But I will not pan “Atlas Shrugged.” I don’t have the guts. If you associate with Randians—and I do—saying anything critical about Ayn Rand is almost as scary as saying anything critical to Ayn Rand. What’s more, given how protective Randians are of Rand, I’m not sure she’s dead.
The woman is a force. But, let us not forget, she’s a force for good. Millions of people have read “Atlas Shrugged” and been brought around to common sense, never mind that the author and her characters don’t exhibit much of it. Ayn Rand, perhaps better than anyone in the 20th century, understood that the individual self-seeking we call an evil actually stands in noble contrast to the real evil of self-seeking collectives. (A rather Randian sentence.) It’s easy to make fun of Rand for being a simplistic philosopher, bombastic writer and—I’m just saying—crazy old bat. But the 20th century was no joke. A hundred years, from Bolsheviks to Al Qaeda, were spent proving Ayn Rand right.
When I heard Atlas Shrugged was being set in the present day, I knew it would present problems.
* Ima Producer wrote:
Ayn Rand was the philosopher who called for an end to human sacrifices and cannibalism.
Ayn Rand was the philosopher who stated that reality exists.
Ayn Rand was the philosopher who stated that happiness not suffering can and should be the emotional state of mankind.
Ayn Rand was the philosopher who believed that freedom with its codification of the rights to life, liberty and property is the basis of a moral government.
Those who vilify Ayn Rand (and those individuals who through reason, not faith, have come to share these values) attack these beliefs and values. What does that say about what they believe in?