The Virtue of Selfishness

Rating:
Summary: She didn't practice what she preached!
Review: Rand was notorious for her hatred of such concepts as "help," "compassion," and "generosity." (As Dominique Francon says in FOUNTAINHEAD, "Compassion is ... something one feels for a squashed caterpillar.")
In her own life, though, Rand was helped by all kinds of people. Her mother in Russia sold the family jewels so that the daughter could travel to America. Ayn's relatives in Chicago gave her free room and board, a train ticket to L.A., and cash gifts. In Hollywood she was helped by Cecil B. DeMille and she lived in privately subsidized housing. Her husband got her a green card and served as her chauffeur and handyman. Her editor at Bobbs-Merrill risked his job to get FOUNTAINHEAD published.

And yet, when she became rich and famous, she wrote novels and essays that heaped scorn on those very acts of kindness and generosity.

Ayn Rand, quite simply, was a fraud.

For a thorough unmasking of La Rand and the Rand religion, see Jeff Walker's THE AYN RAND CULT.
For a satire of Rand's ideas, see my own THE PIANISTH WHO LIKED AYN RAND: A NOVELLA & 13 STORIES. In preparation for the title piece, I read all of awful Ayn's oeuvre, raided it for quotes, and proceeded to put them on the lips of my characters. It was my way off depicting and dramatizing the seductive lure of Randism on susceptible American adolescents.

See also my essay, "Who Was Ayn Rand?" in SALMAGUNDI, Fall-Winter 2004.

Rating:
Summary: A life changing book
Review: I read this book more than 40 years ago. At the time, I was searching for a rational basis for ethics in a world where everyone believed that only dogmatic religion could supply the basis for an ethical life.

Read this book and think for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: At last, an honest atheist!
Review: I chose the title for this review carefully. I have had numerous discussions with atheists. I have noticed a common inconsistency about them: they roundly criticize Christian doctrines such as the Incarnation, Resurrection, etc. But at the same time they affirm much of Christian morality, such as concern for the poor, the need to subjugate one's personal ambitions to the good of "society," etc. But they never build a case for why these "virtues" are of any use in a Universe without God, where a brutal system of survival of the fittest is directly responsible for what progress the world has enjoyed. When I confront them with this error in their thinking they either go into a glassy-eyed stare of start shouting slogans.

Rand is a refreshing change from these pseudo-intellectual morons. She starts with the premises that Man is the highest form of life in the Universe and that naturalistic evolution is true, and develops a moral code consistent with those beliefs. Her conclusion: that a society based on self interest will lead to the elimination of the weak and the development of better, smarter and prettier human beings. Now THAT is an ethical code consistent with a godless, materialistic Universe where the strong survive and the weak - well, screw them! I applaud Ms. Rand for having the courage her fellow unbelievers lack: to think out the true implications of their worldview. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: Interesting read.
Review: I recommend this book over Ayn Rand's novels. You don't have to put up with hundreds of pages of the conversations of Howard Roark, Dominique and John Galt. This reader is always surprised by the perennial claim that the author's Fountainhead novel is rated second on the all time best seller list after the Bible. For the reader who wants some exposure to Ayn Rand's philosophy called Objectivism, this book, "The Virtue of Selfishness" is the way to go. This way the reader can cut out the middleman and get the philosophy straight from the author. You actually get a more well rounded view of her philosophy. As a reader who tackled both the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, I consider my time was better spent with this book. My problem with this book is that I feel the author could have done a better job explaining how Objectivism would work within a society, not just the individual. Ayn Rand extols pure capitalism and the U.S.A. was her adopted country, and the country closest to her ideal. Why didn't she mention or explain away examples such as J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie or John D. Rockefeller where the big winners can actually change the rules of the game from "free for all capitalism" to monopoly. The book is also
silent on the segment of society requiring charity. What would be the effect on a society based solely on Ayn Rand's philosophy ?

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful; interesting twist
Review: This is one of my favorite philosophical books I've read. After reading each of Ayn Rand's books, it is always interesting how I see things from a different perspective. If you'renot sure about the term 'Selfishness' just try this book because it is a great conversation piece with nearly every crowd of people. It is excellently written and very clear and concise.