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The Objectivist Cult?




Lindsey and I were talking on ICQ and I was trying to get her to read The Fountainhead. She actually was considering it. So she went to amazon.com and looked it up. Then she noticed some anti-Ayn Rand literature or something. Here's one essay she sent me:

I believe Ayn Rand's writings are very destructive. And this isn't because of her highly un-original philosophy. No, the reason for this is the powerful grip the books has on her followers. In her books they find justification for behaving in a anti-social manner that is slowly destroying the fabric of the societies of the Western World. This egoism is supposedly derived from "reason". In the real world however there is no reason for people not to find fulfillment and meaning from helping others and caring for their family and friends. The accusation that "altruism", i.e. decency and goodness, leads to tyranny is nothing but products of a very paranoid mind. The craziest thing about this though is the fact that Ayn Rand has been raised to a saint-like status by her followers. No disagreement with her writings is ever accepted and if you disagree you are an evil communist/collectivist. To be a true individualist you must agree with everything she has ever written. Isn't this collectivism in a true sense? No, says her followers, those views are derived by reason and must therefore be share by all intelligent human beings. Pretty scary!! Note that Objectivism, like Marxism, Freudianism and Jungianism, is a closed system of thought in the sense that any critisism of the system is automatically seen as a symptom of unreason. This is what makes Objectivism a religion rather than a philosophy or scientific method. And this is also the reason for the fanatical behavior of her disciples. At best her books are useful self help guides, but this is also true of for example the Bible or the writings of Jung.

And it made me wonder if this paranoid person was maybe right. I do that, you know. Wonder if the seemingly craziest thing I hear is actually right. A lot of time it does make some degree of sense. To tell the truth, Objectivism actually did seem a little weird to me. Wasn't sure why.