your home. The bank has nothing to do with this because you could pay the bank off. You cannot pay the government off. And the government, you didn't get anything for the fact that the government can confiscate your property at any point in time because you don't make a payment. We don't own property in this country not because of banks. We don't own property in this country because the government taxes everything. And if you don't own the tax, basically you're leasing it from, in this case, the state government that takes your property taxes from you. Try not paying property taxes. And you didn't get any benefit for it, right? I'm a real estate politician under this system. My issue is I think that power is always given to the government who gives lenders a false sense of subserviency when there should be power. And what that does is it translates to the society where people are more apt and more willing to bury themselves in debt unwittingly. Well, we're going to disagree about that. But Sean, thanks. And you know what the music coming on? That means you got to go, man. But you can all listen to Sean on Sundays. He's got his own show on AM560. But we're going to disagree. But then when we get back, we'll talk about why disagree with Sean and about the truth. Your chance to watch the mainstream media do everything they can to destroy President Donald Trump, any pretence of being fair and impartial. It's now history. Hi, everyone. Everything OK? Did you hit the look up? I hit the look up just because I was fidgeting. OK, they once held dear. So what to do? What do you turn? How can you know what's really going on? Just keep it right here. We'll get you through. Hey, AM560, the answer. On the president's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, why some oppose him? Gorsuch's comments. The game marriage is not a settled law issue. I strongly object to that. His supporting the Hobby Lobby case implies that my rights as a woman are threatened. They're also not convinced Gorsuch would rule independently of the president's wishes. Fox's Heather Curtis during his confirmation hearings. Gorsuch said it's not appropriate to cave to anyone's request to rule a certain way, even if it's the president of the United States. Democrats have threatened to fill above the nomination. Five children dead in a house fire in Spearfish, South Dakota. They're between the ages of six and nine. Columbia's president says at least 154 people have died in flash flooding overnight. Hundreds missing. Fox News, we report you decide. How can you get from here to there? We've got the answer from the Woodfield Nissan dot com traffic center. I'm Kevin Henry taking a look at traffic. Some very heavy delays on Lakeshore Drive this afternoon, starting southbound between Michigan and Chicago, then from Jackson to Roosevelt. A full ramp from the Stephenson, rather from the southbound Lakeshore Drive to the outbound Stephenson with the ongoing road work northbound jam from the Stephenson up to Grant Park and Wacker to Chicago. Also have those closures in place in Grant Park, Congress between Congress Plaza and Columbus. Balbo and Jackson between Michigan and Lakeshore Drive and Columbus between Roosevelt and Jackson. That's for Tomorrow's Shamrock Shuffle 8K. That race gets underway at 8 a.m. tomorrow and should be reopened by 3 p.m. Right now you're looking at 55 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. It's going to be dropping to 40 overnight, partly cloudy, sunny tomorrow and a high near 51. Next update in 15 minutes on AM 560, the answer. When the fountainhead was first published more than 70 years ago, Einran's bold literary vision and groundbreaking philosophy of individualism captured the world's attention. Initially rejected by 12 publishers as too intellectual, the novel became an instant classic and continues to provoke heated debates. What motivates a creative thinker? Is it a selfless desire to benefit mankind, a hunger for fame, fortune and accolades, the need to prove superiority, or is it a self-sufficient drive to pursue a creative vision independent of others' needs or opinions? Einran addresses these questions through her portrayal of Howard Rourke, an innovative architect who, as she puts, struggles for the integrity of his creative work against every form of social opposition. It's also the story of his love affair with a woman who seeks to defeat him. The fountainhead is as relevant today as it was when Rand first penned it. The novel was also a personal landmark for Rand in Howard Rourke. She presented for the first time the uniquely Einran hero, man as he could be and ought to be. Order your copy today in amazon.com. The Einran Institute campus is an exciting online destination offering free e-courses on Einran and her revolutionary philosophy of objectivism. Whether you recently picked up your first Rand book or have been reading her novels in non-fiction for years, ARI campus has something for you. On campus you'll discover a variety of multimedia courses covering Rand's literary classics, specific aspects of thought and how to apply her ideas to your life. Get started today at campus.einran.org. See you on campus. Pat Boone here with an urgent question for every American with a bank savings account, stock portfolio or 401k retirement account. Today we know nothing that's posted online is truly private or safe from being hacked, including our national secrets held by the CIA, NSA and top intelligence agencies. That being the case, what can you do to protect your hard-earned wealth? Well, one book explains it all. Don't bank on it. From the most respected source I know of, Swiss America. And get this. For a limited time, the first 500 callers can get a free copy. Call 800-289-2646. 