“Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper’s bell of an approaching looter.” – Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was out of her Vulcan mind.
This is a simple fact that can be verified by anyone with even minimal Google skills. She was the Albert Schweitzer of Selfishness and the Mother Theresa of Greed all rolled into one. This, naturally, makes her a hero to the Right and qualifies her for sainthood. Too bad she was an Atheist.
Her philosophy, so she said, was one of pure reason, unstained by taudry emotion. But as sane people know, one of the quirks of being a human is serving the heart as well as the mind. Ayn Rand believed you should only serve yourself. In her world, everyone was free to agree with her version of individual freedom and all others were worthy of contempt and scorn. She considered altruism immoral and selfishness a virtue.
Ayn Rand called her philosophy “Objectivism”. For the layman, “Objectivism” is Latin for “I don’t give a shit about anyone but myself.” It’s self-absorption with a bow on top. She makes the Kardashians look like Anna Karenina.
“The best aspect of Christmas, is that Christmas has been commercialized.” – Ayn Rand
Her most famous and last novel is “Atlas Shrugged”, a 1200 page Caligula of Capitalism set slightly in the future of America. In this tome, the heroes are all titans of industry and anyone else with less talent or less money is referred to as a “looter”. Aren’t these the same looters that made these titans wealthy? Thereupon is one of the biggest disconnects in the novel, that these wealthy supermen somehow attained their fortune in a vacuum.
To show the world how unappreciated they are, and how the country couldn’t get along without them, the novel’s chief hero, John Galt, organizes a strike. (how Leftist of him!) Galt somehow manages to convince the rest of the country’s titans to follow suit , causing the collapse of the entire economy and untold suffering. And this, dear readers, is the HERO. Drive safely.
Did I mention that Ayn Rand was out of her Vulcan mind?
Before she created her own idealized superman characters, let’s take a look at someone in real life who was able to win the admiration of this little sociopath: Serial Killer William Hickman.
In 1927, William Edward Hickman made national headlines when he kidnapped a 12 year old girl from her school, raped her, and dismembered her body, which he then sent to the police in pieces.
She wrote in her notebook that Hickman had “no regard whatsoever for all that society holds sacred, and with a consciousness all his own. A man who really stands alone, in action and in soul. Other people do not exist for him and he does not see why they should. “
She also wrote of Hickman, “He has the true, innate psychology of a Superman. He can never realize and feel other people.”
As sick as all of this is, why any of this matters is because of the high philosophical perch Ayn Rand now holds in our nation’s psyche. The book has also been praised by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and her own cult. The Ayn Rand Institute distributes 400,000 copies of “Atlas Shrugged” to high schools each year, sort of like a scholastic Gideon’s Bible. According to the Library of Congress, “Atlas Shrugged” is the most influential book in America, second only to the Bible. Indeed, “Atlas Shrugged” is the Bible of Assholes. How schizophrenic is it that in this country the top two books couldn’t be more at odds with each other. One book is a tribute to greed and selfishness and the other book contains the teachings of the biggest “Collectivist” of them all, Jesus Christ.
“Collectivism means the subjugation of the individual to a group — whether to a race, class or state does not matter. Collectivism holds that man must be chained to collective action and collective thought for the sake of what is called ‘the common good’.” – Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand’s current influence can be seen directly in the form of GOP Rep Paul Ryan, the latest “Wonder Boy” to be trotted out by Republicans as the one who will save us from our debt crisis. Philosophically, Paul Ryan is Ayn Rand’s Jimmy Olsen, trumpeting her sick message to a new generation.
“The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand,” Ryan said at a D.C. gathering four years ago honoring the author of “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead.”
At the Rand celebration he spoke at in 2005, Ryan invoked the central theme of Rand’s writings when he told his audience that, “Almost every fight we are involved in here on Capitol Hill … is a fight that usually comes down to one conflict–individualism versus collectivism.”
Ryan is so enthralled with Rand that he requires all of his staffers to read “Atlas Shrugged”. I’m guessing most buy the Cliff Notes. Joining Ryan in this obsession is Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who requires his staffers to read Ayn Rand as well. Check, please!
Ryan has also said “Rand makes the best case for the morality of Democratic Capitalism.”
That Ryan was inspired by Rand to go into public service tells you all you need to know about his values and worldview. This is the same wunderkind who wants to privatize Social Security and turn Medicare into a voucher program. Paul Ryan is playing a philosophical game of “Dungeons & Dragons” with people’s lives. If this doesn’t scare the hell out of you, it should.
