Ayn Rand

[K-dog]

Originally Posted by Solon

I liked Atlas Shrugged but it should have been about 4,000,000 pages shorter. We the Living was better (because it was shorter, IMO). If you read Atlas Shrugged, don't bother with The Fountainhead; they're 82% the same story. I'm not passionate about Rand but I don't regret having read her novels.

Rand's philosophy "Objectivism" is clearly a product of the Soviet revolution in the early 20th century, and has some serious holes, IMO. But, it's an interesting historiographical source for seeing one intellectual response to communism. In the end, Rand's extremism is as tiring to me as communism's. Same bird, different ends of the spectrum (and yes, I mixed that metaphor on purpose).

I generally like Rand but I have serious issues with her extrapolations of her philosophy. It is one thing to say that someone should not be forced to contribute to the well being of another. It is another to say that it is wrong to voluntarily contribute to others well being. Also, she is too atheist for me to really embrace.