She’s Back!
Ayn Rand is bigger than ever. But are her new fans radical enough for capitalism?
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GoogleAyn Rand, the Russian-born novelist and philosopher, died in 1982. But in this Bush-Obama season of fantastical government growth and encroachment into all areas of human activity, Rand has become a Banquo’s ghost at the banquet of politics, an antistate spirit haunting politicians and commentators who thought her free-market worldview was safely buried by the fall 2008 financial collapse.
Signs of the Rand revival abound. The surprisingly large anti-government Tea Party protests have been chock-a-block with signs such as “Atlas Is Shrugging” and “The name is Galt. John Galt.” Sales of Rand’s classic Atlas Shrugged have soared in 2009, above a level that was already extremely impressive for a 1,000-page, critically unloved, 52-year-old novel. Two major publishing houses brought out new biographies of Rand almost simultaneously this fall. And after decades of Hollywood development limbo, Atlas Shrugged may finally be hitting the screen soon in the form of a cable mini-series starring Charlize Theron.
Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.), who gives out copies of Atlas Shrugged to departing interns, and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who says Rand inspired his political career, both have said recently that the age of Barack Obama reminds them of the statist dystopia portrayed in the novel. Ryan—who stresses that, as a Catholic, he is not a full-fledged adherent to Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, which embraces atheism as well as laissez faire—says that as he looks around Washington these days he can’t help but think he’s seeing a lot of Wesley Mouch, the sleazy lobbyist in Atlas Shrugged who rises through his connections to become a de facto economic dictator.
“What’s happening now is Americans are awakening to see [that] this enduring principle of self-government and individualism is being taken away,” Ryan says. “I really believe the entire moral premise of capitalism is being shaken to its core because of the acceleration of government right now, and that’s waking people up.”
Ed Hudgins, director of advocacy with the Atlas Society, an organization that promotes Rand’s philosophy, says that when he looks at House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and federally owned mortgage lender Freddie Mac, he thinks of another Atlas Shrugged character: banker Eugene Lawson, who in Hudgins’ words “destroys his bank and a good part of the state of Wisconsin because he’s making loans based not on sound business practice but on the basis of need.”
Many political bloggers this year have preferred to invoke one of Rand’s heroes by spreading the idea that more and more people may soon be “going Galt”—that is, following the example of Atlas Shrugged hero John Galt by going “on strike” against an overly statist America.
And it isn’t just Rand devotees who are seeing her shadow across the landscape. As The Economist noted in February, “Whenever governments intervene in the market…readers rush to buy Rand’s book. Why? The reason is explained by the name of a recently formed group on Facebook, the world’s biggest social networking site: ‘Read the news today? It’s like ‘Atlas Shrugged’ is happening in real life.’ ” To Rand’s fans, the U.K. Guardian explained in March, “the Obama administration’s support for beleaguered homeowners and banks…smacks of tyrannical socialism, forcing the strong and successful to prop up the weak, feckless and incompetent.” Everyone seems to agree: Ayn Rand is back, and more relevant than ever.
But will those who are freshly encountering or rediscovering Rand really embrace her radicalism? As important as she remains to the post–World War II American political and intellectual scene, Rand comes with baggage that slows the spread of her ideas, making it difficult for an explicitly Randian political/intellectual movement to gain traction.
More than ever, Rand’s uncompromising and unconservative (though hyper-free-market) vision rubs violently against the realities of contemporary American politics of both right and left. That her ideas are spread mostly via novels, and not nonfiction or polemics, renders reader reaction to her hard to replicate. Despite the obvious signs of a Rand resurgence, from Congress to Tea Parties, from biographies to political chatter, from Main Street to Hollywood, it remains highly unlikely that the author’s ideas will become remotely as successful in politics as they are in publishing. The American Atlas may be grumbling, but he isn’t shrugging yet.
Atlas Shrugged portrays a world reduced to terrifying dysfunction by a government fanatically dedicated to managing and manipulating the economy in the name of fairness and helping the needy. It’s a scenario that many see as scarily similar to America in 2009.
As in Atlas Shrugged, the U.S. is suffering through a shrinking, staggering economy. One of its major transportation industries is falling into the calcifying hands of government management (trains in Atlas, autos now). Pull and connections in the nation’s capital are often more important than productivity in determining whether a business will thrive. The most heeded political voices are calling for one-sixth of the economy to be subsumed by the state in the name of universal health coverage. The political leader of the United States identifies “selfishness” as his own greatest moral failing and says that the country’s biggest sin is not caring enough for the “least.”
