Despite persistent rumors, Rand Paul was not named in honor of influential conservative thinker, Ayn Rand. His name is Randall.
It's good he was not named for Ayn Rand because her real name was Alisa Zinovievna Rosenbaum which she changed honoring her Rand typewriter.
Miss Rand, famously a believer in rugged individualism and personal responsibility, was a strong defender of self-interest. She was a staunch opponent of government programs from the New Deal and Social Security to the Great Society and Medicare.
A Library of Congress survey of the most influential books on American readers, "Atlas Shrugged" ranked second only to the Bible. Rand's influence is encyclopedic ranging from Alan Greenspan to Paul "I grew up on Ayn Rand" Ryan (R-Wis), a "Young Gun" who aims to cut or privatize Medicare and Social Security.
The Right should be commended politically for their ability to develop and stick to a unified message. But close inspection of this unified message reveals a disappointing secret identified by a student of the Godfather of Neo-conservatism, --- the University of Chicago's Leo Strauss. The student, Anne Norton ("Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire") identified what she called VIP-DIP meaning Venerated in Public, Disdained in Private. "Do as I say, not as I do." The list of vip-dipers on the Right runs from Harold Bloom to Newt Gingrich, but certainly not Ayn Rand. Right?
Say it ain't so Alisa Zinovievna Rosenbaum.
A heavy smoker who refused to believe that smoking causes cancer brings to mind those today who are equally certain there is no such thing as global warming. Unfortunately, Miss Rand was a fatal victim of lung cancer.
However, it was revealed in the recent "Oral History of Ayn Rand" by Scott McConnell (founder of the media department at the Ayn Rand Institute) that in the end Ayn was a vip-dipper as well. An interview with Evva Pryror, a social worker and consultant to Miss Rand's law firm of Ernst, Cane, Gitlin and Winick verified that on Miss Rand's behalf she secured Rand's Social Security and Medicare payments which Ayn received under the name of Ann O'Connor (husband Frank O'Connor).
As Pryor said, "Doctors cost a lot more money than books earn and she could be totally wiped out" without the aid of these two government programs. Ayn took the bail out even though Ayn "despised government interference and felt that people should and could live independently... She didn't feel that an individual should take help."
But alas she did and said it was wrong for everyone else to do so. Apart from the strong implication that those who take the help are morally weak, it is also a philosophic point that such help dulls the will to work, to save and government assistance is said to dull the entrepreneurial spirit.
In the end, Miss Rand was a hypocrite but she could never be faulted for failing to act in her own self-interest.
However, to name the few, her mangers run-around and shake-off of responsibility in train delivery part in "Atlas shrugged", and in "Fountainhead" her sculptors "lecture" how Howard Rork should REALY hire him like the rest of the world does or bunch of architects "designing" single project and having fun in the process I have found timeless and striked the cord.
Afer reading her books I have found myself in wierd state of suspension and thought, not that in any way I wanted to be lake main caracters, just state of suspension and thought.
It's not that Ayn Rand is a hypocrite insomuch as her IDEOLOGY is hypocritical if it says you can benefit from a universal, collective system that you pay into while still railing against those programs in theory.
I'm sorry, but in order to not be hypocritical you would need to forgo any benefits from social programs, even if you pay for them. These things exist and work because we ALL pay for them.
Social Security Death Index
Name: Ayn Rand
SSN: 571-XX-XXXX
Last Residence: 10019 New York, New York, New York, United States of America
Born: 2 Feb 1905
Died: Mar 1982
State (Year) SSN issued: California (Before 1951)
Accuracy helps one’s case. Sloppiness doesn’t. But, then, Rand’s opponents are not always concerned with facts. (N.B.: I’m not an Objectivist/Randian. Too independent for that.)
No one forced her to stay and no one forces anyone else to stay here. Taxes are in the constitution and are not a theft, but a just payment for the many benefits that you receive by living in this country. Many of us appreciate all the benefits and are willing to sacrifice an ipod or a dinner out or even a new car as opposed to a used car for the privilege of living here.
Those who abhor the "thugs" who "steal" your taxes are free to leave and enjoy the privileges afforded in a country who will let you keep your tax dollars. Stop forcing the rest of us to live in your libertarian nightmare.
I, personally, appreciate a country that has a sense of community; that is willing to create a social safety net and that believes in good government. There are plenty of countries that will let you live your ideal. Ayn Rand may not have wanted to support the values of the country she chose, but she sure was willing to suck up the benefits.
1. Ayn Rand died of heart failure, not lung cancer.
2. Ayn Rand did not get her name from her typewriter. The exact origin of her last name has not been unequivocally proven, but research now suggests that Rand is actually an abbreviation of her given last name.
3. Ayn Rand was financially capable of paying for her own medical expenses but made use of the Medicare and Social Security systems as this was in her rational self interest. She did not say "it was wrong for everyone else to do so." She addresses the issue here:
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/government_grants_and_scholarships.html
Hooray for a country that can allow for such contradictions! Hooray for a country that allows for the free flow of ideas that we can all debate. Hooray for a country that created a system whereby you can pay into it and when you find yourself in need, regardless of the disdain you feel for it, you can get something back. No system is perfect, no human being is perfect (not even Ms. Rand), but our very imperfect system is way better than the others.
About Ayn...Although she certainly deserved to utilize the government benefits she rallied against since she, no doubt, paid her share of taxes into them, it just illustrates how human beings fall short in living up to the principles they so vigorously champion. What caused her to wave her beliefs in exchange for those that diametrically opposed them? What realizations did she succumb to in the end? Was she ever swayed on the scientific findings that cancer is linked to smoking? Were there any writings to explain her later actions? Those are the questions I would like to have answered. Wouldn’t this make a great a movie?!! All you screen writers out there, start your research!!!!
-There would be no schools.
-There would be no roads.
-There would be no bridges.
-There would be no parks.
-There would be no health care.
-There would be no libraries.
-There would be no police.
-There would be no firefighters.
UNLESS, of course, each person paid "privately" for each of those things.
So, in "Ayn's Perfect World", things would work like this:
Caller: Help, help, my house is on fire!!! Come quickly!!!
Fire Department: Your Account Number Please.
Caller: I don't have an account, I'm just a person who needs help putting out this fire!!!
Fire Department: I'm sorry sir. But if you'd like, I'm happy to open an account for you now. Do you have a valid credit card?
The "Beautiful" world of Ayn Rand and her Libertarian Devotees. Ah, if only...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/
while telling the public they can't have that coveted
"government run (Not really) Insurance".
When the elderly find out about the double talk, the house of cards will fall.