[rinich]

All of Rand's nonfiction tends to treat Atlas Shrugged as a fiction piece that carries out as real life ought to. I don't at all doubt that Rand thought catastrophes were the responsibility of the leeches of society. She wasn't entirely sane.

(This belief of mine is backed up by the fact that Rand worshipped a man who kidnapped, raped, and dismembered a 12-year-old girl, because she thought he was a perfect example of a man doing anything he pleased. In fact, the motto of Objectivism comes directly from one of that man's court statements.)

[plinkplonk]

"Rand worshipped a man who kidnapped, raped, and dismembered a 12-year-old girl"

Never heard that one before. Any references?

(Fwiw, I personally think taking Ayn Rand seriously is a phase teenagers go through and (should) grow out of. I can't imagine anyone taking her seriously. Kind of like taking "Twilight" seriously imo)

[rinich]

http://michaelprescott.net/hickman.htm is a fairly detailed article about it. One of Hickman's crimes:

At the rendezvous, Mr. Parker handed over the money to a young man who was waiting for him in a parked car. When Mr. Parker paid the ransom, he could see his daughter, Marion, sitting in the passenger seat next to the suspect. As soon as the money was exchanged, the suspect drove off with the victim still in the car. At the end of the street, Marion's corpse was dumped onto the pavement. She was dead. Her legs had been chopped off and her eyes had been wired open to appear as if she was still alive. Her internal organs had been cut out and pieces of her body were later found strewn all over the Los Angeles area.

Ayn Rand, writing about formulating one of her early protagonists:

The outside of Hickman, but not the inside. Much deeper and much more. A Hickman with a purpose. And without the degeneracy. It is more exact to say that the model is not Hickman, but what Hickman suggested to me.

Other people have no right, no hold, no interest or influence on him. And this is not affected or chosen -- it's inborn, absolute, it can't be changed, he has 'no organ' to be otherwise. In this respect, he has the true, innate psychology of a Superman. He can never realize and feel 'other people.

In other words, a sociopath.

[jacquesm]

Thanks for digging that up, it's rare to get such deep insights in to the mind of a writer.