But I do think this is where it unravels and I don’t think it is just a matter of taste. Making the claim that there is no higher aspiration, no higher authority than the Individual really is claiming the status of god. Which is fine, I suppose, if there isn’t one but it invites His wrath if there is. Since I, obviously, believe there IS it seems to me Objectivism can only get you so far and then you run into an intellectual swamp which, IMHO, is what has happened to Objectivism.
I don’t see Objectivism as being in an intellectual swamp. And I also don’t think that Objectivism makes the claim that the individual is some kind of deity. There are “higher authorities” in Objectivism. Reality is a higher authority than any individual. This is why Objectivists don’t lie. You can’t fake reality. It always wins. Causality is a higher authority. Reason is a higher authority.
My only point was that I disagree with Bannon’s characterization of Objectivist Capitalism. A philosophy that holds individual rights as inviolable is not consistent with the concept that any individual is subordinate to any group.
Individual liberty is a fundamental precept in Objectivism.