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In three previous posts I have attempted to bring attention to the fact of Ayn Rand's rising popularity, especially among American Conservatives. See the following links for this information:
The Cult of Ayn Rand is Re-emerging
Has Modern Conservatism Become a Cult?
Ayn Rand and the American Right
To add to these posts, I would also like to submit the following articles that I found worth reading to better familiarize yourself with this influential figure within our contemporary context:
Ayn Rand Goes Mainstream
The Real Rogue Warrior: Ayn Rand, Not Sarah Palin
Ayn Rand: Conservative Heroine?
Ayn Rand's Conservative Call Echoes Today
Yet I am aware that most people do not know who Ayn Rand is nor the principles behind her Objectivist philosophy. The following are good overview sources:
Ayn Rand: Wikipedia
Objectivism: Wikipedia
I highly recommend the following interview conducted by Mike Wallace with Ayn Rand in 1959. It really hits at the essence of her "selfish" philosophy in the words of the philosopher herself. Part One is here:
For the rest of this excellent interview, see Part Two and Part Three.
Evidence that Ayn Rand plays a significant role among the American Right is evident in at least two of the more vocal Conservative voices in America - Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Both have often cited Ayn Rand as a prophetic voice of our times.
Rush Limbaugh has been documented on various sites citing Ayn Rand. See here, here and here.
Glenn Beck also has cited Rand numerous times, and sometimes can be seen on his television program holding up Atlas Shrugged like a Bible, so impressed is he with her economic philosophy. See also this interview he did with Yaron Brook, the Executive Director for the Ayn Rand Center on 02/17/09:
The Tea Party revolts of the Conservative Right have become intertwined with the Going Galt Movement. What is the Going Galt Movement and what does this have to do with Ayn Rand? Read the following along with a video below:
‘Going Galt’: Everyone’s Doing It!
“Going Galt” and the next Tea Party wave
Who is John Galt and What is the Going Galt Movement?
A few days ago FOX News even allowed an opinion piece titled Why Ayn Rand Still Resonates to be published. This article also reveals the growing popularity of Ayn Rand not only among the youth, but adults as well.
Not only are Conservatives influenced by Rand on the political level, but on the business level her Capitalist ideals are very appealing as well. The following two videos show her influence in this capacity. The first is produced by the Ayn Rand Institute and the second is a lecture by businessman Ed Snider, one of the founders of the Ayn Rand Institute.
Ayn Rand's philosophy is full of contradictions and unrealizable utopian ideals that it could take pages to properly critique her Objectivist philosophy and the role it could play in society through religion, politics, economics, education, morality, and other such things. To look into these critiques, I highly recommend one study the links on the following webpage, which present both personal criticisms of Ayn Rand as well as criticisms of her "Objectivist Movement".
There are also two new biographies which expose the persona and ideology of Rand which can be read about in the following review:
How Ayn Rand Became an American Icon: The perverse allure of a damaged woman
It is worth noting that although many Conservatives today endorse Ayn Rand's books, she herself would likely have critiqued them for their own political philosophies. Evidence of this can be seen on the following video she made in 1961:
One more proof how much of an INDIVIDUAL Ayn Rand desired to be.
It should be noted that Rand's thinking is a serious and, she said many times, a necessary philosophy. To focus on those who wish to turn her thinking and the philosophy of objectivism into a cult is to focus not on the merits of the philosophy itself but instead on those who misunderstand and misuse its principles and applications and the name of Ayn Rand for their own irrational purposes. Rand herself spoke many times against turning objectivism and herself into cult icons because to do so is to fall into the trap of irrationalism and to lose one's objective way.
ReplyDeleteThe "Rand Cult" is an improper focus when it is the principles of objectivism that deserve serious attention, study, application and improvement. Anything else has nothing legitimately to do with Rand or objectivism.
The "Rand Cult" is exactly what she cultivated around herself and her ideas, if not with that word: "cult".
ReplyDeleteObjectivism puts forth an erroneous anthropology and is articulated clearly enough by its founder that it's an "all or nothing" ideology, not to be cherry-picked for it's merits.
It is quite anti-Christian.
-J
Notice that virtually every criticism of Rand is a criticism of her personally or, at most, are just generalizations and conclusions about her ideas.
ReplyDeleteFew of her critics address her ideas directly.
Her philosophy in a nutshell:
Metaphysics: Reality is real, not as most modern philosopers claimed for most of the 20th century, a meaningless concept;
Epistemology: Man is capable of certainty and his senses and power of reason are his only means of cognition--as opposed to the idea that man can know nothing with certainty (skepticism) and the many mytical beliefs in vogue;
Moralty: Men exist primarily for their own sakes and not as objects of sacrifice for others, the collective, the state, God, the environment, or anything else;
Art: Emphasis on man as a heroic being and the life possible to him rather than as a pitiful nothing living in the sewer of naturalism;
Politics: Freedom, economic and personally, as opposed to all the alternatives
Yes, we're familiar with this. To proclaim atheism here is a non-starter. Please leave us, John Galt.
ReplyDelete-J
One cannot , at the same time be an Orthodox Christian and a Randian.
ReplyDelete