Ayn Rand

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Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand was a egotistical homophobic writer and political philosopher and mother of Objectivism, a philosophy which argues for a uncaring capitalistic world in which you place no reliance on anyone other than yourself, and are compelled by no government to pay taxes for welfare programs. Her most famous work is the notorious 1961 "Atlas Shrugged". Book Details

Biography

Ayn Rand was born in 1905 in Soviet Russia. Her father was a non practicing Jew. She came to the United States in the Twenties, and went on to produce some of the most debated fiction of her time. These works include The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and the novella Anthem. She is as noted for her non fiction writing in works such as The Virtue of Selfishness.

Victims of dictatorships "deserve whatever their government deserves."

As quoted by the The Ayn Rand Institute from Ford Hall Forum 1972: "A Nation's Unity"

Q: "What should be done about the killing of innocent people in war?"

Ayn Rand: "This is a major reason people should be concerned about the nature of their government. If by neglect, ignorance, or helplessness, they couldn't overturn their bad government and choose a better one, then they have to pay the price for the sins of their government—as all of us are paying for the sins of ours.

That's why we have to be interested in the philosophy of government and in seeing, to the extent we can, that we have a good government. A government is not an independent entity: it's supposed to represent the people of a nation.

If some people put up with dictatorship—as some do in Soviet Russia and as they did in Germany—they deserve whatever their government deserves." It should be noted that Ayn Rand lived what she believed. Her parents were often times victims of the communist movement in Russia, and Rand eventually escaped the persecution by coming to the United States.

Capitalism Magazine added their agreement to this opinion, quoting it in this article: http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4367

Objectivism and Dianetics

In his highly critical 1999 book The Ayn Rand Cult Jeff Walker notes the folowing similarities between Ayn Rand's Objectivism and L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics:

• both claim to be science and logic based
• both treat the brain as a machine
• both present a higher mind reprogramming the rest of humanity
• both recommended the uprooting of irrational premises (engrams)
• both assume that rationality permit people to enjoy healthy emotional lives
• both relate immorality to decreased potential for survival
• both perceive stivign for goals as the important motivator in life
• both oppose coercion, even by government
• both assume that rational people have no real conflicts of interest
• both attach mail-in cards in their books to connect readers to the apparatus of movement recruitment

However it should be noted that Jeff Walker has missed several key facts that differentiate the two. Ayn Rand never set out to create a religion, and merely wrote novels and nonfiction relating her views to people. The Obectivist movement is also non censorship, and does not sue vigorously like Scientology. These facts, among others, have lead many people to question the validity of Walker's claims

References

• Jeff Walker. 1999. The Ayn Rand Cult. Chicago: Open Court. ISBN 0812693906. Pp. 274-275.