800-289-2646. Now, learn how to protect your money and do it now. Call 800-289-2646. Learn how to protect your money against what even the CIA cannot protect. 800-289-2646 for your free copy of, don't bank on it. This is Andy Bizzup with another great reason to choose Midwest performance cars over the dealer for maintenance and repair of your European car. Reason number four, our expertise. We send our technicians to the best training available for European vehicle service and repair. Whether Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, Audi or Volkswagen, from brand new to vintage classic, our techs are equipped with the knowledge to expertly maintain and repair your vehicle. Call us today at 312-432-9492 or book online at midwestperformancecars.com. No traditional conservative view, nor the standard libertarian ones. Welcome back to the discussion of Ayn Rand's radical fundamental principles of freedom. This is the Jaron Brook show on AM560. The answer. So I'm going to do a show in the future about why I think banking is such a noble profession and why financiers are the good guys and without a robust financial market, a sophisticated financial market, a financial market in which bankers make a lot of money. Capitalism is dead. There is no capitalism. I will do that. I don't want to get too distracted around that. I think Sean and Ann will agree with me that if you take government out of finance, finance is great. It's government, which I think we both oppose intervening in the world of finance. I'd like to see a complete separation of government from economics. And as part of that, a complete separation of government from finance. And I also want to make sure, and I think this is true of Sean as well. I'm not an anarchist. I can't remember if Sean is or not. But I'm not an anarchist. I believe you need government. You need government to protect us. You need government to do what the founding fathers wanted government to do, which is to protect individual rights, to protect us from cooks and criminals and terrorists and invaders. But otherwise, leave us alone. Leave us alone. Only against coercion. That's the only reason to have government. So I'm not against government, but I'm against the kind of government we have today. The government gets and wants to get involved in every aspect of my life and has, because of the way that the Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution, has the ability today to get involved in every aspect of my life. I'm listening to my phone calls to, you know, deciding who I can and cannot marry to, I don't know, deciding every aspect of every single business, voluntary business and trade transaction and relationship we have out there. Anyway, I want to go back, though, to the topic of the day, at least the topic I wanted to talk about. Obviously, you guys want to talk about something else. What is truth? Well, truth, it's a product of the recognition of facts of reality, the identification of what's real. And we use, we do that using our minds and we integrate that knowledge with use of concepts. We integrate all observations of chairs into the concept of chair, which now holds all the chairs in the universe, all the things that are chairs in the universe. So we abstract like that all the way to really, really sophisticated abstractions like liberty and freedom. So you start by recognizing that there is an independent reality out there. And if there isn't an independent reality out there, some philosophers would teach us, then forget it, then there is no truth. Or the only way to the truth is through revelation, from authority. But this is exactly what our founding fathers rejected. And this is what the enlightenment rejected. They rejected the idea that truth is either completely subjective, whatever you feel like, or comes down to us from authority. And this is why all the founders talk about reason, the importance of reason, the importance of the individual thinking for himself, reasoning and discovering, because the truth must be discovered through the process of thinking, through the process of rational thought, through the process of reasoning. It, truth is not made up. Truth is not revealed. Truth is not a fantasy. Truth, at the end of the day, everything must be, you should be able to point to something in reality. And truth can be hard to figure out. It can be hard to figure out what's actually going on in the world, particularly when you get to big, complicated questions like, I don't know, what is the effect of immigrants on the criminal justice system or on the economy? It's not obvious. You need facts. You need data. You need good economic theory to integrate it, because what do we do with all the data we have? We integrate it. We integrate it and, and, and, you know, into more abstract ideas, into more abstract truths. But in order to do that, you