Why Hate Ayn Rand?

If ever a post would garner me bad traffic, this would be it.


I’m going to say it.  It’s different from public opinion; I like Ayn Rand’s novels.  First, I will admit I’ve only read two: The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.  I find them both to be terribly verbose.  But I find them both to be enticing.  I don’t care what xkcd says (because there’s an apparent unyielding hatred for her works over there).

So, you’ve never heard of her and you don’t care.  Cool, please ignore this post and wait for another about something more interesting.  Probably about, I don’t know....running, tying ropes, or saying unflattering things about poultry.  Something like that.  Have a great day regardless.

Hey, you’re still here.  Awesome.  So here’s the trick; they’re both exceptionally long novels.  The Fountainhead clocks in around 694 pages for the Signet Paperback version.  Of the two, that was the easy read.  Atlas Shrugged clocks in at a staggering 1074 pages in the Signet Paperback market.  God help me it’s long, but in my opinion it’s worthwhile.

A lot of people (read: everyone who hates it) find both these works too long and the writing in both to be poor.  I’m of the opinion that it’s a style you’re simply no longer accustomed to.  They were written in 1943 and 1957 respectively.  People used different language.  

A little background: From what I understand, Ms. Rand managed to think up this philosophy we’ll call Objectivism.  The high points are that there exists an absolute reality, facts are facts despite what we might like to believe.  Reason is how we should perceive reality.  Man is an end to himself, not the means to the ends of others. (most of this is loosely or verbatim from the website.)

Now, a lot of this makes sense only from very specific standpoints: Nihilism’s a good choice.  Nihilism tells us in a very (very) truncated version that “nothing matters”.  Acres of self-interested teens take this to the usual depressing place.  I get that, but here’s the neat thing: if nothing matters...then there’s nothing standing in your way.  How cool is that? Society isn’t keeping you from doing anything, you’re allowing society to keep you from doing things.  Society doesn’t care whether you take up tap dance, horse racing, or choose only to eat tapioca for the rest of your life.  You get to choose that.  We all get to choose that, and that’s the neat part; society is made up of individuals that want their version of the good life for themselves.  Take away the idea that we have to worry about societal implications and it’s a whole new ball game. 

Note: If you're actually interested you should read up on nihilism.  This was a very bad example.

Suddenly; you’re choosing to pay taxes, because you believe in having neighbours, drivable streets and a police force that enforce a set of laws that you by and large have chosen to agree with.  Don’t agree with them?  Don’t want streets?  Feel free to live in a cabin in the woods.  Start over from scratch.  You can do that.  It’s your life.

It seems like we’re getting off track, but we’re not.  Here’s where Ms. Rand comes back in.  While I’ll admit that some of her specific ideals are cracked (check them out on your own if you like), the overarching themes are worth considering.  Somewhere on the internet I found the quote that  “You’ll find people aren’t holding the door open for you, but neither are they holding it shut.”  It’s showing (me at least) that we’re ultimately in charge of our own destiny.  People who work hard get rewarded, people who refuse do not.  You have no right to demand your personal happiness from others, much as they have no right to demand that from you.

Outside of this, I think she takes it too far.  It is a good point of inspiration; nobody’s going to pick you up and make you great.  You have to find it in yourself and show your greatness, then you’ll open yourself up to a world that allows great people to achieve great things. 

I still believe in social programs, but I think it’s in everyone’s best interest to try hard enough that you’ll never need them.  When you do, however, they will be there in force. 

Oh, and for the record; Atlas Shrugged is long because (so meta!) it’s illustrating that hard work pays off. Read through it, get a sense of accomplishment.