For millions of readers worldwide, Atlas Shrugged has generated more than just fondness for a corking and unusual tale; the book commonly inspires a life-changing adoration. But from the beginning it also has met widespread intellectual contempt, even from sources that might be expected to endorse Rand’s free market views. In National Review, for example, Whittaker Chambers famously argued in 1957 that Atlas Shrugged was suffused with “a voice…commanding: ‘To a gas chamber—go!’ ” Also in 1957, Time slammed the novel as a “weird performance…not so much capitalism as its hideous caricature.” More recently, a character on South Park declared, after reading Atlas Shrugged, that “because of this piece of shit, I am never reading again.” The joke works because Atlas Shrugged is widely understood as a cultural totem of bizarre, cultish unreadability, often by those who have never tried to get through it.
While complaints about Rand’s prose and character development are perennial, the nub of Atlas hatred isn’t literary: It’s the idea that Rand’s work is positively evil, celebrating a raw selfishness and glorying in a lack of compassion for anyone who fails to be a heroic producer, or even so much as disagrees with any aspect of Rand’s complicated system of epistemology and ethics. As Gore Vidal wrote in Esquire back in 1961, Rand’s “ ‘philosophy’ is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous.”
When The New York Times made one of its contributions to the copious body of journalism branding 2009 as the Year of Rand, the paper hooked its story to Rand fan John Allison, chairman of a successful Southern bank, BB&T, which had been forced to take federal bailout money. The article went straight to where Rand’s moral rhetoric hits America square in the gut. Allison complained to the Times that if a child fights to defend what’s his against another kid, he’s apt to be told to share rather than defend his property. “To say man is bad because he is selfish,” he concluded, “is to say it’s bad because he’s alive.’ ”
Right there is the Rand her enemies love to hate: the woman who named one of her books The Virtue of Selfishness, who allegedly championed the haves against the have-nots. This year in The New Republic, Jonathan Chait slammed Rand as the fountainhead of the idea that the rich deserve their wealth. This caused him to turn what was supposed to be a review of two serious new books about Rand into a disquisition on the theme that sometimes luck rather than accomplishment earns people wealth in the modern world, which is not a point that Rand would dispute. Neither is it at all relevant to her belief that people deserve whatever they earn, so long as they are not robbing others.
Editor's Note: We invite comments and request that they be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of Reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason at any time.
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Rand, Rand, Rand, nothing but Rand.
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Bitch, bitch, bitch, nothing but bitching.
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I traded your soul for Rand pogs. Remember Rand? She's back. In pog form.
http://miljink.tripod.com/pogs.wav -
Reason's feeling damned randy lately, isn't it?
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Good one!
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2 MUCH TEH RAND
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EOM
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Damn she is unattractive. Is it ok to be a libertarian and not want to ever bother with reading a Rand book?
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Sure. As long as you are actually a libertarian, meaning you believe in the basic values of libertarianism.
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There are some statist programs I tolerate a bit more than some libertarians seem to (roads for example) but you won't find me arguing against privatizing them. And fuck entitlements.
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There's a difference between tolerating programs and supporting them.
The main thing is that you don't find jobs or wealth as a right. That is, healthcare is not a right, federal money is not a right, a job is not a right, etc.
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Sure, except that Ayn Rand is not a libertarian, and despised them as well.
If you are a libertarian, you are completely incompatible with Objectivism. If you don't even wish to bother reading a book because she doesn't make your dick stand at attention, then you're not only a monstrous libertarian, but you're also a monstrous murderer of logic and the pursuit of knowledge.
I am really growing spiteful of all the "libertarian" publications trying to relate their illegitimate actions to the very legitimate, studied, carefully-crafted, and 100% factual, writings of, and sanctioned by, Ayn Rand.
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Protesting with "John Galt" on those signs is stupid. In Atlas Shrugged, he didn't protest, he LEFT the world of the looters. As he put it, he followed their rules, and pulled his ability and 'greed' out of the system.
Plus, I think most people who read Atlas Shrugged don't actually get it these days. I hate people like that representative, who say they are inspired by Rand, but don't even believe in laissez faire.
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One could argue that using John Galt as a handle is equally stupid.
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Name 40 good reasons why
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Oh god please let Rand week end. Rand is now used by the left to dismiss any small-government advocacy as insane cult behavior.
Now that the right is discovering Rand, she doubtless will be used as philosophical support for preemptive war against Muslim Mexican abortionists as well.
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I think the plan is to soften us up for pledge drive next week. "Sick of reading about Rand? Donate now, and we can pay for better research!"
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I just bought two more Rand T-shirts THIS week, so I'm responsible for at least 3 Ayn Rand postings.
I'll totally stop now, I swear.
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Actually, the Ayn Rand Institute supports preemptive war against Muslims, on the grounds that they are all collectively guilty of holding irrational views that facilitate terrorism.
This is quite distinct from Ayn Rand's opposition to the initiation of force.
