Goddess of the Market Ayn Rand and the American Right

Philosophy : Goddess of the Market Ayn Rand and the American Right

We the Living

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History, maybe; comprehension, none.
Ms Burns has written a rather amateurish history of Ayn Rand.

She's big on names and dates but very short on understanding Rand's
philosophy as it evolved. This wouldn't be so bad if she were
not in the habit of criticizing Rand for the 'inconsistencies' that
result from Burns' surface understanding of what Rand advocated.

Burns completely misunderstands Rand's rejection of Nathaniel Branden.
She uses Rand's insistence that teaching Objectivism and not permitting disputation
with paying students about its validity, as a major character flaw.
She damns with faint praise Rand's strength as a woman while condemning her for
believing that women make a choice to be subordinate.
Burns seeks approval from what she deems her audience by asserting Rand's atheism as a flaw rather
than the springboard from which rejection of the imposed values of others springs.

True, Burns' statement rejects being judgmental -- but her work seethes with antagonism. One
can almost hear in her writing the voice of Ellsworth Toohey, (a Rand character from The Fountainhead) admitting the truth of Rand's observation while slandering her for being correct.

I suspect that Ms Burns' teaches history from a relativist point of view rather than
presenting her own perspective and, more than likely, invites her students to
argue from ignorance and speculation.

Ms Burns uses the title " Ayn Rand: Goddess of the Market" to capitalize on Rand's name.
Had she titled it "A Minor Analysis of the Conflict Between Libertarian and Conservative
Concepts from the '30s thru the 80's" this book would have retained the obscurity it well deserves.

As an addition to the corpus of Ayn Rand literature, it is welcome -- if nothing else as a demonstration
of how 'second-handers' persist. I recommend that readers familiarize themselves with what Rand actually
wrote before turning to this volume -- which has a commendable bibliography.

Had I been her thesis advisor and of a conservative, religious bent, I would have approved wholeheartedly
of this effort. Such is the fear that Rand strikes in the hearts of those who aspire to independence
but still want a place next to Jesus in heaven.

A major influence in a major part of my life -- but it's good not to be an objectivist!
I just finished reading this book; i could not put it down. however that may be because AR and Objectivism played such a big part in my life at a very important time in my life and this is the first book i have read that seems to actually be 'objective' about AR and her followers.

with my then-husband, we operated and ran the los angeles chapter of NBI in the 60's. when the 'break' with the brandon's occurred, we were astonished to find that unless we 'sided' with AR, we were excommunicated (their words). we refused to side with anyone. after that we were not even allowed to subscribe to the publications of AR and her cohorts. it was truly heartbreaking; we were being asked to take sides without knowing anything about anything except that AR had denounced NB. we could not do that, and so we were kicked out of an organization that we had been steadfastly loyal to for a number of years.

that is not to say that NB was such a saint either; he did his share of humiliating and abusing those who he felt were 'less' than he; even to the point of admitting to us one day that yes, he and AR did believe, as did Nietszche, that there were those who were 'more deserving' than others; more worthy of life, more elite. they believed in a hierarchy which allocated a special level of entitlement. AR and NB being a part of, if not THE, hierarchy of course. this said while sprawled on our sofa, chewing on radishes. he could be a charmer, but he could be a SOB just as easily.

by then, i was heading out the door and out of the realm of objectivism. i learned a lot from both AR and NB (i truly liked barbara and found her to be a classy, warm woman who did not need to intimidate and humiliate others in order to feel good about herself). they were my education and taught me how to think --- for myself. i had to pull away from them because they were poison to a young person trying to find her way in the world. i felt that my very soul was in danger of being completely sabotaged. it was their way or 'the highway' --- meaning: you were irrational, unethical, immoral --- not worthy of existing. on the other hand, they also gave me the greatest tools in the world --- how to think about thinking. how to approach ideas in a rational manner. and how to NOT let myself ever, ever, ever again be dragged into a cult such as objectivism had become.

AR was a brilliant, angry, disturbed, troubled woman. i loved her and loathed her. most especially, i loathed 'the movement' and all that it represented. a great example: one time i had worked for NB doing secretarial services for him (after the break) in l.a. i had typed up a letter he dictated, signed the letter (he was out of town) and mailed it. he came to our house the following saturday morning when my husband and i were having breakfast and still in our robes. he sat down, had coffee and then expressed his extreme displeasure with me. "You used an exclamation point in the letter!" he practically screamed at me. "What?" I responded, stunned and confused. "You used an exclamation point! Do you know what an exclamation point is?" "Well, it signifies an important statement, one that is strongly felt." "It's a scream!" he barked at me. "And that tells me something about YOUR psycho-epistomology."

