Atlas Shrugged and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance were the two most influential books of my coming of age. I would love to see a movie made of the second one. As a matter of background Ayn Rand knows better than most the evils of an overpowering government. The Nazis destroyed her family life and made her and all the Jewish girls wash their hair with turpentine because they believed they had lice. I am looking forward to the movie which I believe might be a remake. By the way it is a disappointment that her disciple Greenspan abandoned his roots and sold his soul for power.
I agree with your assessment on Greenspan. However, I believe Ayn Rand's philosophy was shaped living under Russian Communism, and she came to the US in the late 1920's. I recently listened to her novella Anthem that I downloaded from Librevox recordings.
I read the book and would be very interested to see the movie. Check out her interview with Phil Donahue, she's quite opinionated, brutally in her later years.
It has come to light now that Ayn Rand actually lived off on social security and medicare in her dying years! So much for the world's greatest writer on capitalism.
I'll let Rand speak for herself on Social Security and Medicare:
“Many students of Objectivism are troubled by a certain kind of moral dilemma confronting them in today’s society. We are frequently asked the questions: “Is it morally proper to accept scholarships, private or public?” and: “Is it morally proper for an advocate of capitalism to accept a government research grant or a government job?”
I shall hasten to answer: “Yes”—then proceed to explain and qualify it. There are many confusions on these issues, created by the influence and implications of the altruist morality.
There is nothing wrong in accepting private scholarships. The fact that a man has no claim on others (i.e., that it is not their moral duty to help him and that he cannot demand their help as his right) does not preclude or prohibit good will among men and does not make it immoral to offer or to accept voluntary, non-sacrificial assistance.
A different principle and different considerations are involved in the case of public (i.e., governmental) scholarships. The right to accept them rests on the right of the victims to the property (or some part of it) which was taken from them by force.
The recipient of a public scholarship is morally justified only so long as he regards it as restitution and opposes all forms of welfare statism. Those who advocate public scholarships, have no right to them; those who oppose them, have. If this sounds like a paradox, the fault lies in the moral contradictions of welfare statism, not in its victims.”
If I understand the reasoning correctly (and it echoes some of my feelings), if she was forced to pay social security and medicare taxes against her will then accepting the payment is really just a return of money that was confiscated from her by a misguided government.
I'm not an Objectivist, but Atlas Shrugged had a big impact on me as well. Movies like this don't always translate to film well (the U.S. being against high speed rail? Might have to suspend some disbelief given our day and age), but if this one works out then it would be pretty neat to see that happen!
I just checked out the Phil Donahue interview; very interesting. I've never seen her speak in person so it was insightful to see her thoughts and how she reacted to the audience. I think the "cult" woman had it coming to her!
I also like that she clarified her thoughts on "altruism" though if she means it that way then she shouldn't refer to it as altruism because that's not how most people associate the term. It's like how people think capitalism is bad but again it's about the words and what they mean; what they're really thinking about is better specified as crony capitalism.
Atlas Shrugged and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance were the two most influential books of my coming of age. I would love to see a movie made of the second one.
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of background Ayn Rand knows better than most the evils of an overpowering government. The Nazis destroyed her family life and made her and all the Jewish girls wash their hair with turpentine because they believed they had lice. I am looking forward to the movie which I believe might be a remake.
By the way it is a disappointment that her disciple Greenspan abandoned his roots and sold his soul for power.
I agree with your assessment on Greenspan. However, I believe Ayn Rand's philosophy was shaped living under Russian Communism, and she came to the US in the late 1920's. I recently listened to her novella Anthem that I downloaded from Librevox recordings.
ReplyDeleteI read the book and would be very interested to see the movie. Check out her interview with Phil Donahue, she's quite opinionated, brutally in her later years.
ReplyDeleteIn the interviews I've seen she didn't suffer fools easily or give anyone any slack.
ReplyDeleteIt has come to light now that Ayn Rand actually lived off on social security and medicare in her dying years! So much for the world's greatest writer on capitalism.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great read though!
I'll let Rand speak for herself on Social Security and Medicare:
ReplyDelete“Many students of Objectivism are troubled by a certain kind of moral dilemma confronting them in today’s society. We are frequently asked the questions: “Is it morally proper to accept scholarships, private or public?” and: “Is it morally proper for an advocate of capitalism to accept a government research grant or a government job?”
I shall hasten to answer: “Yes”—then proceed to explain and qualify it. There are many confusions on these issues, created by the influence and implications of the altruist morality.
There is nothing wrong in accepting private scholarships. The fact that a man has no claim on others (i.e., that it is not their moral duty to help him and that he cannot demand their help as his right) does not preclude or prohibit good will among men and does not make it immoral to offer or to accept voluntary, non-sacrificial assistance.
A different principle and different considerations are involved in the case of public (i.e., governmental) scholarships. The right to accept them rests on the right of the victims to the property (or some part of it) which was taken from them by force.
The recipient of a public scholarship is morally justified only so long as he regards it as restitution and opposes all forms of welfare statism. Those who advocate public scholarships, have no right to them; those who oppose them, have. If this sounds like a paradox, the fault lies in the moral contradictions of welfare statism, not in its victims.”
If I understand the reasoning correctly (and it echoes some of my feelings), if she was forced to pay social security and medicare taxes against her will then accepting the payment is really just a return of money that was confiscated from her by a misguided government.
I'm not an Objectivist, but Atlas Shrugged had a big impact on me as well. Movies like this don't always translate to film well (the U.S. being against high speed rail? Might have to suspend some disbelief given our day and age), but if this one works out then it would be pretty neat to see that happen!
ReplyDeleteI just checked out the Phil Donahue interview; very interesting. I've never seen her speak in person so it was insightful to see her thoughts and how she reacted to the audience. I think the "cult" woman had it coming to her!
ReplyDeleteI also like that she clarified her thoughts on "altruism" though if she means it that way then she shouldn't refer to it as altruism because that's not how most people associate the term. It's like how people think capitalism is bad but again it's about the words and what they mean; what they're really thinking about is better specified as crony capitalism.