What Liberals Don’t Understand About Ayn Rand
Critics of the Russian-born writer miss what's important in her ideas.
Ayn Rand, the Russian-born writer and self-styled philosopher
who died three decades ago, is back in the news as a favorite
author of Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. In
recent years, the passionately individualist, pro-capitalist Rand
has been embraced as a champion of freedom by many conservatives
and libertarians, and denounced as a prophet of greed and
narcissism by many liberals. Yet, if Rand admirers tend to ignore
the flaws of her vision, her detractors reduce her to grotesque
caricature—and invoke her popularity as proof of right-wing
nuttiness.
One major misconception is that Rand worshipped the rich and saw
moneymaking as life’s highest goal. In fact, most wealthy
characters in her novels are pathetic, repulsive, or both:
businessmen fattened on shady deals or government perks, society
people who fill their empty lives with luxury. (There are also
sympathetic poor and working-class characters.)
