He is moral: that is, he favors right action and he believes it possible for us to make things better for us (not “me”!). He traces the growth of communities from Neolithic to present times. But to counter trolls and Caesars, we have such men as Lewis Mumford whose new book, The City in History, inspires. The muddy depths are being stirred by new monsters and witches from the deep. For them, she has an enticing prescription: altruism is the root of all evil, self-interest is the only good, and if you’re dumb or incompetent that’s your lookout.Īyn Rand’s “philosophy” is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society. She has a great attraction for simple people who are puzzled by organized society, who object to paying taxes, who dislike the “welfare” state, who feel guilt at the thought of the suffering of others but who would like to harden their hearts. What interests me most about her is not the absurdity of her “philosophy,” but the size of her audience (in my campaign for the House she was the one writer people knew and talked about). "This odd little woman is attempting to give a moral sanction to greed and self interest, and to pull it off she must at times indulge in purest Orwellian newspeak of the “freedom is slavery” sort. "Gore Vidal may not like New York Times' critic Orville Prescott, but he dislikes Ayn Rand's "philosophy" even more.
Gore Vidal has given an eloquent toasting to some of the theories.
On a separate side note I've been reading up on Raniere's favourite philisopher Ayn Rand.
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