Ayn Rand on the Malignancy of Governments (1970)

This is Ayn Rand's response to a question (about "Pollution: Ayn Rand on the Government’s Role") posed during a Q&A session following her lecture "Apollo and Dionysus." This lecture was delivered at the Ford Hall Forum in Boston in 1970. In her response, Rand articulates her stance against preventive government regulations on pollution, advocating instead for legal action against demonstrable harm. She emphasizes that individuals should have the right to sue polluters if actual damage can be proven, rather than the government imposing preemptive controls.

This perspective is further elaborated in her essay "The Anti-Industrial Revolution," where she critiques the environmental movement's approach to industrialization and pollution. The essay was later included in her book Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution. The Ford Hall Forum lectures were a series of public talks that Rand participated in annually, providing a platform for her to discuss and defend her Objectivist philosophy on various contemporary issues.