You are secretly in love with Ayn Rand. C'mon, Roger, out with it!

Thank you for posting this. I have been wondering about Ayn Rand ever since the movie came out. It came and went from the theaters I did not have a chance to see it. Now I have a morbid curiosity to see it now. I don’t think I can flog myself to get through the book but I might give the movie a try.

In broad strokes, Ayn Rand was a social Darwinist who believed nature intended for the strongest in society to survive. She saw all forms of social welfare as the government taking from the "achievers" and giving to non-producers. She was a devout atheist with contempt for the mere concept of God. But does that make her view of government incorrect? The answer is a resounding no! Government interference and regulation is wrong not because it attempts to help a certain segment of our society, but because it rewards greed and corruption and if fact hurts the very people it intends to support. The poor are no better off after billions have been spent in the war on poverty, but the banking elite have far greater wealth than ever before. Capitalism (as properly practiced) matches reward to productivity. Government regulations stifle productivity and penalize investment and hard work with a punitive tax structure that is structured by lobbyists and special interest.
If you want reading that best exemplifies our current society I recommend "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut.

Wonder what Ayn Rand would say about the move toward laissez-faire economics that led to the 2004 economic collapse.

I think there needs to be a balance. Too much freedom leads to chaos. Too many rules leads to slavery.

Roger, we have a limited democracy -- limited by the Constitution. That's what Ayn Rand was advocating for, government limited from taking away a person's life, liberty or property. The latter is what most Americans seem to give little regard, voting for politicians who are quite happy to tax away a person's property, or abuse eminent domain to favor one party over an individual. But property is how we maintain our life and liberty.

As with Socrates and the Roman Senate, there are some actions that a democratic government must be prevented from taking.

Here's the "Atlas Shrugged" review that Buckley talks about, by Whitaker Chambers: http://bit.ly/iOmgqM

I obviously had a forgetful moment in my above comment! It was the citizens of Athens, not the Roman Senate, who voted that Socrates should die.

How horrible it was for Ayn Rand to take such an uncompromising position!

Buckley repeats the often heard claim that ATLAS SHRUGGED is the best-selling novel of all time. The Guinness Book of World Records website says that as far as it can tell, that record belongs to A TALE OF TWO CITIES. http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/Search/Details/Bestselling-book-of-fiction/48277.html

I watched the Ayn Rand interview earlier. I was reminded then why I had originally found "Atlas Shrugged" unreadable. Now I wonder what Tilda might do with a well written Ayn Rand part.

What a disturbing woman and philosophy. The legitimization of selfishness is just plain ugly.

What's interesting is here is this Russian immigrant who came to America looking to escape the perils of her homeland. There are many people throughout the country's history who believed (and continue to believe) that immigrants are sub-human and not worthy of entrance into our nation. It was, and is, the benevolence and selflessness of our values that allow for people from all around the world to have a chance at living, first hand, our culture and character as citizens.

Rand's own philosophy would say she should have never been allowed the opportunity and that our country was weak for being so selflessly merciful and charitable toward those who are essentially strangers.

It's just such an ugly, immoral way to think, isn't it? How this goes over well with anyone claiming to be religious in any sense (particularly considering Ayn's clear hatred for the moral fabric of all religions) is beyond me. To be honest, I don't see how this philosophy goes over well with anyone who isn't a complete sociopath or criminally insane.

....and, speaking of insane, can I mention how positively insane this woman looked in those old clips? She looks about as stable as Charlie Sheen during an interview.

Wow, Michael R. Brown, you are such an Ayn Rand troll! You were bothering me about it too on twitter Friday night. Hey everybody, click on the above twitter to see me get in an argument with a fuguewriter, aka Michael R. Brown, and also a fan of Nip/Tuck (lol!!!!!)

Sorry Roger. Great posts!

Actually, Edmund Fuentes, under Rand an ideal government would not confer benefits on its citizens, so there would be nothing lost by allowing as many immigrants as could make it to the country through their own initiative. A government that told people where they could or could not live would be the antithesis of objectivist philosophy.

There are many objectionable elements to objectivism, but impugning the philosophy on the basis of illegal immigration or Rand looking uncomfortable in front of the camera misses every conceivable point. As does demonizing the philosophy's followers as mentally ill.

'For the good of all' instead of 'Individualism' means we all lower ourselves to save errant individuals from ever taking responsibility or facing consequences.
Collectivism means we have to forgive the sister who had a loaded .357 Magnum revolver under her bed that was picked up by a 4 year old nephew and trained on my sons head. Thanks to the fact that chasing her cat while running inside her home warranted myself to follow and scold the kids--and YES the nephew, who was shouting, "It's so Heavy, It's so HEAVY",( while waving the gun), placed it on the bed as I said , "put. it . on . the . bed."
... By the end of the evening, our 'brain-dead collectivist' parents expected me to accept the incident as the good intentions of sister's need to protect herself!
So, going MY WAY, really does not make me an asshole who feels virtuous. People who do not follow for the good of the collective group are those who choose how to live in spite of sanctimonious assholes!!