Monday, January 10, 2005

Ayn Rand Redux

Al Barger at Blogcritics.org has a good piece on Ayn Rand today that's well worth reading. Even better is he provides a link to the infamous Whittaker Chambers review of Atlas Shrugged. It is must reading for anybody wanting to know what is wrong with Objectivism. I know Al takes the opposite side, but debating is healthy. I even agree that Chambers went over the line with his "gas chamber" line, but I think his thesis is correct - Rand's philosophy is just another disguise for power and is disingenuous. There are always going to be those people who get to ride in the limousines whether Atilla the Hun, religious ruler, or capitalist baron. I don't mind being a poor boy in America since I don't confuse the pursuit of happiness with the pursuit of pleasure for starters. I also still have a vote and in an Ayn Rand technocracy I'm sure that would be taken away.

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