Ayn Rand is the guru of the Trump administration. And her followers are failing in business.

[Hamlette]

As a Guru, Ayn Rand May Have Limits. Ask Travis Kalanick.

President Trump named Rand his favorite writer and “The Fountainhead” his favorite novel. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson has cited “Atlas Shrugged” as a favorite work, and the C.I.A. director, Mike Pompeo, said the book “really had an impact on me.”
. . .

But lately, many Rand devotees have been running into trouble. Travis Kalanick’s abrupt departure as chief executive of Uber, the Internet-based ride-hailing service he built into a private corporation worth $50 billion or more, is the latest Icarus-like plunge of a prominent Rand follower.

The hedge fund manager Edward S. Lampert, who some say has applied Rand’s Objectivist principles to the management of Sears and Kmart, has driven those venerable retailers close to bankruptcy.

Andrew F. Puzder, Mr. Trump’s first nominee for secretary of labor, is described by friends as an avid Ayn Rand reader. He’s also chief executive of CKE Restaurants, which runs the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast-food chains and whose private equity owner, Roark Capital Group, is named for the architect-hero of “The Fountainhead.” Mr. Puzder had to withdraw his nomination after allegations that his restaurant companies mistreated workers and promulgated sexist advertising.

The Whole Foods founder and chief executive John Mackey, an ardent libertarian and admirer of Rand, last month had to cede control of the troubled upscale grocery company to Amazon and Jeff Bezos (who, while often likened to a fictional Rand hero, has not mentioned her books when asked about his favorites).

And then there’s the scandal-engulfed Trump administration, where devotion to Rand’s teaching has done little to advance the president’s legislative agenda.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/13/business/ayn-rand-business-politics-uber-kalanick.html?ref=business&_r=0

Knocking down Ayn Rand as the nut cake she is/was brings me great pleasure.

[hatrack]

1. And for you, the best three minutes on YouTube on that very subject . . .

[Hamlette]

3. Brilliant! Thank you for this!

Both Hitchens and Hellman on the same (sort of) thought.

I saw a cartoon once, New Yorker I think, grandpa and granddaughter standing on the edge of a field of corn. The corn stalks were reading Ayn Rand books. The Grandfather explained: You can tell the corn is not mature yet, its still reading Ayn Rand.

Anyway, it makes sense that the current WH is trying to employ her world view. And it makes total sense they don't talk about it. I remember what happened to Paul Ryan who used to give new staff members Rand books but when he was reminded she was an atheist, he started to deny he liked or followed her.

Its mixed up.

[WinstonSmith00]

2. Ayn Rand was on medicare and social security

The whole rationalization that its okay if it benefits me but no it cant benefit those freeloaders. Pathetic hypocrits all of them.

[Martin Eden]

4. "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."

[Martin Eden]

5. Don't forget about Paul Ryan

The House Speaker sees Ayn Rand as an example of the highest morality:

[link:

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