always start with facts. So we have to be able to see the facts, integrate them, and part of the integrating mechanism is that we often have a theory discovered based on other concrete examples that we test on you facts against. But at the end of the day, the facts, you know, that's reality. That's truth. That's what's out there. And you don't just pick and choose them, based on what fits your theory. Your theory, if it's true, will accommodate the facts. If the facts contradict your theory, then you better rethink your theory or make sure that you've got the right facts. But at the end of the day, that's, that's what we do as human beings. That's what we need to do as human beings. That's what healthy human beings do. They think, think. And why is this important? Because it's the only way to discover what is really good, what is really just, what is really right, what really works. Not what works in the moment. Not what will work tomorrow. Not what will get me power. But what really works, what leads to a better life for you, the individual, which means you need to discover truth in order to live your life well. And the politicians need to know truth and be interested in truth in order to govern well. Not the politicians we have today. They want to govern. They want power. They want to dictate over our lives much more than they care about the truth. Going to take you 23 minutes up to Lake Cook. Inbound takes 30, jammed from 2E in. The inbound Kennedy 45 from O'Hare, 23 from the Junction. Out to Montrose at 16, not too much help in the express. Those are at 13 minutes, 32 total out to O'Hare. Still very heavy. Inbound Ike, 51 from Thorndale, 38 from Mannheim. Out to Mannheim takes you 31, 44 to Thorndale. The inbound Stephenson taken 45, 48 back out. Now over on Lakeshore Drive, stopping to go in Northbound to Chicago, Jackson to Roosevelt 18 to the Stephenson Northbound, from the Stephenson all the way up to Grant Park, then Wacker to Chicago. Right now 55 degrees, mostly cloudy, going to drop to 40 overnight. Mostly sunny on Sunday, a high near 51. Next update in 15 minutes on AM560, the answer. Somewhere in America, at just this moment, as you sit listening to this radio show, there's a young person waiting to discover Ein Rand's novels, waiting to have his or her life changed by the beauty of Ein Rand's art and the logic of her ideas. Through ARI's Free Books to Teachers program, we have delivered more than 3 million copies of Ein Rand's books to schools in every state. You can help us reach young minds today. Make your tax-deductible contribution now at EinRand.org slash support. Ein Rand was a radical thinker whose philosophical novels challenged students to reconsider their views on fundamental issues. The fountain had Atlas shrugged and Anthem. These works have become classics of American literature that never fail to engage young people and stimulate intense classroom discussion. By offering these works for free to teachers, the Ein Rand Institute hopes to encourage greater awareness and understanding of Rand's stimulating perspective. If you're a teacher who would like Ein Rand's books in your classroom, visit EinRand.org. This is at no cost to you. Go to EinRand.org today. 2017 marks the 60th anniversary of Ein Rand's Atlas Shrugged. 12 years in the writing, it is Rand's masterwork. Despite being published six decades ago, the novel continues to gain recognition and profoundly influence business leaders, thought leaders, and a growing number of political leaders. Its presence in today's culture cannot be denied. The fascination with Atlas Shrugged persists because it grapples with the fundamental problems of human existence and presents radically new answers. An updated cover for the mass market edition of the novel recently hit stores. Order your copy today at Amazon. Whether you're an adoring fan who wants to add this new edition to your personal library or someone who wants to read the book for the first time to see what all the fuss is about, pick up your copy of Atlas Shrugged today. Order on Amazon. The answer. So here's the bizarre question. Does truth matter? Right? And it has to, because without truth, we're nothing. Without truth, we can't think. Without truth, we can't plan. In other words, without facts. What we need are facts. And what our politicians are feeding us lately is just lies. And what much of the media is feeding us is lies at worst and just incompetence at best. But it's not facts. And what are we supposed to do? It makes, it makes it very difficult to decide. You know, what kind of political actions our government should or shouldn't take? Because we don't have the facts. And indeed, much more importantly to me, I think the whole attitude in the culture, the facts don't matter. That we just need to get stuff done. It's just about practicality. Whatever the hell that means is a very, very dangerous trend because how do you know what to do with your life? How do you know how to achieve happiness? How do you know how to attain success in your life? Isn't it by studying reality, observing the facts, looking at successful people and comparing them to unsuccessful people, learning the truths about what leads to success and what doesn't lead to success? Isn't that how we should act in our own personal lives? Isn't it