Who Is Ayn Rand?
I became an Ayn Rand Devotee at the age of 14. I am presently 86.That's a very long time. During that time, I have read, discussed and argued about her, her literature, all of her writings, recorded lectures and the lectures of those she allowed to represent her. In all that time, I have concluded that she had the sharpest mind, and the greatest ability to inspire others with her writings and lectures. But, when it came to one-on-one personal relationships, she was as nutty as a health food candy bar.
You all know the story of Rand and Brandon. If you don't, there's plenty of literature about it or includes it. The tendency of her followers can be illustrated by the Brandon incident in which Brandon was condemned and Rand was given a pass even though they were both committing the same act (s). My point is that while I greatly admire A.R. I refuse to deify her in the way I see many Randoids do. She was a great woman and I hope that some day she'll get the recognition she deserves. But, like most humans, she was neither a saint nor a devil.
Let me insert a little of the Herbie philosophy at this point. As I look back upon my life, I realize that the most important things to me, personally, had less to do with exterior matters, politics, in particular, than interior things, music, art, and my hobby of quantum physics.But standing above all that in a major way, is love.OK, now e gets corny. But I remember love as the most powerful thing in my life, wife, sons, daughters, grandchildren. But not just the people, but the acts of love by them to me and me to them. I saw none of that in Rand. Perhaps someone can illuminate for me that which I missed and am not seeing. It is right and proper to admire A.R. I do. But as a person, she was just..... a person.
You all know the story of Rand and Brandon. If you don't, there's plenty of literature about it or includes it. The tendency of her followers can be illustrated by the Brandon incident in which Brandon was condemned and Rand was given a pass even though they were both committing the same act (s). My point is that while I greatly admire A.R. I refuse to deify her in the way I see many Randoids do. She was a great woman and I hope that some day she'll get the recognition she deserves. But, like most humans, she was neither a saint nor a devil.
Let me insert a little of the Herbie philosophy at this point. As I look back upon my life, I realize that the most important things to me, personally, had less to do with exterior matters, politics, in particular, than interior things, music, art, and my hobby of quantum physics.But standing above all that in a major way, is love.OK, now e gets corny. But I remember love as the most powerful thing in my life, wife, sons, daughters, grandchildren. But not just the people, but the acts of love by them to me and me to them. I saw none of that in Rand. Perhaps someone can illuminate for me that which I missed and am not seeing. It is right and proper to admire A.R. I do. But as a person, she was just..... a person.
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These people had met or knew her through various ways, and in unique ways. These people seemed candid in their feelings about/toward her. Some loved her; some tolerated her; some hated her, but many of these people had surprising things to say about her. She was not as intolerant as many people accuse her of being. In my reading of this book, I got another picture of the woman who wrote such phenomenal novels. These recollections only increased my regard for her.
I also have a copy of the Letters of Ayn Rand in which she responds to some of the people who wrote to her through the years. While I have not read it all, this book certainly echoes her philosophy.
We all have individual temptations and most temptations not physiological can be handled by the mind, those without access to a mind cannot; but my point is: When engaged with the mind most of the time...leaves the brain to it's own devices.
Nice piece my Friend, well written and to the point.
I really avoid politics in my everyday life. I find it entertaining and not much else. I don't avoid philosophy. Almost nobody, it seems, has a mind for philosophy. Many people know right from wrong...they just can't explain why.
Not familiar with Brandon...
Because of that I avoided watching the Passion of Ayn Rand (even though I really like Helen Mirren and assume she was well cast) as well as anything written by others about her. I just don't want to know about her personally.
As to love, she said "to love is to value". It was not central (IMO) to her fiction, but she did write about it. I think for her everything fell into the same philosophy - a hierarchy of values. She discusses it in technical terms, for want of a better word, but does not discount it at all.
My take on her writings is that the word, the idea of the word, is often used falsely, as a selfless thing, instead of the perhaps the most selfish of all.
I'm sure others in here in the Gulch will be much more articulate on this!