“Dude, what’s up? I’m not a fascist.
At least I think not. if you’ll grant me some of your time, I think I can humanize y [her?] philosophy.”
First of all, I’m not going to claim to be an expert on Rand. I attempted one book of hers (a collection of essays by her and her supporters (such as Greenspan (back in the 90’s which I abandoned out of laziness and indifference, then attempted The Virtues of Selfishness around 2004, but got so nauseous by about the 4th essay I had to put her down. While I agreed with her assertion that you have to be weary of accusations of “selfishness” in that they are generally resorted to by people who selfishly demand that you do (or focus your point A to point B (on what they selfishly want you to, it just got so smug and obtuse that I couldn’t take it anymore. One of the main problems was the half-assed libertarianism (her supposed anti-libertarianism (that talked a lot about freedom when it came to your role as a producer/consumer (what you can contribute to the Grand Narrative of Capitalism (while dismissing, with an air of distaste, any behavior that acted outside of that role: such as drug use. In other words, there seemed to be no other life choice that could justify a point A to point B outside of that which stayed within the perimeters of the tyranny of the functional and our role as producer/consumers. And this strikes me as a rather shallow and manipulative use of the term “freedom” –much like those of tyrants (such as Adi Amin (who tend to emerge in 3rd world countries.
Of course, the other experience I had with her was the movie version of Atlas Shrugged which I describe in an essay:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=186098
And while I can’t argue that the movie represents her ideas exactly, I can’t help but feel it’s a little more representative than her apologists are willing to admit: mainly because I have felt the influence of her (via the very arguments made in the movie (all over the arguments I hear all the time through other pro-Capitalists. Take, for instance, the notion that government interference in the private sphere must, by its very nature, be authoritarian in nature: the dark tales Capitalists tell their children at bedtime to frighten them away from the idea of any government policy aimed at a just society. Nor can I believe that people who had such a fawning admiration for her ideas as to finally (after an attempt that started in the 70’s (put Atlas Shrugged on film in the mid 2000’s would actually take the liberty of adding such an insidious and fascistic term as “looters”.
Or are you going to argue that none of this was actually in the book?
“Ayn Rand has two faces; her philosophy ad her personality. Her fictional heroes reflect her personality, which isn’t noble but harsh and resentful, But her essays reflect her philosophy, and so do the questions presents in the stories. Not the answers!! Not the dramatic conclusions. These are narrative, not principle.”
This I will have to take your word on. Once again, I cannot claim to be the expert here. That said, I find myself in agreement with the following:
“Who writes really well Aynian perspective fictionally, is James Clavell
SHOGUN is the best book I ever read. I know that’s comical. I never saw the movie or anything, that is all bullshit, it is a fat thick narrative of the most intricate structure with a lead that is beyond whatever you think. Tai Pan is also very good. I learned a lot but truly a lot about Japanese culture from Shogun, which inclues quite a bit of Jesuitism. Amazing stuff. Did you know that the term of gratitude “Arigato” stems from the portuguese “Obrigado”? I did not know that before. The Japanese apparently did not have a world for thanks. Isn’t that a heasdache for a goddamn philologist to conceive; the world is so much beyond even our wildest philosophies. It is remarkable to look at Asian cultures, how far their depths reach into unfathomable valuing. I prefer toe Chinese mindset over the Japansese but I love the Japanese graces. Do you enjoy the Orient? Ar eyou a tea-drinker? lol. No really. I love tea, and I have such high standards that I rarely drink it.“
This seems clear to me given Rand’s well known propensity towards the heroic and mythological as I saw in the movie series of Atlas Shrugged and was stated in the graphic guide Ayn Rand for Beginners: one of my sources I forgot to mention(
But before I go on, I should explain a few things about the latter. I had turned to it as a summary Cliff Notes to Rand as a whole while I was working on my essay. And I was hoping for a balanced perspective on her. What I got was more of a fawning tribute that felt more aimed at converting teenagers than anything. It wasn’t, for my purposes, the best book in the series. But it is still useful to me to the extent that I can assume that the writer, given their positive take on Rand, can give me a reasonably accurate take on her ideas as compared to someone just being critical.
