Ayn Rand Was NOT a Libertarian

[stu2002]

Many people assume that Ayn Rand was a champion of libertarian thought.

But Rand herself pilloried libertarians, condemning libertarianism as being a greater threat to freedom and capitalism than both modern liberalism and conservativism. For example, Rand said:

All kinds of people today call themselves “libertarians,” especially something calling itself the New Right, which consists of hippies, except that they’re anarchists instead of collectivists. But of course, anarchists are collectivists. Capitalism is the one system that requires absolute objective law, yet they want to combine capitalism and anarchism. That is worse than anything the New Left has proposed. It’s a mockery of philosophy and ideology. They sling slogans and try to ride on two bandwagons. They want to be hippies, but don’t want to preach collectivism, because those jobs are already taken. But anarchism is a logical outgrowth of the anti-intellectual side of collectivism. I could deal with a Marxist with a greater chance of reaching some kind of understanding, and with much greater respect. The anarchist is the scum of the intellectual world of the left, which has given them up. So the right picks up another leftist discard. That’s the Libertarian movement.

***

I’d rather vote for Bob Hope, the Marx Brothers, or Jerry Lewis [than a candidate from the Libertarian Party].

***

[The Libertarian Party is] a cheap attempt at publicity, which Libertarians won’t get

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-11-29/ayn-rand-was-not-libertarian

 

[LibertyEagle]

Who cares? I'm not in this to sell libertarianism. I want my country back.

 

[Occam's Banana]

Meh. If I wear glasses - but I insist that I don't wear glasses (and I say that people who wear glasses are a bunch of disreputably myopic squinters) - does that mean that I don't wear glasses?

Ayn Rand was a champion of libertarian thought - regardless of whether she or Lenny Peikoff or "George Washington" or anyone else likes it or not.

She was right about some things. She was wrong about others. Same as every other human being who has ever lived, libertarian or otherwise.

 

[FrankRep]

I'm a Constitutionalist myself.

 

[July]

Eh, she also thought libertarians were plagerizing her ideas. And libertarians at the time criticized her for running a cult and for being too rigid and intolerant of any deviation to her philosophy, so there was obviously a lot of personal resentment and baggage on both sides of the respective movements... I take a lot of the he said/she said with a grain of salt.

 

[BuddyRey]

She was just bitter that the movement became something bigger than herself and her own little insular cadre. She laughably claimed libertarians "stole her ideas" even though American libertarianism had been around as a conscious and self-realized movement for at least a hundred years. Also, Rand herself stole from Isabell Paterson and Garet Garrett, even borrowing huge elements of the plot and the name of the protagonist from the latter's novel "The Driver."

 

[PaulConventionWV]

Meh. If I wear glasses - but I insist that I don't wear glasses (and I say that people who wear glasses are a bunch of disreputably myopic squinters) - does that mean that I don't wear glasses?

Ayn Rand was a champion of libertarian thought - regardless of whether she or Lenny Peikoff or "George Washington" or anyone else likes it or not.

She was right about some things. She was wrong about others. Same as every other human being who has ever lived, libertarian or otherwise.

So, in other words, Ayn Rand is a liar, correct?

 

[erowe1]

She laughably claimed libertarians "stole her ideas" even though American libertarianism had been around as a conscious and self-realized movement for at least a hundred years.

It's doubly laughable, because isn't part of the point of propounding her ideas to get others to agree with them?

 

[JohnM]

Ayn Rand was not a libertarian . . . and Mozart was a Red.

 

[Occam's Banana]

So, in other words, Ayn Rand is a liar, correct?

That would depend on what she actually believed. Going on the assumption that she believed what she said, she would not be a liar.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

But of course, anarchists are collectivists. http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-11-29/ayn-rand-was-not-libertarian

LMAO

 

[July]

Maye she didn't agree with using that word. Libertarian used to mean a certain type of left anarchism. The modern American movement took that word to redefine it, because according to Murray Rothbard, "liberalism" no longer stood for classical liberalism...he saw it as capturing a word from the opposition, in the same way that the establishment had taken "liberal".