One of the central tenents of Ayn Rand’s philosophy is that “taxation is theft”. This same attitude can be seen in the Tea Party today who believe the same thing. The ultimate irony, however, is that this bunch that sees taxation as theft are the biggest looters of them all. These are the people who truly want something for nothing. They believe they exist independently of the government and that somehow roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, even firemen and police just magically manifest themselves free of charge. They are the ultimate something for nothing gang. And yet, these are the very people who brag about what rugged individuals they are and call anyone else who believes otherwise a “Statist”. It’s a sad dance.
“Love like money, has to be earned.” – Ayn Rand
To put all of this in proper historical context, we need only to look at Alan Greenspan, the “Maestro” of the American economic collapse. In the 1950’s
Greenspan was not only a big admirer of Ayn Rand but was a close friend as well as a member of her inner circle. (Some even suggest boy toy.) Greenspan and Rand remained friends until her death in 1982. He even invited her to the Oval Office to stand by his side at his swearing in when he joined the Ford administration in 1974 as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors. He should have stuck to jazz.
In “Atlas Shrugged” Ayn Rand’s hero purposely collapses the economy to show the evils of government regulation. But the joke was on her, because in reality, John Galt turned out to be Alan Greenspan, who actually collapsed the economy by applying her economic principles. Atlas Shrugged? More like Atlas Mugged.
Can we all sue Ayn Rand for whiplash?
The final nail in Ayn Rand’s irony casket came when she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1974, years after urging all of her followers to smoke because it represented “man’s victory over fire.” Rand had dismissed medical studies proving smoking caused cancer as nothing more than Communist propaganda.
Nothing says rugged individualism like nicotine addiction.
This fierce critic of FDR’s New Deal and LBJ’s Great Society, who called all government programs a drain on society, quietly signed up for and received Social Security and Medicare under her married name. She died alone in 1982 of lung cancer.
And the atlas shrugged.
Originally posted at OTOOLEFAN, January 23, 2011
Steve says
I read the Virtue of Selfishness and found it quite thought provoking. She is right about many things and the histories of collectivist regimes like the Soviet Union and North Korea have proven her to be correct.
Why don’t you make your argument on her ideas instead of making ad hominem attacks on who she was? Clearly you have no good ideas to back up your point of view.
Marc E. says
“The stupidest thing she knew was for people to act like they knew all about the things they knew absolutely nothing about.” – J. Gaarder
“Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide.” (T’plana-Hath, Matron of Vulcan)
OK, to be fair, this “piece” is laden with superficiality and slick manipulations…and the picture you try to paint of Rand is full of farfetched and silly conclusions. Besides the fact that you don’t identify the specific premises of any of Rand’s philosophies to study, you do throw her under the bus like a true expert, “OTOOLEFAN.” I truly wonder if an informed discussion with you would even be possible…
1. “Ayn Rand believed you should only serve yourself.”
*i chuckle*
HALF TRUE, so, er, false! (And this is the premise of your article…tsk tsk.) Rand is famous for her: “To say “I love you” one must know first how to say the “I”.” She was never against loving others — she was against “loving others first” in order to be able to “love yourself” — which is the altruistic perspective of many, especially religious folk of the christian persuasion (serving others first is actually how you put God first) and those of a communist persuasion (serving the greater good that is the state). Rand was never against helping others — and if you paid attention to her writings and interviews, you’d realize she was all for it. She just had a different approach and wouldn’t stand for people telling her it was her duty to help others — especially not religious people or the government.
2. With Ryan having people read Atlas Shrugged … Oh dear, a novel! How super-scandalous! What if it was Harry Potter? Would that be terribly worse? Would we conspire that Ryan is promoting wizardry? (I’m SO NOT a fan of Ryan, but that doesn’t mean Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is evil because he likes it. Look at the Bible — if the wrong hands, it can be used to inflict injustices and harm. Or do you damn everyone with a Bible in their house too?)
3. “Greenspan liked Ayn Rand.” Your conclusions about this are ridiculous, too. Because Gspan liked Rand, Rand must be evil. And you declare John Galt is a living Greenspan as well. And you declare the demise of the USA economy is due Greenspan trying to be Galt. OMG, what COMPLETE UTTER nonsense! Meanwhile, back on planet earth… the reality is that we haven’t had “capitalism” because “corporatism” has ruled the roost. Ayn Rand would NOT approve of today’s corrupt “corporatism” via the Republican Party AND Democrat Party. Or should I say, “republocrats.”
