[tt24]

Please read my comment in good faith. There is no contradiction with Rand’s philosophy here. According to her framework, the state stole from her throughout her life. Using public assistance is merely retrieving a small piece of that stolen money.

[teucris]

I agree that it was in her philosophical framework to accept social security - apologies if my comment seemed in bad faith due to that not being clearer. The irony does not lie with her, but rather those that use her philosophy to eliminate the safety net that she herself ended up using.

Sure, she could have used the money she had put into social security to invest, and maybe would have come out better off. But for those of us who see how public services can enrich an entire society, there is irony to how this all played out.

[tt24]

> I agree that it was in her philosophical framework to accept social security

Then where exactly is the irony or hypocrisy here?

[BergAndCo]

"The irony is with those who believe that thievery is wrong. She obviously didn't believe what she wrote because her actions reveal she believed in stealing your stolen property back from a thief, which is itself thievery."

[littlestymaar]

"The irony is with those who believe that thievery is wrong. She obviously didn't believe what she wrote because her actions reveal she was OK accepting when the thieve gave her your property to make up for the theft she suffered earlier"

FTFY.

She didn't steal from the thieve, she became complicit with the thieve stealing other people's work to get their money back (gracefully handed by the thieve).