My Take-Aways from Ayn Rand

Oh dear gawd, Ayn Rand is all up in pop culture again with the Atlas Shrugged movie opening in the US on tax day, which has sparked articles like this hence discussions like this. For me, Atlas Shrugged was a painful read. Pedantic didacticism can only entertain for so long. I found the The Fountainhead to be brilliant (I read it first). Brilliant in that I think Howard Roark's court speech to be much better than John Galt's radio address. Meanwhile, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul uses his time at the Energy and Natural Resources Committee Hearing to discuss the plot of another Ayn Rand novel, Anthem (funny, he's a big fan of hers and apparently was named after her, but he can't seem to pronounce her name correctly...hint, it rhymes with the word mine). I tried to read Anthem a few years after my obsession with AR had worn off....I made it through 40 odd pages and tossed it. There comes a point in your life when you realise you have to let go of mommy. In the end, all rationalist systems become totalitarian, every last bloody one of 'em, including hers.

My take-aways from Ayn Rand: moral systems CAN exist without god (many of her new fans seem to keep glossing over the fact that she was an atheist); everyone has the right to self determination, everyone; capitalism isn't the scariest thing on the planet (though a number capitalists are complete jackasses and/or criminals); humans are not rational beings, yes, not is the key word - I know, the irony.

Ayn Rand would find me despicable....what I wouldn't give to have a night out with that women...I'd certainly show her a thing or two.