I looked at him like he was crazy. (i actually thought he was.) "But you said you had never been so happy in your entire life. i thought it was deserving of an exclamation point." i said. "it was a strong statement and it was about your feelings and it was an exclamation." he went on to state that he was horrified and embarrassed beyond belief that that letter was sent with that piece of punctuation in it. that was when i realized, fully and clearly, as if a light went on in my head, that he and AR and everyone around them, were so full of their own self-worth (actually so full of crap) that they had lost sight of everything rational. that was when i became not only an ex-objectivist, but practically an anti-objectivist. i let NB know what i thought of his opinion and especially his nerve in blustering his way into our apartment only to insult me, while drinking my coffee (feel free to laugh). (i made really good coffee...smiles...) a few days later he apologized to me, but by then, i didn't care what he thought.

i have no doubt that both BB and NB have changed considerably in their methods of dealing with people since 'those days.' but nowhere near as much as I have. i threw off the yoke, the heavy burden, of trying to conform to all of the guidelines of objectivism and finally became my own, my authentic self.

i highly recommend this book for those who have read AR's books and especially those who were involved with Objectivism in the 60's. it kind of puts things in place and doesn't take sides or kneel down in abject adoration of its subject. it's a refreshing and clean read. and it helped me with a lot of my sad feelings about 'that time' in my life. Jan Richman Schulman (prev in l.a.: Jan Crosby)

Not like her idealized characters
Not like her idealized characters

Burns' biography of Ayn Rand, the famous novelist and political philosopher, is extensively researched and quite readable. The book portrays Rand as an elitist tyrant dependent on amphetamines while dominating her circle known as the "Collective", pontificating about her philosophy, and excommunicating any member daring to speak critically of her ideas. Interestingly one of the members who signed an excommunication letter for a member of the circle was Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve Board Chairman who in his own book, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World, describes himself as a "libertarian republican".

Rand was Russian born and a émigré from the Soviet Union, whose difficult experiences in Russia imparted a rabid hatred for socialism. In the United States she was emphatically anti-New Deal, and wrote her famous novel, The Fountainhead (Centennial Edition Hardcover), under the influence of her New Deal antipathy. She became the advocate of individualism and personal freedom, and formulated a social and metaphysical philosophy that she called "Objectivism", which is set forth in Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand (The Ayn Rand Library, Volume 6) written by her close acolyte Leonard Peikoff. Her most famous and last novel was Atlas Shrugged, which was intended to dramatize objectivism. Both books, still in print, have long been marketing successes, and enjoyed resurgence in sales after the crash of 2008.

Politically Rand supported Senator Goldwater's presidential candidacy in 1964, but as an atheist she disliked the Republican Party's right-wing turn to religion. When the Libertarian Party was founded in 1971 in reaction to President Nixon's imposition of wage and price controls, Rand continued to support Nixon in reaction against the Libertarian Party's platform of anarchism, and furthermore jealously rejected the new reactionary party as a competitor to her personal influence.

Most readers are acquainted with Rand's philosophy through the two novels, which are lengthy, speechy and ponderous but readable. But Rand did not resemble the heroic characters that personified her philosophical ideas in her novels, and readers of this biography will find striking contrasts between Rand the real person and Rand's heroic characters.

Symbolism of inverted civilisation
It always depends on what one would like to read between the lines. And I was pleased to read about absolute spiritual void of Ayan Rand at her discovery of America. Girl who made nothing from nothing. And they bought it! Or she found fools to sell it to ? As American dream or other nightmare. Of course someone would say her theory was for new-comer great but it usually is ,among those who trust without having their own knowledge. Who can? When she called out her Declaration of independence, one has to muse that it was rather late ,ignoring original and perhaps indicative of something completely ??? and who really care- perhaps just Alan Greenspan. Theories of theorists some do marihuana some do economic halucinations with those who count themselves inteligent. As he said at Congressional inquiry to 2008 financial meltdown - No one really could see that it will go that way. Ayan Rand way ? One is really smitten by those prophets of profit who beg or visualise economy into oblivion as government sponsores handouts to entertain digitalised masses. Good read.

Ayn Rand and the American Right.
_Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right_ (2009, Oxford) by Jennifer Burns is an interesting biography and study of the thought of Ayn Rand (Alisa Rosenbaum), her philosophy of Objectivism, and her influence on and relationship with the American anti-Communist right and libertarianism. This book seems to provide a very thorough and detailed examination of the development of Rand's thinking and also manages to point out discrepancies in the hardline Objectivist cult. Ayn Rand (1905 - 1982) was a Jewish Russian-American novelist who developed a system of thought known as Objectivism and is best known for her staunch opposition to altruism and communism and support for a rugged individualism and laissez-faire capitalism. Rand's thinking may be seen as a vigorous reaction to the excesses of the Soviet communism that she experienced in her youth. In America, Rand wrote several important novels which have become classics read by many today and developed a school of thought around her personality which came to take on cult-like aspects.