human reason that has brought us all the values that we have around us? Imagine if the entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley started ignoring reality, ignoring facts. You wouldn't get your new iPhone. Forget about, you know, all the technology that you have. That is all the consequence of people who are dedicated, at least in their professional lives, to facts, to the truth, to reality, to using reason, rationality, logic in how they live, at least again, in their professional lives. If we abandon truth, we abandon progress, we abandon life. Human life is impossible without facts and reason and respect and acceptance of reality. And yet that's seemingly where we're heading, at least in the political sphere. But as I said, I think politics reflects the people, you know, and you see the popularity of people like Alex Jones, who explicitly makes up stuff and millions of people watching, millions of people watching, like you guys, some of you guys probably watching. And it's all fabricated. It's all made up. It's all conspiracy theory nonsense. And we want to consume it. Why? Because it feeds into what we already have decided is the truth. But that's not how you get truth. Truth is about looking out there and figuring out what's real and using logic. Not make belief. And this is again, I'll go back to my point about religion in spite of the fact Sean doesn't want me to, because it's important. Because if you start believing fantasies, if you start believing pretend in religion, well, why not believe in fantasies, believe in pretend and everything else? That the government can stimulate the economy by building infrastructure. That's a great fantasy. It's a great pretend story. It's a complex one because they can actually give you mathematical equations to show you. It turns out that factually, it's completely bogus that every time it's attempted in history, it's failed. But it doesn't stop Republicans and Democrats and everybody wanting, oh no, we want to stimulate the economy, more jobs to Americans, and let's build infrastructure. Trillion dollars, what the hell? Who cares about facts? Who cares about history? Who cares about what actually long term works? As long as it convinces us and it plays into our existing feelings and as long as Donald Trump says it, we're happy. But that's what a religious mentality does to you. As long as the right authority told me, then it's right. Then it's what I'm supposed to do. Then it's how I'm supposed to pursue life. No. No. The truth is the truth independent of any authority. What works and what doesn't work is independent of any authority, religious or otherwise. And you see this, you know, this is not exclusive. This is the left. The left's decided, decided that global warming is happening. It's catastrophic. It's caused by mankind. And the only remedy they tell you, and it's all one big package, is to stop using fossil fuels tomorrow, the faster the better. Okay, alternative explanations for why it's warming, nothing. No, we can't recognize that. This is now, right? This is the truth, right? Not based on fact, you're proposing a different data. The data doesn't fit into my facts. Don't confuse me with evidence. Don't confuse me with fact. Don't confuse me with an alternative theory. Don't confuse me with truth. I don't want to find the truth. I just want to confirm what I already believe that mankind is really, really bad. Right? That's what so many on the environmentalist movement really want you to believe. That mankind is evil, that mankind's bad, and particularly industrialization, particularly progress is bad and evil, and then they find the facts to fit it. And they grow the facts that don't fit the theory. They demonize anybody who disagrees with it, just like religion does, right? Same thing. And you see this over and over again. Whenever somebody wants to promote, Islam is a religion of peace. There's one. Islam is a religion of peace. Oh, so the suicide bombers, oh no, they're not Muslims. Not real Muslims. I has been revealed to me what real Islam is, and therefore I know what the truth is, right? So, you know, but this is what it leads. Once you abandon facts, once you abandon truth, once you abandon objective reality, then anything goes. Anything goes. All right. We've got a break coming up. We've got at least one call or maybe two for a very short segment after the break. So, you know, don't call anymore people. Ones online, stay online. I'll get you in a minute. The truth, you know, you can't live without it. Our survival depends on it. And a culture that's so-called post-truth is a culture of death and destruction, and that's what we got today in Washington. You're listening to your own book show, The Only Place. We all have a whole show dedicated to truth. Mark Your Calendar, Objectivist Summer Conference 2017, or Ocon 2017 for short, will take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, June 10th through the 15th. The conference will be held at this historical center of industrial America, and will celebrate productive heroes and the heroism of productiveness. They'll also celebrate the 60th anniversary of Einran's Atlas Shrugged. Visit objectivistconferences.com to explore their first-time attendee discount and special rates for young adults. Students, you can apply