Activist Approach to Ayn Rand
As former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan continues to spin his defense of his legacy, we noted this week that his early mentor, Ayn Rand, would have approved of his unapologetic stance on laissez-faire capitalism and his aversion to government regulation of the financial markets. We also explained that the late author once had a cultish following that has waned in popularity. Some people pick up her books as youthful readers, then never look back. As one Huffington Post reader put it, in response to the story: "I read "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged" and I was very impressed WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL."
But Rand always has had a devoted following in the business world. And Bloomberg reports that some of her supporters are looking to make sure academia stops turning up its nose at her.
BB&T's charitable arm has pledged $1 million to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte in return for requiring that students read "Atlas Shrugged." The bank's foundation also pledged $2 million to establish the first U.S. chair in the study of objectivism at the University of Texas-Austin. Objectivism is a philosophy Rand embraced that espouses individualism. BB&T CEO John Allison also requires his managers to read "Atlas Shrugged," which he considers the greatest defense of capitalism that has ever been published. Other titans of the business world, such as billionaire Mark Cuban, are Rand devotees.
The Ayn Rand Institute, set up to support her beliefs, thinks academia is softening in its negative attitudes toward Rand. Of course, pledging a million or two to make sure her books are required reading is one way to make sure that happens.
Not everyone's buying it. Harold Bloom, a Yale University Humanities and English professor, told Bloomberg he still refuses to include her books on his compilation of the great works of Western Literature, no matter how many CEOs might throw money around. He also made his opinion of her literary legacy quite clear:
``Rand could not write her way out of a paper bag."
Comments:
Posted 04/11/2008 10:11am with
Ayn Rand was misogynist. Alan Greenspan IS misogynist! They’re EVERYWHERE! It’s a vast misogynist-wing conspiracy to destroy the world and the Amerikan economy. Wow, that would mean Andrea Mitchell is misogynist. Gosh, does NBC know that Mitchell is misogynist? That would after all, explain her bizarre fascination with Tucker Carlson. Carlson is a KNOWN misogynist and warmongering lunatic from way back in his days of appearing on the Chris Matthews program. Why, that would mean that Matthews is misogynist. You see? It’s a vast misogynist-wing conspiracy. Thanks Sir ‘E’ for shedding enlightenment on a darkly kept secret. Pompous bitch!
Posted 04/11/2008 12:05pm with
So, that’s all it takes to determine the curriculum at a major university. So much for all the “self determination” and “individualism” nonsense. If you won’t do it voluntarily, we’ll make it compulsory.
Posted 04/11/2008 01:55pm with
I read Atlas Shrugged in my mid-20’s. When my dad asked for my reaction I said I thought she was an excellent writer and a half-baked philosopher. I’m sure my literary standards are lower than Harold Bloom’s but I stand by that characterization – it’s a fascinating premise and it was absorbing enough to keep me reading at a good pace (except for the Godawful “This is John Galt” speech). On the other hand it seemed pretty obvious to me that her way of thinking only makes sense when you are healthy and well off. Which seems a good description of her support base.
Posted 04/12/2008 10:45am with
I agree, Strangely Enough (12:05). A state university, too.
Posted 04/13/2008 06:15pm with
To equate Greenspan’s ideas and actions with Ayn Rand’s is absurd. Rand advocated a free market—-not the mixed economy of the United States—-and would surely have denounced Greenspan’s role in controlling the economy, through the Federal Reserve, if she had been alive to see it. As a side note, Greenspan has explicitly stated that he no longer agrees with Objectivism, Rand’s philosophy. Thus, it is hard to see why everyone continues to insist on equating his views with hers.
There is actually quite a large (and growing) Objectivist movement. If anyone is interested in learning more about Ayn Rand or her ideas, please see: www.aynrand.org
Posted 04/14/2008 12:18pm with
The delicious irony of articles like this one is the encouragement it unwittingly gives young minds first testing Rand’s ideas to delve ever deeper into her writings in their search for answers to the question “why?”. In every answer Rand provides, ideas and reasons are standard equipment, as is the caveat that one must not adopt them without first validating those reasons with their own minds and to their own satisfaction.
When they then seek second opinions, they will find, as in Mary Kane’s article, only assertions that Rand was totally wrong substantiated by slurs, insinuations, ad hominems and jokes. That a Yale University professor cannot manage a more learned one liner than Bloom did can only be to Rand’s advantage.
It is not that her opponents are clueless, it is that they have no ideas at all. Consistently, you will find that they attack only with emotional exclamations devoid of content, and that will never satiate the hunger of honest minds—the minds of the new intellectuals—that minority of readers in high schools who will have an inordinate effect on the expansion of Rand’s influence. It is a minority that continues to grow, not wane, with the sales of her books that has now surpassed 25 million. Since 2002, her books have been distributed free on request to teachers who want to use them—300,000 last year, 400,000 this year.
Onward Ms. Kane et al. May the best minds win!
Posted 04/23/2008 07:35pm with
Personally, I found the parallels between Rand’s ideas and L Ron Hubbard’s quite startling. Read Hubbard’s Sci Fi works and see for yourself.