• • White liberals and politically correct racism 
Edmund Standing, Family Security Matters The Virtue of Selfishness  Image  While I’m far from an Ayn Rand acolyte, her analysis of racism in The Virtue of Selfishness is spot-on.     Share on Facebook

• • • LFM visits the set of Atlas Shrugged- Part I 
Govindini Murty, Libertas Film Magazine Atlas Shrugged movie  Anthem  Atlas Shrugged  The Fountainhead  The Virtue of Selfishness  We The Living  Image  Interview with Director Paul Johansson.[Q:] What is your approach to adapting “Atlas Shrugged” as a movie? [A:] You’re talking about an art form, a living breathing art form … “What is a sculpture?” … it’s everything you’ve taken away from it, and what’s left is the sculpture – that’s what a film is. We took some of the densest material available in literature … and we’ve decided that there are certain parts of that story that cannot be told with the amount of time that we have. We’re taking one third of the book – because this is going to be part one of three parts – or perhaps four parts depending on how they’re going to shoot it all – and we’ve taken what we think is the essential part of Part One – which is 127 pages to Wyatt’s Torch. That’s what we’re up to.     Share on Facebook

• • Fiscal responsibility versus altruism 
Don And Bernice Richmond, Naples Daily News (FL) Altruism  The Virtue of Selfishness  Altruism is the principle “that service to others is the only justification for (one’s) existence, and that self-sacrifice is (one’s) highest moral duty, virtue and value” (Ayn Rand). For well over a century, our politicians have won elections and governed by advocating and practicing this “virtue” — with other people’s money.     Share on Facebook

• • • A symposium starring Aristotle and Ayn Rand 
Ellis Washington, WorldNetDaily Atheism  Atlas Shrugged  The Virtue of Selfishness  Capitalism  Egoism  Personal life  Aristotle: As a conservative I accept the world as it is and distrust the politics of abstract reason, unlike the sophists, humanists and liberals whose empiricism views reason separate from experience. Despite her exceeding love of my ideas, I answer “yes” to the question – Is Ayn Rand’s radical atheism a terminal defect of Objectivism philosophy? Conservatism and capitalism aside, the major tenet of Objectivism philosophy effectively is the worship of selfishness and narcissism, which is antithetical to real conservatism and capitalism, which are rooted in the Republic, the free market, morality, assiduousness, veritas, virtue and God.     Share on Facebook

• • Social revolutions 
Asad Zaman, The Express Tribune The Virtue of Selfishness  Egoism  In a college class, we read and discussed an essay entitled ‘The Virtue of Selfishness.’ The author, Ayn Rand, argued that contrary to traditional beliefs, selfishness was a good thing. At that time, the majority of the students in my class were against this idea, though there was a minority that was boldly and shockingly in favour. [....] In a discussion in today’s classes in the US, there would be none to argue the case for generosity against selfishness.     Share on Facebook

• • Spirit of Ayn Rand 
Von Dean Mollenhauer, Star-News (Pasadena, CA) Ayn Rand Institute  Atlas Shrugged  The Virtue of Selfishness  My husband has been with the same land surveying company for 60-plus years, eventually buying the business with partners. More lean years again, but the Mollenhauer Group is now a much respected name in Southern California. But now as government swoops down to take much of what was gained in their compassion for the homeless and downtrodden, I’m supporting the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine and reading her book, “The Art of Selfishness,” again and again.     Share on Facebook

• • • Finding capitalism’s human side 
Hannah Naiditch, San Gabriel Valley Tribune (CA) Altruism  Atlas Shrugged  Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal  The Fountainhead  The Virtue of Selfishness  Capitalism  Egoism  Inaccurate  Ayn Rand focused on human nature and used it to justify her philosophy. Human nature dictates that man must always act in his own self-interest. She warned that if civilization is to survive, we must reject altruism. She considered altruism incompatible with human nature. Ayn Rand’s philosophy became known as Objectivism. Clubs sprang up across the land where her admirers shared her philosophy. She was a strong believer in pure, unregulated capitalism. Ayn Rand and her philosophy were probably at least partly responsible for our country ending up in dog-eat-dog laissez-faire capitalism. She was part of the move to the political right.     Share on Facebook

