Rand is in the news this week because a couple of weeks ago a Rand fan realized a long-held dream and brought part one of his three part film version of Atlas Shrugged to the screen. It received scathing reviews and tanked badly, making it unlikely that the world will ever experience the glory of parts two and three.
I know that Rand's philosophy is a form of objectivism which is basically "Capitalism Rules and poor people suck!" I know that she is a big hero to the Libertarian sect. What I know of her work doesn't really appeal to me any longer.
The other day I was reading an article about the movie and they included the image below, a satire of the cover of Atlas Shrugged that captures the entire Rand philosophy in the most succinct manner possible. It cracks me up every time I see it.
6 comments:
"Capitalism Rules and poor people suck!"
So you’re rejecting her entire philosophy based on an inaccurate caricature? I’ve read a lot of her writing, both fiction and non-fiction (and, no, I don’t consider myself an Objectivist), and never once got the impression that she thought, “poor people suck.”
There is an old interview with her with that 60 minutes guy on the web.
She spells it out. The poor are parasites and the wealthy should run everything because they are the only valuable members of the culture.
I read Anthem when I was a kid and saw it as cool 1984 esk "man vs the system" story. I was too young to get the heavier meaning.
Rand grew up in Russia where families wealth was grabbed up by the Communists, so she had a reason for how she felt, but view of the world lacked one thing that I think is very important for societies to survive...compassion.
I've been thinking about this a lot since the movie came out, which I have not yet seen. I will see it, for old time's sake.
In high school, when I looked to Paul Seegers for guidance in all things musical, we were listening to Rush's 2112 and he handed me Anthem, saying, "This is what it's based on." I was enthralled, and went on to read The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, The Virtue of Selfishness. I even directed her Night of January 16th a couple years ago at the high school.
I remember cheering out loud for the protagonists of Atlas Shrugged while reading it in my dorm room the week before my Freshman year of college. At the time, I also leaned Republican, as my father and a friend were and I didn't know any better.
I am now a COMPLETELY different person than that 18 year old, and I haven't reread AS since then. I wanted to before the movie came out. But then I saw Glenn Beck waving it around and the Tea Partiers raving about it and I hesitated.
Even back then I realized that you couldn't follow her philosophy completely if you wanted to live among other humans. But now? Not so sure. I almost don't want to reread it, so as not to ruin my memory of loving it and calling it my favorite book forever. Cowardly, I know.
Paul, I assume you’re referring to her 1959 interview with Mike Wallace (which is available on YouTube). If so, I’m not hearing anything about the poor being parasites, or that the wealthy should run everything.
Her definition of "Moochers" seems to pretty much say that "poor people suck".
(I admit this isn't as well researched as I would like it to be but I don't have time today).
From Wikipedia.
"Moochers" demand others' earnings on behalf of the needy and those unable to earn themselves, however, they curse the producers who make that help possible and are jealous and resentful of the talented on whom they depend. They are ultimately as destructive as the looters – destroying the productive through guilt, and appealing to "moral right" while enabling the "lawful" looting performed by governments.
Journalist Patia Stephens wrote of Rand: She called altruism a “basic evil” and referred to those who perpetuate the system of taxation and redistribution as “looters” and “moochers.” She wrote in her book “The Virtue of Selfishness” that accepting any government controls is “delivering oneself into gradual enslavement.”
Moochers are not synonymous with the poor. Moochers are bad because they try to live off of others rather than earning a living for themselves. To Rand, it wasn’t the size of one’s wallet that mattered, but the willingness to work to earn one’s living.
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