"I did not think it was possible to significantly lower my estimate of Ayn Rand ..."

[eppur_se_muova]

http://michaelprescott.freeservers.com/romancing-the-stone-cold.html

I know this has been posted before at DU, but for those observing the dilletantish, underinformed hero-worship of this "philosopher" by the Republican/Libertarian Right -- including the fawning admiration of such stellar intellects as Paul Ryan and Clarence Thomas -- there can't be too many reminders of just how truly sick this woman was.

I posted this after finding the original link broken, and locating a repost of the original blog -- much has been added in reaction to the criticism by Rand's worshippers, including even more damaging excerpts from AR's notebooks:

At one point, a sliver of near-rationality breaks through the fog of Rand's delusions: "I am afraid that I idealize Hickman and that he might not be this at all. In fact, he probably isn't." Her moment of lucidity is short-lived. "But it does not make any difference. If he isn't, he could be, and that's enough." Yes, facts are stubborn things, so it's best to ignore them and live in a land of make-believe. Let's not allow truculent reality to interfere with our dizzying and intoxicating fantasy life.

Punctuating the point, Rand writes, "There is a lot that is purposely, senselessly horrible about him. But that does not interest me..." No indeed. Why should it? It's only reality..

Truly deserving a re-read, even if you want to skip over the more gruesome details of Hickman's crime.

[CBGLuthier]

1. Her first great hero was a rapist. Her second a man who selfishly destroyed the world.

She was a world-class idiot. Anyone who worships her is the same.

[truebluegreen]

2. +a zillion

[Shrike47]

3. The article is a very interesting read. Rand idolized and idealized Hickman, God knows why.

Hickman was clearly a sociopath. Apparently, Rand admired that in a man.

[cascadiance]

4. She epitomizes what is wrong with Libertarian (and also corporate media) followers...

Where people just focus on the parts of her life (and the parts of Libertarianism, and the CORPORATE spoonfed news in general) that are dwelled upon by this corporate media and people skip the ugly details of her, Libertarianism, and what else is wrong in society that the media continues to ignore.

It's a way to get people who are angry roped in to a message, but not have them focus on what they are really angry about, and THAT is how propaganda works so well.

And the opposite side of that is that we also fall in to the trap of getting divided from those that fall in to this trap too, saying they are all a*holes for being Libertarians, following Ayn Rand, and following the corporate media news without questioning it. This is an educational process. And throwing out education so much for this generation and so many others is part of this propaganda strategy. Why else are those in student loan debt (which can't be forgiven with bankruptcy) more in debt than those with credit cards?

We need to keep pointing out these ugly details through all means possible to those out there that might be taken in by it and at some point if enough of us reach out to those that might otherwise be decent people with the right information, we can build our movements to overturn the corporate fascism cancer that infects our country now.

Make sure that they know that not only Libertarians support getting rid of marijuana prohibition, defunding wars, and ending domestic spying on all of us, despite what the media does to try and split us away from those they are roping in. Point out how we DO need a government to hold this corporate fascism in check, and how that corporate fascism in so many ways is screwing all of us and likely is screwing them one way or the other.

[yurbud]

5. further proof that the ideologies of the rich aren't ideologies at all

they are excuses for what they are going to do in any case.

Like the people who say the Bible tells them to beat their kids.

[uriel1972]

6. I rather thought the Bible does...

But we don't have to do that.

[yurbud]

7. people pick and choose the parts that fit what they want to do

[Bill USA]

8. Ayn Rand's independent, free man - link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101640222


Libertarians are individuals who refuse to grow up (perhaps due to some childhood trauma that arrested their development). They can throw some 'adult' words around but they, like any other children, really don't know what the words mean. Everybody knows the fairy tale of "Peter Pan". The calamity that ensues should, by some strange confluence of events, if a fairy tale situation should somehow be realized (in his case a society run by children) was brilliantly rendered by William Golding in his novel "Lord of the Flies".