AYN RAND
THEN
BARBARA BRANDEN
Our culture has changed since the works of Ayn Rand. Her ideas have spread and made a difference. Ayn Rand defined two ways of facing life, two types of men: antagonists. The man of self-sufficient ego, of independent mind, and the parasite, who is directed by others. The man who lives for his own sake and the collectivist, who places others above self.
She was passionately against putting others above self. It was dangerous and bad in a man’s soul. It made him a robot, pushed and pulled by others. You didn’t just decide: If being cruel to people makes me happy, I’ll do it. No, you had to rationally justify your actions.
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She taught us how to recognize communist propaganda in movies. For a period of time, you couldn’t see a movie with a businessman who was anything but a villain. She warned us: notice that, watch. Profit was presented as sinful. Giving away everything was good.
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She was not opposed to generosity. If there’s someone one wants to help, that was perfectly fine. What she objected to was involuntary help. The New Deal was anathema to her. She had come from communist Russia and she did not want to see the first steps of that here. It's not that she thought all New Dealers were communists. She didn’t. The individual was sacred. Not a collective. The unchosen, the forced, is what she objected to.
She certainly disapproved of the Civil Rights Act. It was government-related morality. She was violently opposed to racism, but you don’t force people against their will. Many in the Free Market Foundation of South Africa were interested in her ideas. Leave us alone, they were saying.
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Her philosophy, Objectivism, is easily explained. It is not only okay to pursue your happiness, but it’s a moral good to do so. It’s an ode to self-interest, yes. She called it selfishness on the premise that if this be treason, make the most of it.
She shared a view which is held by some women of great achievement: I did it myself, nobody helped me. Any woman can do it if she has ambition and the brains. She liked the idea of man as superior to woman in drive, in force, in intellect.
NOW
KATE NORTHRUP
Barbara Branden wrote Ayn Rand's definitive biography "The Passion of Ayn Rand". The cover shown above is that of "Who is Ayn Rand?", another Rand biography that Branden co-wrote with her husband Natanhiel Branden.
[Ayn Rand's work] was very popular at the time. I was in high school and we definitley read Ayn Rand's books, both Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. It was very much talked about and debated in our high school classes. I would add even in college it was often a part of our curriculum.
It continues to be talked about by people who are looking for a way to justify their economic policies or view of the economy, [people who are] looking for ways to find something moral in Capitalism.
I disagree with [Objectivism] altogether. It's the opposite of what we all should be doing. To pursue one's self interest over the interests of others is, I think, an immoral way to live. The moral choice is to put others above yourself, to strive to make the world a better place -- not because it's in your own self interest but because it's in the interest of all mankind. Those who have power and strength and prowess, those are the people who should be helping the weak because they have the power to help those who need help.
I think it'll always attract a certain crowd, people who want to put individual achievement above all else and find a way to make it seem like a good thing. I remember it being very popular when I first read the books for young people to feel like it spoke to them about their power to become whatever they wanted to be and that their goal in life should be just to be the best possible indivdual. I don't think that's a moral thing to do. The moral direction is the opposite, which is to put others interests above yours and use your knowledge and your gifts to help the weak become stronger.
Click below to hear a snippet of Kate's interview.
