Ayn Rand’s ideas have grown since the early 2010s. Between 2012 and 2020, her book Atlas Shrugged was the second biggest seller in the USA after the Bible, thirty years after her death.
Friday essay: We all live in the world of Ayn Rand, egomaniac godmother of libertarianism. Can fiction help us navigate it? – The Conversation:
https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-we-all-live-in-the-world-of-ayn-rand-egomaniac-godmother-of-libertarianism-can-fiction-help-us-navigate-it-220326
All the US Secretaries of State, Trump himself and the Argentinian, German, British and Italian libertarians claim to be followers of Rand, so we can expect a strong push towards minimal government and the destruction of social, environmental and health standards. We must fight against this ideology, because in theory it should not be attractive to the mass of voters. This theory is particularly popular with younger people, who are disappointed by the choices made by others and want to rely solely on themselves and not be subjected to the choices made by others.
Ayn Rand proposed a model of society for the benefit of a handful of individuals considered exceptional. Why is this a mass phenomenon?
Ayn Rand was born into a petty-bourgeois Russian family at the beginning of the 20th century. She was 9 at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution. The family lost many of its comforts. She suffered from a sense of downgrading. As the Soviets opened universities to women, she had access to higher education, paid for by the state. In the 1920s, she emigrated to the United States.
Ayn Rand – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand
She proposes the idea that some humans are exceptional and gifted and can truly improve the world, and that they should not be embarrassed by the consequences of their actions. For example, it’s acceptable for animal species or humans to die for the betterment of a civilization made up of a handful of exceptional humans. The selfish pursuit of personal pleasure is the most important value. The traditional values conveyed by churches, such as altruism, self-giving, sharing and solidarity, enable the demerited masses to monopolize the fruits of the labor of exceptional humans. States have taken over from churches to perpetuate what is considered theft. Ayn Rand suggests that only the police and the army should be provided by the state. The state should not interfere in the life of society.
The Mike Wallace Interview with Ayn Rand: https://youtu.be/lHl2PqwRcY0?si=ca3iXu_0Olx3uI2D
Ayn Rand reformulates Nietsche’s thought. In Beyond Good and Evil, there’s the idea of an Übermensch (superman) who kills, rapes but in the end it is the strongest who reproduces and improves the species. (Übermensch – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cbermensch)
Ayn Rand transfers this idea to the economic sphere, making her ideas more acceptable. But isn’t this hypocrisy, since economic warfare, by taking away the means of existence, takes away the means of existence? “You take my life / When you do take the means whereby I live”. Shylock in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, Act IV sc1.
Why do so many people adhere to this ideology today?
Firstly, Ayn Rand is extremely popular with technology company bosses. Mark Cuban named one of his yachts Fountainhead after Ayn Rand’s novel. Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckenberg, Peter Thiel and Elon Musk are all billionaires who subscribe to these ideas. They see themselves as these exceptional beings. They want to be like Prometheus, who gave mankind fire without worrying about the consequences. They don’t want to be held accountable for their shortcomings, regardless of moral values. Today’s tech giants claim to be Rand’s in order to freeing themselves from rules and pleasing their egos, — but are ultra-interventionist in people’s lives, which contradicts even Rand’s vision. For example, Elon Musk wants to colonize Mars or put implants in people’s brains, so he doesn’t have to share his money or respect the law. These billionaires own around two-thirds of the social networks where they promote these ideas.
The new age of Ayn Rand: how she won over Trump and Silicon Valley – The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/10/new-age-ayn-rand-conquered-trump-white-house-silicon-valley
Zuckerberg’s Libertarianism: Why Do Republicans Embrace Cruelty? (Part 2) – The Hartmann Report: https://hartmannreport.com/p/zuckerbergs-libertarianism-why-do-64a
Secondly, the pursuit of happiness without concern for the consequences has a guilt-relieving effect on people who consume excessively. Since the early 2000s, ecological and social awareness has created anxiety and guilt. Even the most modest of people can adhere to Ayn Rand’s ideas to get rid of this guilt. Let’s not worry about the poorest people working in poor conditions, let’s not worry about environmental degradation.
