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by gnosis 4701 days ago
"So many people who claim, or seem to have taken inspiration from Rand would, in fact, be "bad guys" in Atlas Shrugged."

Case in point: Rand hated Libertarians.[1]

Some typical examples from the article:

- She called Libertarianism "a mockery of philosophy and ideology"

- She accused Libertarians of "slinging slogans and trying to ride on two bandwagons"

Later, she accuses them of entertaining "amateur political notions" and "rushing into politics in order to get publicity".

She says that Libertarians

- are based on "half-baked ideas, and in part on borrowed ideas".

- "spend their time denouncing me, while plagiarizing my ideas".

- "are perhaps the worst political group today, because they can do the most harm to capitalism, by making it disreputable."

- would "like to have an amoral political program"

[1] - http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=113321

3 comments

The libertarians of her era were closer to the anarchists that this essay is attacking. Rand explicitly disagreed with them on issues like blizzard cleanup.

Both Ayn Rand and most modern libertarians have little objection to the government provision of public goods like blizzard cleanup. They simply object to the government provision of private goods, such as diabetes treatment.

How is blizzard cleanup public and diabetes treatment private?
Blizzard cleanup is non-rivalrous (we can both simultaneously enjoy a snow free street) and non-excludible (if I pay to have the street cleaned, I can't tell you not to walk on it).

Diabetes treatment is rivalrous (insulin goes into your vein or mine, not both) and excludible (if you don't pay for insulin, you don't get any).

Obviously blizzard cleanup affects everyone and so is public. Diabetes treatment is private because if you get diabetes it doesn't affect me. You just have bad genes or ate too much sugar, not my fault and I'm not suffering for it. Really though it doesn't affect me because I basically don't care about anyone that isn't friends or family. Why should I help take care of your problems? Use your own bootstraps. I'd rather save my money for me and my own.
Blizzards are also localized. Why should I help take care of your blizzard if it didn't hit my location?

Everything is as private or public as you make it.

True - there is no reason why people in Florida should pay for blizzard cleanup. Is anyone arguing that they should?
Well, federal disaster funds are pretty commonly used to pay for things like blizzards and hurricanes. So, while I agree with you that no one specifically mentioned it, I can understand how it would be an issue if we were to really dig into the whole "disaster cleanup" issue further. It is also the case that politicians who call one disaster aid package "wasteful" are quick to call for aid when their own regions are hit, so there's that.
So don't take care of my blizzard. I'm sure almost everyone else in my town will agree to give money to a local government that takes care of it. Basically my philosophy is that only the individual matters. Society is for the weak, and it only makes sense when a collection of rational men decide that it doesn't infringe on individual ambition.
Sorry, I was possessed by Ayn's ghost for a bit today.
Rand hated everyone apart from tall, arrogant & selfish men.
And those only if she could convince to have sex with her or obey her otherwise. Else, she hated them too.

Basically, she hated everyone apart from herself.

> Basically, she hated everyone apart from herself.

No evidence, but my gut says that self-hate was at the root of it all. Arrogance usually masks feelings of inferiority.

"spend their time denouncing me, while plagiarizing my ideas".

She hated people who were doing what she was who didn't put here on a pedestal, that all. This doesn't make libertarianism fundamentally different to her philosophy. It just puts up a mirror to her narcissistic batshittedness.