Nathaniel Branden on Self-​Esteem and Libertarianism

Branden discusses the societal harms of the entitlement state.

Nathaniel Branden

Nathaniel Branden played a prominent role in spreading the ideas of Objectivism, including founding the Nathaniel Branden Institute. He was also a prominent psychotherapist and is well-​known for his work establishing the self-​esteem movement in psychology.

Nathaniel Branden is a psychotherapist and writer known for being both the founder of the self-​esteem movement in psychology and a former associate of Ayn Rand.

In this lecture given at a Libertarian Party of California event in 2000, Branden talks about the connection between the workings of free-​market capitalism, the self-​esteem movement, and the Information Age. In his words, “entitlement robs people of the sense of self-​reliance” and the self-​esteem that comes with that sense of independence.