Thirdly, most people are desperate to solve the world’s problems: wars, the environment, slavery… They’re waiting for an extraordinary savior to solve all the problems, a messiah. There is less religious feeling, but the need is still there. They are ready to sacrifice their freedom and part of their livelihood to enable exceptional beings to find solutions. For example, Open Ai proposes that artificial intelligence should manage agriculture. In their view, it should be left to them and not hindered by laws.
« Trump et Musk nous mènent vers un monde glacial, dominé par l’IA » – Reporterre: https://reporterre.net/Trump-et-Musk-nous-menent-vers-un-monde-glacial-domine-par-l-IA
AI seen as possible saviour in tech sector’s environmental struggles – The Brussels Times: https://www.brusselstimes.com/688771/ai-seen-as-possible-saviour-in-tech-sectors-environmental-struggles
Religions, Values, and Peak-Experiences, Abraham H. Maslow
Fourthly, since the Second World War, Western representative social democracy has been seen as the absolute of democracy, as Francis Fukuyama demonstrates in The End of History. This regime is currently the most democratic, but it is far from being an absolute. It’s the people who elect the elites, who all propose more or less the same thing. This is just one stage on the road to democracy. These elites have intervened in all areas of life and served special interests rather than the general interest, for example, by waging war for oil companies, failing to condemn pharmaceutical companies that have poisoned people, or using taxpayers’ money to save the profits of bank shareholders. By behaving like this, the state is not fulfilling its obligations. If the State behaves so badly, we should stop having a State, some say. This confirms the feeling that Ayn Rand is right. The Obama administration didn’t reverse what Bush had established: the war in Iraq, the maintenance of Guantanamo, the carrying of weapons of war by civilians, surveillance laws, and so on. Hollande has not reversed Sarkozy’s laws: minimum sentences, the disappearance of community policing, immigration laws, etc… This gives the idea that the State is a dead end. It’s the same no matter how you vote! The State doesn’t seem to be the solution, but the problem.
Série « Qui a peur des libertariens ? » Épisode 3/4 : Ayn Rand, égoïste et fière de l’être – France Culture: https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/les-chemins-de-la-philosophie/ayn-rand-egoiste-et-fiere-de-l-etre-7251079
And yet, the state is the solution. The common interest created states because it was necessary to pool resources to solve problems. For example, channeling a river, building a wall, having a granary, having schools, etc. Four thousand years before religion, people created states capable of solving problems that exceeded the capacities of individuals. States were born 5,000 years before Christ on the Mesopotamian plain. The first messiahs, the saviors of religions, date back to the liberation of the Jews from Babylon in 539 BC, a long time afterwards.
Francis Fukuyama – State-building – Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57983.State_Building
When the state puts itself at the service of individual interests, it betrays its raison d’être. The welfare state is a betrayal. Ayn Rand confuses the general interest, which enables the community to rise together, with the welfare state, which takes from taxpayers to give to special interests.
But it’s in the general interest to cure the population, collect the garbage and purify the sewage to avoid epidemics. It’s in everyone’s interest to maintain an army and protect borders. It’s in the general interest to maintain know-how through schools and the nationalization of strategic sectors of the economy. It’s in everyone’s interest to avoid famine in order to avoid riots, theft and violence. If we destroy the state, there will be nothing left but ruins.
This is what happens when you take Ayn Rand seriously – PBS: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/column-this-is-what-happens-when-you-take-ayn-rand-seriously
The state must intervene in the economy, but only in the general interest.
We need to reconsider the notion of the state, not reject it. The environment and pandemics are global problems that can only be solved through cooperation. No one person can face these challenges alone. For example, the elimination of polio was only possible thanks to the great global campaigns of the WHO (World Health Organization).
We need to find a solution to ensure that the State remains solely at the service of the general interest. The referendum would make it possible to restrain the State, to give it limits. We need a state that citizens can control. Citizens must be able to act at any time to steer the State in the direction of the common good. The same applies to the European Union and the UN. These are good institutions if citizens have full control over them, not just by electing representatives.
Today’s politicians use their power for special interests, corruption. If the state only served the general interest, these people would no longer have any interest in politics.
No one is going to save the world from pollution, war, pandemics and famine.
We need citizen participation and cooperation. At national and international level, we need legislative referendums to ensure that the people get the laws they want, and recall referendums to remove elected representatives who do not represent them well. Switzerland has both types of referendum. We need a fully democratic state and fully democratic trade union and fully democratic international organizations.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
