ellauri119.html on line 650: I have studied Objectivism for 25 yrs, reading Ayn Rand’s fiction and non-fiction. I’ve further read and listened to lectures by some of those who carry on her tradition (some of which you can find here for free: ARI Campus).
ellauri119.html on line 700: Rand is a economic libertarian who thought selfishness is a virtue. Rational people simply reject Rand’s economic libertarianism because rational people understand that laissez-faire capitalism results in the concentration of wealth in the hands of those who are good at being selfish.
ellauri119.html on line 708: Rand’s philosophy appeals to college sophomores drinking beer in their dorm rooms. And to The World´s Shittiest Teddy Bear. That is why the best description of Rand’s philosophy is that it is sophomoric.
ellauri119.html on line 716: Atlas Shrugged offers several examples that also refute this common misconception. The villains in this novel are businessmen who try to succeed through political pull. While they are businessmen, supposedly Ayn Rand’s ideal person, she does not paint them in a flattering light. She demonstrates how evil they are and how their political maneuvering always leads to their failure.
ellauri119.html on line 728: Rand’s philosophy of selfishness is a virtue only works if you apply Social Darwinist ideas to justify a free market where the people with the most money are simply very good at being selfish.
ellauri119.html on line 744: This is nonsense. Alan Greenspan testified before Congress after the economic meltdown in 2008. He was asked why the invisible hand of the market did not prevent the irrational greed on Wall Street that caused the housing bubble. Greenspan said that there must be a flaw in the the theory (the invisible hand of the market produces the best outcomes). There is also a flaw in Rand’s philosophy.
ellauri119.html on line 775: Asked what she thought of Reagan, Ayn Rand replied, “I don’t think of him. And the more I see, the less I think of him.” For Rand, “the appalling part of his administration was his connection with the so-called ‘Moral Majority’ and sundry other TV religionists, who are struggling, apparently with his approval, to take us back to the Middle Ages via the unconstitutional union of religion and politics.” Rand’s primary concern, it seems, is that this “unconstitutional union” represented a “threat to capitalism.” While she admired Reagan’s appeal to an “inspirational element” in American politics, “he will not find it,” remarked Rand, “in the God, family, tradition swamp.” Instead, she proclaims, we should be inspired by “the most typical American group… the businessmen.”
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