for a scholarship to cover some or all of your expenses. Experience the uniquely inspiring events only an objectivist conference offers. Register, and you'll have the opportunity to attend intellectually stimulating talks, panel discussions, and workshops with people who share your values. Visit objectivistconferences.com and sign up today. That's objectivistconferences.com. See you at Ocon 2017. Lately, it seems you're not feeling quite right. As if your body is working against you, Dr. Amian Associates can help create a path to achieve optimal health. Experience personalized healthcare for your mind, body, and spirit at a practice that blends holistic and traditional medicine. Hi, I'm Dr. Amy Harris, new on of Dr. Amian Associates. One of the services we provide mental health and wellness. We see children, adolescents, and adults for individuals, couples, and family counseling. We even do psychiatry and medication management. All of our thoughts, feelings, and actions are a result of those conditioned ways of thinking, feeling, and being that lead us to make decisions. And so I work with individuals to help them understand and help them create a new blueprint to move them from a negative mindset to a positive mindset. Call Dr. Amy and Associates to experience a whole person integrative approach to health and wellness, 630-980-1400, or visit Dr. Amy and Associates.com. Dr. Amy and Associates, empowering people, changing lives. You're Ron Brooke, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, speaks to audiences around the world, promoting Ayn Rand's ideas and talks and books. Now he's on your radio. Here on AM 560, the answer. So today we're talking about the truth, and the importance of the truth, and the importance of facts, and placing facts above opinions. You start with facts, not opinions. No wait, we got very short period of time, and we got two callers, so I'm going to ask them to be pretty quick. Hi Michael, how's it going? Hi John, I just wanted to say about the truth and objective truth and subjective truth. As one person may perceive the world as flat, subjective, and others would perceive the world as a sheer objective. And I think that's a good starting point for the laymen, and if you want to go into it more, Ayn Rand wrote a great book, epistemology, I read it about 40 years ago. Yeah, absolutely. The fact is the earth is round, it's a sphere, and somebody might perceive it as flat, but he's wrong. It might be his subjective opinion, but it's wrong, because the facts of reality are that it's a sphere. I don't know if you've heard, but there's actually a conspiracy theory online that claims that the world is actually flat, and we've been being deceived all these years. Yes, I have. I mean, it's nuts. So, and Michael, thanks Michael, thanks for the call. Absolutely, it's all about objective reality and how you, you know, and the fact that there is an objective reality, and Ayn Rand's philosophy is called objectivism, because the whole philosophy is based on the idea, the whole idea of Atlas Shrugged is based on the idea that there is such a thing as objective reality, there is such a thing as a reality, and then that we have the means, the tools, the efficacious method to discover reality, and that is our reason, our mind, our senses, and our brain, the tools of logic, of thinking, proper good thinking, and that's what we need to be teaching people. If you want to know more about that, Ayn Rand wrote a wonderful book, Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology. Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology. If you're interested in going more in depth in this, hey Travis, how's it going? Dr. Brooker, thanks for taking my call. Sure. An economic student and actually became a college student, so I'm pretty well versed in all the different schools of thought, and despite all of the failure when Indianism took over, we're talking about truth, you're talking about truth on your show, it's not true. You can never consume more than you produce, but it's what's taught in all of our colleges, and I don't know if it's an Ayn Rand quote, but I've read it before, it's that you can ignore reality, but you can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality. No, absolutely. That's a great quote. You want to get your opinion as... That's a quote from Ayn Rand, and you're absolutely right. So, you're absolutely right. Thanks for the call, Travis. We're about to end the show, so absolutely, what you study in school, what most of you study in school, often is not true. It's what the professors pretend is true, what they've convinced themselves is true, but it does not ally itself with reality. It's not aligned with reality, and in economics, this is particularly true. So much of the theory you study in economics has been proved to be wrong, and it doesn't seem like economists care, what they love are their models, their mathematical models, whether they actually reflect reality or not, different question. So, yes, non-truth, anti-truth is all over the place, and if we don't find a way back to the truth, the fact, to reality, to logic, to reason, we are doomed. Go read Alashrug, read Ayn Rand. Vakasya Yaron Lehitraot, talk to you maybe after Passover. Sounds good. Bye. Make sure you tune in next Saturday. Bye.