This book includes the following chapters -

Introduction - explains the importance of Objectivism as a philosophy and Rand's extreme political views situating them in relationship to the American right, conservativism, libertarianism, and the Republican party.

Part I. The Education of Ayn Rand, 1905 - 1943.

From Russia to Roosevelt - begins with Rand's early life in Russia as Alisa Rosenbaum and her aristocratic family. Explains the problems that Rand's family encountered in Russia following the rise of communism. Explains Rand's reasons for leaving Russia and her love for Hollywood. Explains Rand's development in California and her relationship with her husband Frank. This chapter also explains the important role of the elitist philosopher Nietzsche on Rand's thinking and his notion of the Superman. Rand was later to try to deny the role of the Nietzschean Superman on her thinking. Interestingly notes that Rand's early support for individualism included support for psychopaths, criminals, and murderers as lone individuals who opposed the system.

Individualists of the World, Unite! - explains Rand's involvement in politics and anti-Communism. Notes Rand's relationship to the Republican party and her support for Wendell Wilkie. Notes the prominent role of such elitist right wing thinkers as Herbert Spencer, H. L. Mencken, Oswald Spengler, Albert Jay Nock, Jose Ortega y Gasset, and of course Friedrich Nietzsche on Rand's development. But also notes how populist themes came to take a role in right wing thinking in the support for unbridled capitalism. In particular, it was seen by many as necessary for the people to unite as "individualists" against collectivism. Explains the role of Rand's early novels such as _We the Living_ and _The Fountainhead_.

A New Credo of Freedom - further explains the role of _The Fountainhead_ and its hero Howard Roark as well as Rand's philosophy of individualism and her role in politics and opposition to the New Deal. Explains Rand's relationship with Isabel Patterson and notes her opposition to charity and altruism and her support for libertarianism. This book also makes clear that while individuals such as Patterson and Rose Wilder Lane did not oppose all altruism this was a feature unique to Rand's philosophy.

Part 2. From Novelist to Philosopher, 1944 - 1957.

The Real Root of Evil - explains Rand's belief that altruism was the real root of evil and her support for unbridled capitalism. Notes the relationship between Rand's thinking and that of Hayek who she rejected as being not ideologically pure in his support of capitalism. Notes the further development of Rand's thought and her role in politics.

A Round Universe - notes the development of Rand's thought and she came to develop a circle around herself (ironically called "the Collective") and her personality. Notes the relationship between Rand and Nathaniel Branden. Notes the role of such prominent intellectuals as the economist Ludwig von Mises (a supporter of laissez-faire capitalism), Murray Rothbard (a libertarian intellectual who eventually embraced anarchism), William F. Buckley, Jr. (the neoconservative intellectual), and Alan Greenspan.

Part III. Who is John Galt? 1957 - 1968.

Big Sister is Watching You - explains the role of Rand's novel _Atlas Shrugged_ and the importance of this novel. However, this chapter notes how Rand's thinking came to take on an increasingly dogmatic tone which some say became as severe and rigid as the communism she came to oppose. Notes Rand's opposition to religious belief and spirituality which raised a problem for many on the right. Notes the dogmatic nature of the cult surrounding her. And explains the reaction to _Atlas Shrugged_ including the famous essay by Whittaker Chambers which explained why he believed Rand's thought was fascistic.

Radicals for Capitalism - explains the role of the Objectivist philosophy and the development of Rand's thought as it concerns capitalism. Also, explains the role of the emerging libertarian movement.

Love is Exception Making - explains the problematic relationships in the Objectivist cult and the affairs of Rand and her followers.

Part IV. Legacies.

It Usually Begins with Ayn Rand - notes the development of the libertarian movement and the role that her novel came to play on this movement. Notes Rand's opposition to much of this movement particularly as it came to merge with the New Left and the hippie movement in opposition to Vietnam. Notes Rand's increasingly right wing and nationalist tone at this point as opposed to the libertarian left who became fervent opponents of the war (as well as of NASA).

Epilogue: Ayn Rand in American Memory - explains the role of Ayn Rand in American memory, noting the emergence of the right and the libertarian movements from her thought. Notes the further development of her Objectivist philosophy under Leonard Peikoff and explains how her books in particular _Atlas Shrugged_ have become classics.

This book provides a fascinating biography of an interesting if problematic individual. The book notes the role of Rand's thought in the emergence of the libertarian movement but also explains how the Objectivist cult that developed around her personality became authoritarian. I found this book interesting for what it had to say about American politics and the role played by Ayn Rand and her thinking in the development of certain sections of the American right.