Don Watkins

Don Watkins (born 1982) is an American writer. He is an Objectivist and was a fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute from 2006 to 2017.[1] He then worked for the Center for Industrial Progress until 2020, [2] when he became a freelance writer.

Don Watkins
Born	1982
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Strayer University (BA)
Subject	Objectivism
Notable works	Free Market Revolution Equal is Unfair

Early life and family

Watkins was introduced to philosophy in high school, where, under the influence of a friend, he read, among other works, Philosophy: Who Needs It by Rand. He also became interested in politics, reading Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt and the works of Ludwig von Mises. After high school, he went to university, but, growing irritated with academia, he quit his full-time studies and started attending night school. He graduated with a BA degree in Business Administration from Strayer University.[3] During this time he worked for multiple IT firms and started blogging.

Watkins and his wife had their first child, Olivia, in 2013.[4]

Career

In March 2006, Watkins was appointed a fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute, specializing as a writer and an editor in Rand's ideas and policy issues, and as a researcher in capitalism, government welfare and Social Security.[5] In 2012, with Yaron Brook, he co-authored Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand's Ideas Can End Big Government, which aims to show how Objectivism can be applied to solve the fiscal and economic problems of the modern day. The book received positive reviews from The Financial Times.[6]

Also with Brook, since January 2011, Watkins has contributed a column entitled "The Objectivist" to Forbes, writing about economics and liberty.[7] He has also contributed to The Guardian,[8] USA Today,[9] Fox News,[10] CNBC,[11] The Christian Science Monitor,[12] NPR,[13] The Washington Times,[14] and other media outlets. He has often participated in talks and debates in front of university groups, such as at the University of Arkansas,[15] Stanford University,[16] North Carolina State University,[17] and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[18] He has also addressed Tea Party audiences.[19]

In early 2014, Watkins launched the 'End the Debt Draft' campaign, promoting his goal of ending government welfare in order to end government debt, which he sees as imposing on young Americans an unearned and immoral obligation in a similar way to the military draft. His book, RooseveltCare: How Social Security is Sabotaging the Land of Self-Reliance, was published in June 2014.[20]

In March 2016, Watkins, along with coauthor Yaron Brook, published Equal Is Unfair: America's Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality.

In 2017, Watkins, along with coauthor Yaron Brook, published In Pursuit of Wealth: The Moral Case for Finance.

Bibliography

• Brook, Yaron; Watkins, Don (2012). Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand's Ideas Can End Big Government. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0230341691.
• Brook, Yaron; Watkins, Don (2016). Equal Is Unfair: America's Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality. New York: St. Martins Press.
• Brook, Yaron; Watkins, Don (2017). In Pursuit of Wealth: The Moral Case for Finance. New York: Ayn Rand Institute Press.

See also

• American philosophy
• Ethical egoism
• Free market
• Individualism
• Objectivist movement
• Rational egoism

References

1. https://ari.aynrand.org/experts/don-watkins
2. https://ari.aynrand.org/blog/2017/05/01/farewell-to-ari-fellow-don-watkins
3. "TOS Contributors". The Objective Standard. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
4. Watkins, Don (2014). RooseveltCare: How Social Security is Sabotaging the Land of Self-Reliance. Ayn Rand Institute. p. xi. ISBN 978-0-9794661-7-5.
5. "Don Watkins". Ayn Rand Institute. Retrieved May 9, 2014,
6. Ben-Ami, Daniel (September 28, 2012). "Book review: Individualism rules". The Financial Times. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
7. Brook, Yaron; Watkins, Don. "The Objectivist". Forbes. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
8. "Don Watkins". The Guardian. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
9. Brook, Yaron; Watkins, Don. "Opposing view: Celebrate private equity". USA Today. 28 May 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
10. "Don Watkins: Latest Stories". Fox News. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
11. Brook, Yaron; Watkins, Don. "Atlas Shrugged and Today’s World by Yaron Brook and Don Watkins.". CNBC. August 10, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
12. Brook, Yaron; Watkins, Don. "Apple vs. GM: Ayn Rand knew the difference. Do you?". The Christian Science Monitor. March 2, 2010. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
13. Weeks, Linton. "Quick Question: Time To Leave Smokers Alone?". NPR. January 15, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
14. Cotto, Joseph. "Asking Don Watkins: Can Ayn Rand's ideas really end big government?". The Washington Times. September 17, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
15. "Watkins to Speak to Supply Chain Management Class". University of Arkansas Newswire. October 18, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
16. Ayn Rand Institute. "Why Businessmen Should Not Give Something Back - Stanford University". YouTube. July 15, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
17. "Don Watkins Lecture: Ayn Rand's Free Market Revolution" Archived May 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. North Carolina State University. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
18. Lee Ward, Christy. "Don Watkins will join Professor Howard Schweber to debate the question: 'Is the Welfare State Just?'". University of Wisconsin–Madison. April 1, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
19. "'Tea Party' in Santa Ana. Don Watkins speaking. April 15, 2009 047" Archived May 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Good Copy. March 24, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
20. Watkins, Don (June 16, 2014). "New Book: RooseveltCare: How Social Security Is Sabotaging the Land of Self-Reliance". Ayn Rand Institute. Retrieved October 10, 2014.

External links

• RooseveltCare: How Social Security is Sabotaging the Land of Self-Reliance Official, free PDF version of the book
• Review of Equal Is Unfair in The Federalist