• • • Who is Ayn Rand? 
Charles Murray, Claremont Review of Books Anthem  Atlas Shrugged  The Fountainhead  The Virtue of Selfishness  Egoism  Personal life  Reviews of Ayn Rand and the World She Made, by Anne C. Heller and Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, by Jennifer Burns.Ayn Rand never dwelt on her Russian childhood, preferring to think of herself as wholly American. Rightly so. The huge truths she apprehended and expressed were as American as apple pie. I suppose hardcore Objectivists will consider what I'm about to say heresy, but hardcore Objectivists are not competent to judge. The novels are what make Ayn Rand important. Better than any other American novelist, she captured the magic of what life in America is supposed to be. The utopia of her novels is not a utopia of greed. It is not a utopia of Nietzschean supermen. It is a utopia of human beings living together in Jeffersonian freedom.     Share on Facebook

• • • Garbage and gravitas 
Corey Robin, The Nation Altruism  Atheism  Atlas Shrugged  Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal  The Fountainhead  The Virtue of Selfishness  Capitalism  Personal life  Reviews of Ayn Rand and the World She Made, by Anne C. Heller and Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, by Jennifer Burns.Where Goebbels talked of violence and war, Rand spoke of commerce and trade, production and economy. But fascism is hardly hostile to the heroic individual. That individual, moreover, often finds his deepest calling in economic activity. Far from demonstrating a divergence from fascism, Rand's economic writings register its impression indelibly.     Share on Facebook

• • Government has duty to promote general welfare 
Bob Fuller, Las Vegas Sun Altruism  Atlas Shrugged  Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal  The Virtue of Selfishness  Carl Parrillo — in his Monday letter to the editor [....] mentions the novel “Atlas Shrugged” as a guide. The author, Ayn Rand, basically contrasted capitalism and communism. She also wrote “Virtue of Selfishness,” a critique of altruism, and “Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal,” an excellent history of economics. In an ideal world, all people would be self-supporting and responsible citizens. In the real world, we have people who cannot reach these goals for a variety of reasons.     Share on Facebook

• • WWTPD? Tea Party protesters offer their solutions on trimming government fat 
Trip Jennings, New Mexico Independent The Virtue of Selfishness  “We are not our brothers’ keeper,” said Gabrielle Kotoski, a devotee of Ayn Rand, the author of Atlas Shrugged who is enjoying a renaissance of sorts among Tea Party types nearly 30 years after her death. “If they say that I am their keeper then they are asserting that I am their slave,” said Kotoski, who handed out small booklets at Thursday’s rally containing essays from The Virtue of Selfishness, one of Rand’s books. Kotoski receives Medicare benefits and admitted the seeming incongruity of benefiting from the program while suggesting that it be phased out, along with other large domestic programs.     Share on Facebook

• • 10 must-read investment books 
Jonathan Hoenig, Smartmoney.com Atlas Shrugged  The Virtue of Selfishness  Capitalism  Objectivist author  Be it on a Kindle, iPad or comparatively antiqued book, there is a short list of essential books that, for traders and investors, constitute must-reads. [....] Even before the financial crisis hit, the investment community had already long since embraced Ayn Rand. Scores of investment pros from Monroe Trout to Victor Neiderhoffer to Peter Thiel have advocated her philosophy of reason, capitalism and individual rights, as best known by her seminal 1957 work "Atlas Shrugged." The expansion of government undertaken by both the Bush and Obama administrations has only fueled interest in Rand’s work: "Atlas Shrugged" sold a record 500,000 copies in 2009, doubling the previous year’s record. A lesser-known work of Rand’s also highly beneficial to traders is "The Virtue of Selfishness," a 1964 collection of essays that further refine the morality of egoism, profit-seeking and rational selfishness. At a time in which speculators are derided as destructive parasites wrecking havoc on the economy, the book outlines a moral foundation for capitalism to which every investor will relate.     Share on Facebook

• • • Ayn Rand in Uganda 
Scott Noble, Dissident Voice Altruism  Ayn Rand Institute  Atlas Shrugged  The Fountainhead  The Virtue of Selfishness  Capitalism  Personal life  Inaccurate  Rand’s philosophy represents a revolt against human nature. Not only are we hard-wired to feel emotions like empathy, it is precisely our ability to share, commiserate and act collectively that allows us to survive as a species. Moreover, recent data suggests that the great bugaboo of libertarianism – equality of outcome – is actually the single most important determinant of health and happiness in society.     Share on Facebook

