Thursday, April 07, 2011
Ayn Rand: The movie
Regular Hub Blog readers, assuming there are some left, may recall I’m not exactly a fan of Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged. Rand’s devotees long ago allowed their beliefs to morph into dogma and cult-like rants. But P.J. O’Rourke makes a great point about how the collectivist impulse that Rand warned about has also changed over the years:
My own Ayn Rand anti-rant rants can be found here and here.
Regular Hub Blog readers, assuming there are some left, may recall I’m not exactly a fan of Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged. Rand’s devotees long ago allowed their beliefs to morph into dogma and cult-like rants. But P.J. O’Rourke makes a great point about how the collectivist impulse that Rand warned about has also changed over the years:
The anti-individualist enemies that Ayn Rand battled are still the enemy, but they’ve shifted their line of attack. Political collectivists are no longer much interested in taking things away from the wealthy and creative. Even the most left-wing politicians worship wealth creation—as the political-action-committee collection plate is passed. Partners at Goldman Sachs go forth with their billions. Steve Jobs walks on water. Jay-Z and Beyoncé are rich enough to buy God. Progressive Robin Hoods have turned their attention to robbing ordinary individuals. It’s the plain folks, not a Taggart/Rearden elite, whose prospects and opportunities are stolen by corrupt school systems, health-care rationing, public employee union extortions, carbon-emissions payola and deficit-debt burden graft. Today’s collectivists are going after malefactors of moderate means.
My own Ayn Rand anti-rant rants can be found here and here.