 

[erowe1]

Maye she didn't agree with using that word. Libertarian used to mean a certain type of left anarchism. The modern American movement took that word to redefine it, because according to Murray Rothbard, "liberalism" no longer stood for classical liberalism...he saw it as capturing a word from the opposition, in the same way that the establishment had taken "liberal".

She was definitely talking about Rothbard and company.

 

[Czolgosz]

lol @ labeling yourself into a box.

 

[Zeeder]

When I see articles like this I shrug.

Our language has become convoluted. A libertarian or conservative seems to mean different things in different countries.

Ayn Rand wrote books that I agree with. What she said when she was drunk, or on TV, or in interviews don't change those principles.

Also, i always here some statist say she was a hypocrite for taking Social security. You aren't a hypocrite for taking money back that was originally stolen from you. And those that read "atlas Shrugged" would understand that. Ragnar remember? He is the pirate that took back money the government had stolen. Some people don't know what the term "hypocrite" even means.

 

[aclove]

In 1972, Murray Rothbard wrote about his experiences with Rand and her movement.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard23.html

 

[July]

She was definitely talking about Rothbard and company.

Yes I think so too. I don't think she agreed with Murray's innovating, she thought merging capitalism with anarchism was utopian/impossible.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

She was just bitter that the movement became something bigger than herself and her own little insular cadre. She laughably claimed libertarians "stole her ideas" even though American libertarianism had been around as a conscious and self-realized movement for at least a hundred years. Also, Rand herself stole from Isabell Paterson and Garet Garrett, even borrowing huge elements of the plot and the name of the protagonist from the latter's novel "The Driver."

She also took "Anthem" almost directly from "We"-Мы in the original Russian. (she just stripped the futuristic sci-fi bits and a few other things and wrote in her characteristic, rather dull style) I suspect she thought she could get away with it because at the time it was a relatively obscure 1930's novel that folks like Orwell read. I'm rather surprised Randroids have never called her on it (AFAIK).

 

[idiom]

Many people assume that Ayn Rand was a champion of libertarian thought.

But Rand herself pilloried libertarians, condemning libertarianism as being a greater threat to freedom and capitalism than both modern liberalism and conservativism. For example, Rand said:

All kinds of people today call themselves “libertarians,” especially something calling itself the New Right, which consists of hippies, except that they’re anarchists instead of collectivists. But of course, anarchists are collectivists. Capitalism is the one system that requires absolute objective law, yet they want to combine capitalism and anarchism. That is worse than anything the New Left has proposed. It’s a mockery of philosophy and ideology. They sling slogans and try to ride on two bandwagons. They want to be hippies, but don’t want to preach collectivism, because those jobs are already taken. But anarchism is a logical outgrowth of the anti-intellectual side of collectivism. I could deal with a Marxist with a greater chance of reaching some kind of understanding, and with much greater respect. The anarchist is the scum of the intellectual world of the left, which has given them up. So the right picks up another leftist discard. That’s the Libertarian movement.

That's actually not an attack on libertarians but Libertarians. Also mostly on Rothbardists.

Rothbardism, of course, has no flaws and no serious divisions or disagreements amongst its adherents. Its adherents never advocate distinctly unlibertarian things.

Bob Barr was a Libertarian. Gary Johnson is a Libertarian. Being a Libertarian is not that awesome.

Claiming she is not a libertarian however, is pretty disingenuous.

 

[Occam's Banana]

I'm rather surprised Randroids have never called her on it (AFAIK).

I'm not. One of the defining characteristics of Randroids is that they never, ever call Rand on *anything*. To them, she is the Final Aribiter of All That Is Right and True.

Anyone who diverges from or disagrees with her must necessarily be a "hippie" or "socialist" or "anarchist" or "collectivist" or - worst of all - a "Kantian."

This is, after all, the woman who corrected and pefected Aristotle.