MANY MANY MANY fans of Ayn Rand are also supporting the current AUDIT THE FED movement. The 99% movement are supporting the AUDIT THE FED movement. RON PAUL supporters are pushing the AUDIT THE FED movement forward. LIBERTARIANS are supporting the AUDIT THE FED movement. Greenspan is NOT! #justsaying
(((Listen, I’m the first person to confidently declare that Ayn Rand was not perfect, not even close. Rand does do a superb job at untangling the complexities of life with her writings on philosophy– and although she was not perfect, at least she tried and encouraged people to think…to connect the dots between philosophy and politics and culture. I don’t believe Rand should be worshiped, but I also don’t think your demonization of her merits any respect.)))
By trying to throw one of the world’s greatest philosophers of all time under the bus without a real informed discussion, my Star-trek referencing pal, I think you might want to stick to reviewing movies and television shows — things that have no anchor in reality, where subjective opinions are quite fun AND necessary.
PS — If you hate Rand and aren’t sure why, try watching the artistically excellent 2011 documentary “In Her Own Words” which using Rand’s own words to tell her story, explores her LIFE and the events that inspired her writings! )
OR
Take an hour and read Ayn Rand’s OWN WORDS about interpersonal relationships, business | money, politics | government, religion | philosophy and even the arts! The book is free, here:
“We mustn’t jump to conclusions — that is the only thing a real philosopher must never do.”
– Sophie’s World
“Nothing can be ruled out. But we should doubt everything.”
– Sophie’s World
“A philosopher knows that in reality he knows very little. That is why he constantly strives to achieve true insight. Socrates was one of these rare people. He knew that he knew nothing about life and about the world. And now comes the important part: it troubled him that he knew so little.”
― Jostein Gaarder
“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
-Ayn Rand
John Lawrence says
Ayn Rand was a true hypocrite who, as the author points out, accepted Social Security and Medicare after demonizing government programs for a lifetime. She considered anyone who was helped by a government program to be a parasite which echoes Tea Party rhetoric including Ryan’s Path to Prosperity today. Alan Greenspan came to her funeral with a flower arrangement shaped like a dollar sign. Ayn Rand is a disciple of Social Darwinism – “Let the devil take the hindermost” and “sink or swim.” This is the philosophy of Nietsche’s Superman, someone who turned Christian morality and ethics on its head. The glorification of individual achievement and the belief that only the greatest individual achievers should be praised and encouraged, hence tax breaks for the rich, and the demonization of the poor was her bag. Romney and Ryan, good acolytes of Ayn Rand, represent the belief system that the individual should be totally selfish at the expense of others if necessary. That is the price society pays for their great deeds. Romney’s “great deed” is mainly making money. At least John Galt built something useful presumably with his architecture.
The true parasites are the very rich who prey on the middle class and the poor, the 1% who exploit for their own selfish moneymaking reasons the welfare of the 99%. Ayn Rand should be debunked for who she trult was – a totally selfish bitch who had not the least regard for the welfare of others, onne who glorified a psychopathis killer – as this author has done so very well.
Henry Leunissen says
John,
Your diatribe about Ayn Rand is amusing. Accepting Social Security after demonizing government programs is no more hypocritical than accepting a present from a person that you really do not like. I too receive Social Security, but -I am fantisizing- if it was up to me, I would have prevented FDR from ever coming up with this -soon to be bankrupt- ‘another-way-to-get-money-from-the-people-scheme’. This country was rich when its government was poor. What is wrong with glorification of individual achievement? Would you prefer that everyone waits for a handout from government? It is because of “individual achievement” that government has money to give to the poor. But the problem with government is that it does not know when to stop. Do you really think that LBJ’s war on poverty stopped poverty? FYI: it made it worse. “Tax breaks for the rich”… where did I hear that before? And to be selfish needs to be clarified. I am totally in favor of being selfish towards government because government is selfish in itself. That does not in any way preclude helping those who are in real need. And I do not include in this those who are able to take care of themselves if they would only try. The problem is as soon as government gets involved people stop trying. And by critisizing Romney you lose the argument. Romney gives more money to the needy than you and me combined and he can do that because of his “individual achievement”. The very rich are parasites? Can you explain to me how they steal from the poor? BTW stealing from the poor is a contradictio in terminus.
Anna Daniels says
Paul Ryan sings his praises–“I think Ayn Rand did the best job of anybody to build a moral case of capitalism…” Ryan doesn’t seem to notice that a whole lot of people aren’t buying the “moral case”. In fact, they find it immoral and hypocritical. You can call capitalism many things, but moral is not one of those things.
KeninSD says
Peter or Annette?
Anna Daniels says
lol.