I'd like to respond to a letter that appeared in the October 31st edition of UTW, written by Matthew Ryan, which borrows heavily on a critique by Gore Vidal of Ayn Rand to bolster his accusation Rand was an "immoral lunatic". Mr. Ryan launches a guilt-by-association critique of politician Paul D. Ryan, with whom Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" has obviously resonated, and wonders why - since Paul Ryan is a Catholic - he isn't motivated primarily by Jesus.
There are numerous problems with this argument, starting with Gore Vidal. Vidal was an avowed atheist who saw people who leaned on religion as "weak" because they feared death. He especially detested Roman Catholics. The sexually ambidextrous Mr. Vidal - who drifted in and out of trysts with numerous men and women in his life - is a strange source to quote when passing judgment on someone else's morality.
It's also an odd and incongruent argument for a liberal to assert - in this day and age - that a conservative should be "motivated by Jesus Christ", i.e., I thought the liberal party line was politicians were supposed to divorce religion from their decision making. Besides, in the case of Rand and Vidal religion doesn't figure into it much anyway; they were both atheists, although Rand obviously scored no points with Vidal because of this commonality.
To be sure, Ayn Rand was an "odd little woman", but one blessed with an enormous intellect. Writing off "Atlas Shrugged" as an exultation of greed and self-interest is facile. Moreover, there is nothing inherently immoral about pursuing what is in one's own self-interest. If it were we could safely say about 99.9 percent of us are immoral.
Rand held in high esteem the virtues of morality and integrity. "Atlas Shrugged" is an illustration of how moral men who follow the law and - even if motivated solely by self-interest - build the engines of society that move it in a positive direction. Because they are the thinkers, the innovators, the inventors, the creators of technology who even though they might build great personal wealth, also create wealth for others and benefit society as a whole. How is this "lunacy" or "immorality"? You only see it as such if you've been swayed by redistribution theology and have come to believe capitalism itself is an evil and getting rich is, in and of itself, a sin.
Therefore the premise of Mr. Ryan's argument - that politician Paul Ryan has been heavily influenced by the writings of an immoral lunatic - doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
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Re: Too Much ControlRyan and Rand?Dear UTW:
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Re: Too Much ControlRyan and Rand?Dear UTW:
There are numerous problems with this argument, starting with Gore Vidal. Vidal was an avowed atheist who saw people who leaned on religion as "weak" because they feared death. He especially detested Roman Catholics. The sexually ambidextrous Mr. Vidal - who drifted in and out of trysts with numerous men and women in his life - is a strange source to quote when passing judgment on someone else's morality.
It's also an odd and incongruent argument for a liberal to assert - in this day and age - that a conservative should be "motivated by Jesus Christ", i.e., I thought the liberal party line was politicians were supposed to divorce religion from their decision making. Besides, in the case of Rand and Vidal religion doesn't figure into it much anyway; they were both atheists, although Rand obviously scored no points with Vidal because of this commonality.
To be sure, Ayn Rand was an "odd little woman", but one blessed with an enormous intellect. Writing off "Atlas Shrugged" as an exultation of greed and self-interest is facile. Moreover, there is nothing inherently immoral about pursuing what is in one's own self-interest. If it were we could safely say about 99.9 percent of us are immoral.
Rand held in high esteem the virtues of morality and integrity. "Atlas Shrugged" is an illustration of how moral men who follow the law and - even if motivated solely by self-interest - build the engines of society that move it in a positive direction. Because they are the thinkers, the innovators, the inventors, the creators of technology who even though they might build great personal wealth, also create wealth for others and benefit society as a whole. How is this "lunacy" or "immorality"? You only see it as such if you've been swayed by redistribution theology and have come to believe capitalism itself is an evil and getting rich is, in and of itself, a sin.
Therefore the premise of Mr. Ryan's argument - that politician Paul Ryan has been heavily influenced by the writings of an immoral lunatic - doesn't stand up to scrutiny.