I’m with you here.
As we all are aware, Rand never claims to be a Christian, let alone a Christian apologist. Quite the contrary.
(Note: I’m a believer and follower of Jesus)
But that doesn’t make her insight into human nature and free market principles any less noteworthy.
I’ll continue to value how she was able to capture basic economic truths that progressives today either cannot or simply refuse to understand.
The quote you posted is a great example of why I think her contributions should be recognized and taught.
Government poses a grave danger to our liberty, and that’s something she well understood having seen her father’s business seized by the Bolshevik’s before she came to the U.S.
Rand understood free markets and the material comfort they bring. She also aptly portrayed the evil of the various “ism’s” which define the left. When it comes to the actions, and results, of these people being empowered she was downright prophetic.
Where I believe she goes astray is that she never truly understood the opposition to these evil forces. As an atheist she could only view individuals based on productive capacity. She misses the fact that all humans have worth endowed by the God, not measured by the ability to earn.
This is why her villains are so believable and her heroes ring so false.
Yes! Thank you!
You don't have to accept every thought, idea or opinion of Rand to say that a great many of her writings accurately describe the state of our world today. She had tremendous insight as an economic historian, and she clearly defined the "good guys" from the "bad" ones in her books. Those conservatives that do like her appreciate the conservative approach to Rand's economics, her desire to show personal responsibility as a virtue, and her world view that a heavy-handed, highly-regulated and burdensome is bad for individual freedom. We can like all of that and disagree with her views on abortion, religion and overt selfishness.