I think I may be misunderstanding the structure of your argument. Are you saying that your regard for Ayn Rand keeps rising because other people dislike her ideas? And that is the only reason?
It's not so much that other people dislike her ideas, but that otherwise-eloquent people react so violently to them that they fail to counter those ideas effectively. The emo philosophy majors who reflexively disparage objectivism and libertarianism in general don't seem to understand that Rand is the monster that Nietzsche warned them about. They end up making themselves look like overindulged children in any online thread where someone brings up the topic. They literally sound just like the gay-bashing Christian politicians who are later caught conducting their own "services" in a public restroom.
Whenever I find myself reacting so defensively to an idea or concept, I try to force myself to look into the matter more closely. Put another way: if Ayn Rand can hold up a rhetorical crucifix and turn me into a puddle of fuming goo, that's my weakness, and not hers.
Whenever I find myself reacting so defensively to an idea or concept, I try to force myself to look into the matter more closely. Put another way: if Ayn Rand can hold up a rhetorical crucifix and turn me into a puddle of fuming goo, that's my weakness, and not hers.