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No, it isn't. A government's responsibility is the defense of its citizens' individual rights. We are not responsible for the rubble and barbarianism that these governments deal to their people. The federal government's only legitimate role is the protection of our individual rights, which means ending all foreign threats as effectively and swiftly as possible.
There is an ENORMOUS difference between preemption and non-interventionism. We can still advocate for preemptive war - WHEN AND IF IT IS RATIONAL TO DO SO - as long as we still maintain a non-interventionist foreign policy.
People fail often to understand these principles, because people think that Ayn Rand was a political scholar. She wasn't. She was a PHILOSOPHER, and to understand her political views, one must understand that they are the only views that support her philosophy. They go hand-in-hand, and you cannot rely on liberty axiomatically as so many libertarians do. There must be a moral justification for it, and if that moral justification is not Objectivism, then both your political and your moral philosophies are evil. Read Rand's book "The Virtue of Selfishness" and then Leonard Peikoff's "Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand" to get a better understanding of what Rand's philosophy is really about. You'll be happy you did it.
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I am getting so sick of looking at this woman.
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No, darling. She is not.
We grow weary of the fanboy treatment.
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So don't read the articles.
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I don't, her nasty face is all over the frontpage.
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So, who is this Rand woman y'all keep nattering on about? And how orthographically challenged were her parents, anyway? Who the hell spells Ann with a Y?
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I can't help but pronounce Ayn as in Anus.
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No no no. You pronounce AYN as in HEInie.
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Her real name was Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum.
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As in Atlas Shrugged, the U.S. is suffering through a shrinking, staggering economy.
Yeah, thanks a lot Ms. Rand.
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STFU.
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I will grant you this: I'd rather look at Rand's mug than Krugman's.
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It's not like they didn't warn us, repeatedly, that there was going to be a Rand festival on the site.
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‘Read the news today? It’s like ‘Atlas Shrugged’ is happening in real life.’
Not sure that 'Atlas Shrugged' is really happening in real life, but we're certainly on 'The Road to Serfness'.
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err, Serfdom
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I prefer Surfdom. It would have sold better if it was about how economic totalitarianism inevitably leads to awesome surfing conditions.
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That would certainly sell much better in California.
The rest of the world, I'm not so sure about.
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I just wish people would talk about something besides "Atlas". In my opinion the best and most important thing she wrote was "The Virtue of Selfishness". If that book doesn't change your life there's no hope for you. I wish that is what people would read first before "Atlas".
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I agree.
But most people would rather surf.
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The purpose of this thread was to identify the Rand haters out there. Your names have been duly noted.
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Well Brian, interesting article but it's about impossible to tell what the collective American people really think. I hear numbers saying that somewhere over a third of the populace are self identified liberals. At least half the population must not be too off-put by liberals, given that they're Democrats.
And America just voted Obama-lini into office. The fact that they had a choice between Obama-lini the Younger, and Obama-lini the Crazy Elder, might tell us something all by itself. Like whatever it was the Mussolini was selling way back when, we're kinda sorta still into it today.
But one of the more interesting questions never got asked during this Rand week. How does it come to be that with Tony and his buddy-types having run the US educational system for most of the past century, we still have all this interest in Rand?
But maybe that's just a dying echo. The options we got in the last POTUS election are evidence again that the whole US political spectrum is moving decidedly leftward.
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I've wondered more than once if the fact that the whole spectrum is shifting leftward, is the only thing that keeps the country from devolving into civil war.
Try for a moment to imagine The Rand Party vs the Democrats.
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Another interesting question: what is it about large urban areas that brings out the liberal urges in humanity?
If the big cities on the East Coast and the Left Coast were obliterated by terrorists tomorrow, Obama-lini would find himself in deep shit come next election. Not that liberals don't exist in the rest of the country, but their numbers are enough smaller that they'd have far less political pull.
But it's not just in the US. China has always had the world's largest population centers, and their big cities were the first in history to sprout large groups of liberal-leaning people. China, for example, has always leaned towards socialist-flavored economics. And the first serious groups of pacifists that I know of in history, sprouted out of the larger Chinese cities. Pacifism is definitely associated much more strongly with our modern Left than it is the Right.
I suspect it's because, the Robin Hood Fix for The Poor, is far easier to sell to larger than smaller populations. But that somehow doesn't explain all of it.
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Only idiots live in large cities.
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Atlas Shrugged may finally be hitting the screen soon in the form of a cable mini-series starring Charlize Theron.
When are the Objectivist thespians going to Go Galt? Don't you like to think of them out on some island drinking out of coconuts with umbrellas in them, as civilization grinds to a standstill because of the lack of Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron and Brad Pitt movies?
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We would find out that these actors really are the amazingly talented people that they have always claimed.
They didn't actually rely on speaking other people's word or special effects. It wasn't true that they could be replaced by hundreds of virtually identical wannabe stars.
