01 June 2010

God And Ayn Rand.

Charles Murry, writing in the Claremont Review of Books, reviews two books on the (greatly misunderstood) icon of modern libertarianism, Ayn Rand. Well worth the read.

In college I read The Fountainhead, as any good architecture student does, but didn't read Atlas Shrugged until I was in my early 30's. I think waiting to read the latter after a few years in the real world is a good thing. The message is very complex, and often uses unrealistic scenarios (Gault's Gulch) to make a real point. Atlas Shrugged is like a fine wine; it's subtleties are lost on those who do not know what they are consuming. Without the wisdom of experience, it is a work easy to mis-understand and confuse, and is often - I think incorrectly - used to bolster unrealistic expectations (The Libertarian Party) or paranoia (isolationists/conspiracy theorists), or both (Ron Paul).

No comments: