Ayn Rand was a parasite.

.....hich a good randian would say is completely and totally irrelevant to their calculus, and instead focus on her lowering herself to a "sub-human" condition by knowingly participating in a parasitic collective endeavor by virtue of state compulsion.

 

William Edward Hickman

 

Rand supporters would argue that if she had not been forced to pay federal income taxes, she might have had enough savings to pay her own medical bills.

With that out of the way, I consider her one of the most vile human beings of the 20th century.

 

I have to confess that I don't really care. While I have immense disagreements with the various ideas she used her works to propound, when you cut to the chase, she was simply a writer of fiction, no different than a writer of other works of fiction who use their gifts to insert their political beliefs into their art. It's not easy to write fiction. I know, having struggled with it for years, and my sister is a successful romance writer. She'd agree that it ain't easy. So I cut Rand some slack. Those who worship her should remember that for all the "sound and fury" (signifying not a whole hell of a lot), Rand made up some stuff, worked very hard, had her works published, and then did whatever she pleased in her private life. I don't view her as some intellectual "icon." Rand told stories.

 

As do many conservative icons these days.

 

This.

She exaggerated her stories to make a point. Problem is people take a thought like hers and think it's foolproof and applicable to real life. Her utopia would never exist because in her books greed by business only leads to good and has been shown repeatedly over the years that is not true.

In the real world for every Bill Gates there is a Bernie Madoff.

In Rand's world there are only Bill Gates.

 

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

 

When I think of Ayn Rand, I think of boring long books that put me to sleep.

 

To be fair, Anthem was a boring short book that puts people to sleep.