‘Ayn Rand’s Objectivism contained a ‘fatal flaw’, says Shimek. She confused capitalism, a system that gives wealthy owners control over workers, with free markets, which depend on individual autonomy. ‘Capitalists are always in favour of keeping their piece of the pie through political power,’ Shimek told me. ‘When General Motors screws up, it has enough power to convince the government to bail it out.’
There’s plenty to criticize with Rand, but that misses the mark. This guy apparently hasn’t read her magnum opus, which is very much concerned with “capitalists” buying political influence. She captured that pretty well.
These people sound a lot like anarchists, whose utopian visions are just as absurd as those of the communists. The only difference is that their vision didn’t murder hundreds of millions of people last century. There are legitimate purposes and roles for government, few though they may be. The U.S. Constitution gives a very nice outline. Some country should try it.
Have you got a version of this guy's "fatal flaw" of Objectivism, by any chance? Could it be that she didn't believe in ghosts?