I think this article about some recent research will be of interest to the contributors here. I don’t think Ayn would find the results surprising:
Envy Is Not To Be Trifled With
Couch potatoes seeking choice gossip will appreciate the fact that a film version of The Passion of Ayn Rand exists, starring Helen Mirren:
Thank you, Edward The Head. Actually, I didn’t start reading The Fountainhead with profound anti-Ayn-Rand-ism already started in me- it used to be one of my best friend’s favourite books, although she’s not an Objectivist by any means.
Perhaps I misunderstood, but at least in T.F. she seemed to portray altruism as the desire to prevent the great from rising by enforcing mediocrity. At root, altruism was portrayed as badly-directed selfishness, related to “the worst kind of second-hander”, the one who desires power. I disagree with her definition of altruism. Anyone want to discuss it, or is that too much hijacking?
I was unaware of any concurrent anti-Rand threads. Who else has been ranting?
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=126721
Ayn Rand thread over in Great Debates, more centered on her philsophy than the person and her behavior.(mostly)
Steven
It seems that she believed everyone wanted the worst for everyone-that people who were altruistic weren’t REALLY altruistic-they just wanted to be selfish, but they were too chickenshit to admit it.
I got the impression she had a hard time believing that there are those of us who actually DO enjoy being altruistic, not because there’s something in it for ourselves.
I think that part of the problem is that people tend to forget what did happen to her and her family. It was already said above that the Russians took her family’s property away etc. She probably was afraid that the same type of thing would happen here in the US. Granted she did go over the top with Toohey so many people might have missed the point.
I think that the “second-hander” was the type of person Toohey tried to be, basically a prick who was power hungry. I don’t think she meant that all people who were trying to be altruistic wanted power.
She did address this, though I don’t remember exactly where. When you do something for someone else you do, and should get something out of it. She said though that the people who just out right say, oh I don’t get anything out of it I just help people, were the second-handers because they were lying to themselves.
We can even look to Rand’s work for examples. In The Fountainhead Roark helped out Keating out a few times desiging some of Keating’s buildings. Roark worked when everyone else was gone, he got no money, but he did get what he wanted and that was to see his buildings built. Roark also designed the public housing building. To him it was a challenge and he got the satisfation of actaully doing what no one else could. He did destroy the building but that was because the “second-handers” basically took it over and made it more expensive than it needed to be.
I still don’t see how Rand’s ideals go against giving of oneself. She mearly said that you must freely give of yourself and not be forced.
Raaaa! What crawled up you hiny? I just wanted the gossip, which everyone here hints at but no one has given me the whole skinny. I suggest you take that chip off your shoulder and ither talk or stuff it.
Personal curiosity is a perfectly acceptable reason for wanting this information. All I wanted was to be sure any words I gave you didn’t get repeated in some kind of arguement about the validity of her philosophical ideals. If you have no such arguement going on, then you are perfectly free to investigate her life for your own curiosity. Seems like you already know a good bit of it, betrayal, lies, obsession, etc. Kind of strikes me as a perverse curiosity, like going out of your way to watch a train wreck, but hey it’s your life.
http://www.vix.com/objectivism/Writing/RandBiography.html
A basic biography, not a whole lot of dirt here, but a decent basic timeframe is established.
http://www.2think.org/02_2_she.shtml
“The Cult of Rand” a paper which describes the early days and adherants of her philosophy. Many choice quotes from Nathaniel and Barbera Brenden’s biographies/autobiographies. Some discussion on her ideals, mostly to show how she kept her disciples in line.
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/Rand.html
A fairly damning biography that doesn’t touch much on her ideas, just her history and activities.
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_rand_ayn.htm
A brief bio from about.com that summarizes many of the points touched on in the other areas.
Enjoy,
Steven
Of COURSE I get something out of it-it makes me feel better. I LIKE seeing others happy. This is going to sound so stuck up, but I see people suffering, and I think-well, what if I were in their place? I’d be miserable, and I’d want someone to help me. So, I help them-because I would want that in their place. That way, everyone is happy.