X, I think you're being too hard on Ayn Rand. Not that I disagree with anything you said about her, but I prefer to look at the glass as half full. She brought to light this one perfect little jewel of truth--"enlightened self interest."
These kinds of jewels show up every now and again. I remember the Peter Principle--that everyone is promoted to his level of incompetence. Lotsa truth there. The problem is that Mr. Peter stretched what would have made a great essay into a book. In order to fill up a book, he wrapped his jewel in all this stuff. Next thing you know you have the Peter Principle of Chess or the Peter Principle of Romance, or the Peter Principle on Mars, etc., and it starts getting silly and distorted and trite.
I happened upon Ayn Rand quite accidentally when I was 21 in, of all places, a Playboy magazine. To make a long story short, she had a profound affect on me and I appreciate having been exposed to her. Yeah, the "movement" was over the top. There was "The Objectivist Newsletter" and the conferences and the novels and the scandals and the testimony, etc. etc. etc. Tacky at best. Still, under all that, was that one jewel...
Karen |
