Ayn Rand — VOICES for REASON

CNBC just published a blog post by ARC’s Yaron Brook and me on Ayn Rand’s relevance to today. (Last I checked, it topped CNBC’s “most shared” story list.) The short answer:

Atlas Shrugged shows us an all-too-familiar pattern: Washington do-gooders blaming the problems they’ve created on the free market, and using them as a pretext for expanding their power. And more: it provides the fundamental explanation for why the government gets away with continually increasing its control over the economy and our lives.

I encourage anyone interested in learning more about the relevance of Atlas to today’s events to attend The Atlas Shrugged Revolution, coming up in September.

A lot of people are asking that question, which is inspired by Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged. (Ayn Rand didn’t originate the phrase, however. As best I can tell, it was originated by conservative fans of the novel sometime in the last few months. Full disclosure: I don’t particularly care for it.)

To “go Galt,” the way the phrase is being used, is to protest our mounting tax burden by ratcheting down our productivity. We’ll work less, so the government can take less. A sort of partial strike. This is supposed to be in homage to the hero of Atlas Shrugged, John Galt, and the strike he leads against collectivist oppression.

But this notion of “going Galt” misses the point of Galt’s strike, and reveals a sadly superficial understanding of the novel. Galt’s strike was not merely a tax revolt, but something much more radical.

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You already know about the blog, but are you aware of the other new content recently posted to the ARI and ARC websites? For starters, we’ve got a new introductory video by ARI Executive Director Yaron Brook (scroll down to the bottom of the page). Dr. Brook’s overview covers Ayn Rand’s life and novels, the importance of philosophy and the principal ideas of Objectivism, and the mission and programs of ARI. The video is a good starting point for exploring Ayn Rand’s ideas, and should be of value to anyone interested in ARI’s efforts to promote them.

On the ARC front, our December Lecture Series event is now available for viewing at www.aynrandcenter.org. In this talk, UT Austin philosophy professor Tara Smith, who holds the BB&T Chair for the Study of Objectivism at Austin, discusses the danger and the evils of pragmatism in America. She describes pragmatism as aversion to principle, and argues that it is “the guiding philosophy of our age; implicitly, and increasingly explicitly.” It infects our personal lives, our schools, our books and movies, and especially our politics. It is antithetical to good reasoning, destroying man’s ability to think long-range, and it must be confronted if the right ideas are to win out. For anyone concerned about the state of American culture, give yourself an hour and watch this talk.