She was right, argue her followers. They say that much of what she railed against — incompetent CEOs, federal bailouts, bloated government — has become our economic reality today. But was Rand right about the solution? If so, it would take nothing short of a John Galt-inspired strike of the entrepreneurs and the dog-eat-dog capitalists to save this economy.It may just happen.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
In case you're wondering ...
...Why Do CEOs (Still) Love Ayn Rand? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Glorified adolescent selfishness is neither philosophical nor practical — isn't blind selfishness exactly what got us into the mess we have? {the answer is yes, no matter how it's spun and explained away} I find it impossible to imagine, except in the most obtuse cases, that anyone could still cling to these worn-out fantasies; or rather, impossible to take anyone seriously who does so.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Mr. Pritchard. My moral and philosophical compass is supposed to be determined by a writer admired by men (and now a few women) who when they cause their enterprises to crash require their workers to accept lower pay and benefits while they continue to take bonuses as a reward for their failure? I don’t think so. I’d rather read collections of Pogo.
ReplyDeleteBoth of you may object - and I hold no brief for Rand or her followers, if only because I once had to contend with a particularly obtuse bunch of them back in my lecturing days - but the point of this post is that there does seem to be a revival of interest in her work at present. Deploring that does not advance the discussion. Perhaps trying to understand it might. Blind selfishness, eh? Like Richard Dawkins's genes perhaps. I'd toss in a good bit of incompetence, including much on the Congressional side (e.g., Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, et al.).
ReplyDeleteI just don't see how the people who are REAL entrepreneurs would ever "go Galt" or even want to. If you're a true entrepreneur, you're looking at this time of crisis as an opportunity, not a time to sulk and cry and take your ball and go home until everyone realizes how awesome you are and begs you to come back. It seems to me that those who are reviving interest in Rand are more those who THINK they're awesome and that society would collapse without their genius, rather than those whose absence really would be bad. Because no one we're talking about thinks they're part of the unwashed masses or whatever; they're Galts, of course.
ReplyDeleteAnd even if all these people did go Galt? I suspect there would be plenty of people willing to step right into their place, just given the opportunity and the nudge.