(It would explain such lines in the movie version of Atlas Shrugged such as that of Francisco d’Anconia:
“When money seizes to be the tool of men by which men deal with other men, then men become the tools of other men.”
We can easily see the Shakespearian element at work here (that is along with the way d’Anconia skulked about in the shadows like some modern day Iago. And we can see as much in the heroic stand made by Hank Reardon when in court for violating some outlandish law made by petty bureaucrats that has no real reference to anything we actually experience in reality:
“I do not recognize the good of others as justification of my existence.”
Now I will give you credit for checking me with your first point:
““Ayn Rand has two faces; her philosophy ad her personality. Her fictional heroes reflect her personality, which isn’t noble but harsh and resentful, But her essays reflect her philosophy, and so do the questions presents in the stories. Not the answers!! Not the dramatic conclusions. These are narrative, not principle.”
It was an impressive move that I cannot dispute. Still, we have to deal with the second point:
“Who writes really well Aynian perspective fictionally, is James Clavell
SHOGUN is the best book I ever read. I know that’s comical. I never saw the movie or anything, that is all bullshit, it is a fat thick narrative of the most intricate structure with a lead that is beyond whatever you think. Tai Pan is also very good. I learned a lot but truly a lot about Japanese culture from Shogun, which includes quite a bit of Jesuitism. Amazing stuff. Did you know that the term of gratitude “Arigato” stems from the Portuguese “Obrigado”? I did not know that before. The Japanese apparently did not have a world for thanks. Isn’t that a headache for a goddamn philologist to conceive; the world is so much beyond even our wildest philosophies. It is remarkable to look at Asian cultures, how far their depths reach into unfathomable valuing. I prefer to Chinese mindset over the Japansese but I love the Japanese graces. Do you enjoy the Orient? Are you a tea-drinker? lol. No really. I love tea, and I have such high standards that I rarely drink it. “
We have to recognize the role that fancy is playing in this as compared to an actual engagement with the reality that most people are dealing with. Rand didn’t just prefer the heroic; she felt an outright disdain for literature that described the underdog dealing with realities beyond their control. She, for instance, would have hated Thurber’s short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, in which the main character starts out as a weak, hen-pecked man who compensated through fantasy and ended as a weak, hen-pecked man who compensated through fantasy, but would have loved the recent movie version, with Ben Stiller, in which Mitty actually achieves the heroic.
And it is this fanciful element that I am mainly having problems with. And while I would be as seduced by Shogun as you were (actually was since I watched the movie version back in the 70’s (much as I’m still seduced by it given my perfect willingness to watch mindless action/adventure movies (I still have to come back to the reality of things and recognize that there are things that people cannot overcome through shear will. The deeper you look into reality, the more you recognize how written-in to it that actually is. Rand may have a disdain for stories about underdogs dealing with forces beyond their control. But those stories must ring as true (if not more so (as the idealized heroics of the classicist sensibility -and for good reason. As Paul Krugman wrote (and I do not quote this to be mean, but to give my sense of it:
“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.”
And once again: you have cleverly checked me on this. Still, I can’t help but follow my ally in Krugman in recognizing the element of fancy and mythology (via Rand and Nietzsche (that is used to justify an unconditional embrace of producer/consumer Capitalism. The truth is that producer/consumer Capitalism (contrary to the notion that it simply requires hard work (requires losers (the underdog working against forces beyond their control (in that success in it is always dependent on doing something that others don’t do. It is also dependent on a willingness to surrender one’s self to the perimeters of the market: to conform as compared to Capitalism’s claim to an exclusive and intimate relationship to Freedom.
(That said: I would also point out the fancy involved in KTS, what I like to call: The Neo-Neitzscheian Gospel of the fearlessly fanciful: the basement overmen who would sit in environmentally controlled spaces, their faces glaring in the dim glow of their computer screens while they type and, in between, raise their fists: tight, trembling, and ready for action. Imagine, Perseus, brother, the fancy it must take to sit in front of a computer and think yourself able to survive the kind of post apocalyptic, Mad Maxian world they seem to long for.