• • • The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism (1964) 
David Wilson, South China Morning Post The Virtue of Selfishness  Egoism  Personal life  (Requires subscription.)Nowhere in Rand's ascendant nicety-free canon is her take on politics expressed with more verve and venom than the essay collection The Virtue of Selfishness. The Neocon bible expounds Rand's philosophy, which she called "objectivist" in a foretaste of the equally dubious Fox News slogan: "The Spin stops here". About as objective as The Narnia Chronicles, Rand's gut-instinct tract exalts egotism as a rational code of ethics and slams socialism as a vice. A selfish, non-sacrificial way of life is possible and the only way to be, according to Rand, whose individualist take on how to live could be seen as an affront to Christianity, Confucianism and several other belief systems that place hope in community. Rand's Darwinian outlook, which makes Britain's Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher appear warm and fuzzy, must stem from her upbringing in Soviet Russia. [....] Rand can be so short on rigour that she resembles a crazed cult leader. Her claim that extremity equates with consistency is just one example of her borderline lunacy, which can be toxic. Elsewhere in the book, she is even more virulent. Despite Rand's fanaticism, The Virtue of Selfishness remains a compelling reflection of her spectacularly dysfunctional mind and a masterclass in the waspish art of polemic. Stinging.     Share on Facebook

• • Editors’ picks 
C. Rollyson, Choice Atlas Shrugged  The Fountainhead  The Virtue of Selfishness  We The Living  Capitalism  Egoism  Personal life  Review of Ayn Rand and the World She Made, by Anne C. Heller.Although not stinting a concern with Rand's ideas, Heller is mesmerized by Rand the novelist and the person. The biographer pores over Rand's early years in Russia with brilliant results, showing how much Rand (born Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum) drew on her experience in the 1920s Leninist state for her impressive novel We the Living.     Share on Facebook

• • • The Ayn Rand follies 
The New Criterion Altruism  Atlas Shrugged  The Virtue of Selfishness  Capitalism  Egoism  Inaccurate  It was always, we suspect, Rand’s effort to make a “virtue of selfishness” (as she puts it in the title of a collection of essays) that accounted for a large part of her appeal. The shocking quality of advocating something so widely deprecated guaranteed an eager audience. Most human beings do not need special encouragement to be selfish. They come by it naturally enough. How welcome, then, to stumble upon a writer of long books who, far from criticizing selfishness, as everyone from your mother on down has done, tells you that you should be as selfish as possible.     Share on Facebook

• • Apology philosophically 
Jim Smith, Naples Daily News (FL) The Virtue of Selfishness  Egoism  Objectivist author  To act selfishly means to act in your own self-interest, which includes both the short term and the long term. If [Tiger] Woods is truly “dedicated to making sure” that he helps “young people achieve their dreams through education,” then he should start by recognizing the “Virtue of Selfishness” as first identified by author philosopher Ayn Rand and available in her book of the same name.     Share on Facebook

• • • Ayn Rand, hugely popular author & inspiration to right-wing leaders, was admirer of serial killer 
Mark Ames, AlterNet Atheism  Atlas Shrugged  The Fountainhead  The Virtue of Selfishness  Capitalism  Egoism  Inaccurate  Ayn Rand is a textbook sociopath. Literally a sociopath: Ayn Rand, in her notebooks, worshiped a notorious serial murderer-dismemberer, and used this killer as an early model for the type of "ideal man" that Rand promoted in her more famous books -- ideas which were later picked up on and put into play by major right-wing figures of the past half decade, including the key architects of America's most recent economic catastrophe -- former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan and SEC Commissioner Chris Cox -- along with other notable right-wing Republicans such as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Rush Limbaugh, and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.     Share on Facebook

• • Make the irresponsible accountable 
Mandy De Waal, ITWeb The Virtue of Selfishness  What our country seriously needs is a crash course in accountability, and globally there's no one better placed to impart profound lessons on responsibility than Ayn Rand's former lover and intellectual heir, Nathaniel Branden. A strong champion for the philosophy of objectivism, Branden is a world authority in the field of self-esteem, and has written over 20 books, including best-sellers like The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem; The Virtue of Selfishness (with Ayn Rand); Taking Responsibility; Self-Esteem at Work; and My Years with Ayn Rand.     Share on Facebook

• • • Why Ayn Rand? Some alternate answers 
Michael Huemer, Cato Unbound Atlas Shrugged  The Virtue of Selfishness  Capitalism  Egoism  The theory of “The Objectivist Ethics” is simultaneously the most distinctive and the least plausible, worst defended of all of Rand’s major ideas. [....] I do not have space to detail the flaws in the article here; they require more lengthy discussion. For now, just take as a sociological observation that few find the theory of that article plausible, even after reading the article.     Share on Facebook