Judging by various documentaries made by actors and directors I have been led to believe tht Cuba offers them the freedom that they crave. it would make a perfect Galt's Gulch. -
Rand fan John Allison, chairman of a successful Southern bank, BB&T, which had been forced to take federal bailout money
I admire the ability of people to accept welfare and then immediately forgot about taking it and exempt themselves form the lists of "looters and moochers"
What would Rand have thought about all her fans in financial services? Wasn't she always going on about productive activity? -
"This year in The New Republic, Jonathan Chait slammed Rand as the fountainhead of the idea that the rich deserve their wealth."
For a review of Chait's book:
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Well written article, Mr. Doherty, my first wife suggested I read Ayn Rand's writing nearly a quarter century ago. I never did, but see now I probably should have. Nothing too surprising in that, it wasn't until some time after all that water had passed under the bridge that I began to discover the woman was right far more often than she was wrong, even if she was so by accident. My wife that is, maybe Rand, also.
All I know about Rand came as a result of my wife's sensitivity to my general reliance on scientific method, my valuable tool, her source of intense irritation, made none the better by the fact she was raised in Sacramento, the daughter of a liberal career politician father and activist mother, I imagine that's who coached her on Rand, considering she couldn't grasp scientific method it's doubtful that after years of marriage and many tries to explain it at her request, that suddenly she realized "oh I see, you are just copying Ayn Rand!" It's all becoming clearer. My wife was a spoiled brat, what she lacked for maturity she made up for trough manipulation. Her parents had learned to expect some shocks but none like her hooking up with someone like me. I can't tell you how much Liberals hate bikers, especially connected elite Liberals. They were always nice to my face, but seemed to have trouble unclenching their teeth when they spoke to me. The only way it could be worse is if I was right leaning, fortunately their stereotype of us didn't allow that. Oops! When choosing to compartmentalize a segment of the population to focus hate on doesn't it just make sense to first learn a little about who you'll be hating. I've always been a Constitutionalist we have no group, so although no one claims us we generally land in traditional American libertarianism end of the conservatives. Hearing my wife describe my politics, along with words like objectivity from attempting to explain scientific method, being professionals in politics they must have assumed they hit a bull's-eye finally nailing me down. Well, I still needed to investigate Ayn Rand to who they must have held considerable contempt for, from experience that would suggest Rand is A-OK. I regret stopping with the examination of Objectivism Philosophy, seeing my smoking gun, then stopping. It seems likely that Rand and I both have much appreciation for certain contribution of Francis Bacon, the father of modern science. Could a man have a greater love for science, than this, to lay down his life in thy name. And so he did. As if I don't have enough battles going on else where the filthy swine are dirtying the name of my beloved science with their quasi scientific bull feces, anthropogenic global warming my ignorant jackass, it's a complete fraud.
Heading off on verbose tangent here, back to the subject.
Once again great article, thanks for writing it, you'd be surprised how many questions it answered for me. Up until I read the article I thought John Galt was a user of this web site, I had seen the name on posts and in posts, so had assumed he was a living person who was a bit of a legend in his own time. Like a "lone whacko" but not infamous.
It's John Galt I'm most intrigued by.
‘Read the news today? It’s like ‘Atlas Shrugged’ is happening in real life.’
Can't say yet, I need to read the book, but I do know a real life John Galt, that is, someone doing just what you described.
I'm on my way to the book store, if they don't have the book I'll order it. This should be interesting.
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As an Airport Manager and Entrepreneur, I've witnessed the "Going Galt" phenomena. It's real. It's happening. And I totally empathize. While the option is tempting for myself -- I've chosen, for now, not to take that route.
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How could a congress rep read books like AS and F and still find time to read 2000 page bills? I know the answer. I am always amazed that so many people are willing to read these long drawn out overly detailed accounts of disgruntled men. Aren't there any disgruntled women? What about Punks? They seem to be disgruntled. And old people too. What about the Amish?
If you want to know about freedom and free markets then just look it up on the internet.
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How do you have the nerve (I assume it's not ignorance) to say "...her ideas are spread mostly via novels, and not nonfiction or polemics"?? She wrote nonfiction for 25 years after she wrote Atlas, including hundreds of short or long essays and 8 books, including one in formal epistemology -- plenty of nonfiction for those interested in the philosophy of her thought. Typical libertarian smear job -- damning her with sneers while pretending to praise her.
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nice blog.
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thank`s for this page, great work.
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How do you have the nerve (I assume it's not ignorance) to say "...her ideas are spread mostly via novels, and not nonfiction or polemics"?? She wrote nonfiction for 25 years after she wrote Atlas, including hundreds of short or long essays and 8 books, including one in formal epistemology -- plenty of nonfiction for those interested in the philosophy of her thought. Typical libertarian smear job -- damning her with sneers while pretending to praise her.
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