Ayn Rand was wrong about some shit. She was right about some shit. And no, her novels are neither tedious nor bad. They are what they are, and if you cant get through them, it tells me more about you than about them, because I DID read them, several times each. Theyre complex and fascinating, filled with unique characters. Im convinced she would have viscerally despised the people in the right-wing-o-sphere who idolize her. Im equally convinced 99 percent of those people have neither read nor understand her books. Theyre just sucking on this right tit thats been stuck in her faces. Theyve been made to think they know what theyre talking about. She would have considered them scum. On the other hand, Im disturbed/disappointed by the people on my side of the aisle who buy into the fashion of bashing her -- also without reading or understanding her books. Its a left tit, but its the same milk. The thing she got right, and its something nobody EVER says about her, is that her main characters became rich not because they manipulated the government, not because they didnt pay their taxes, not because they made underhanded deals to rook people our of their money, but because they were the best in the world at what they did. The core of their philosophy, every single one of them, was EXCELLENCE and HONESTY and HARD WORK. The villains in her novels were not the poor or the handicapped, they were people who made a conscious effort to get something for nothing. They were government officials and hangers-on who manipulated and milked the system, on a global scale, for their benefit and the benefit of rich cronies, to the detriment of ordinary people. If shed known Dick Cheney, the man who created wars and helped murder hundreds of thousands for his own personal profit, she would have written him into Atlas Shrugged practically by name. Rands heroes opposed THOSE people. They did nothing at all, not one thing I can recall, to attack the poor or helpless. In fact, in The Fountainhead, there is a jury scene that indicates Rand clearly admired, respected and TRUSTED working-class people. So dont believe everything you hear. A LOT of the people weighing in on Ayn Rand have no idea what theyre talking about. And not all of them are on the Right.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 01:42:20 +0000