Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: I just finished this book and loved it! I have read about 1000 books, and this one is probably my favorite. Chapters from Ayn Rand, Alan Greenspan and Nathaniel Brandon are merged into a general theme explaining the importance of FREEDOM, Capitalism, etc. I am so inspired, that I decided to resume my work on spectrum privatization... Thanks again Ayn!
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Summary: WTFAHQ??
Review: "Capitalism requires state power and public plunder like plants require soil, and an un-revised, true account of actual history will back that up completely." yeah....sure,keep telling yourself that...So "the actual history" of capitalism has a bad record you say? One: Capitalism inherited the problems of the previous government, it did not create them. Two: Because of forces propelling the anti capitalists (i.e: those who don't even knowleft from right)Capitalism has neverdominated aregion of the earth long enough to show it's full impact of freedom and wealth.
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Summary: The _Library Journal_ must be in dire straits
Review: To Mark Pumphrey, who wrote the editorial review: You should read the book rather than listen to the cassette version; this would be a good way for you to polish your reprehensible grammar and punctuation skills. And the Shakespere reference goes "thou doth protest too much," not "protesteth too much." Have you been listening to audio versions of the Bard as well? Ayn Rand's ideas are certainly not out of date; look at California. Mr. Good Government and the greenie weenies prevented power companies from building new plants. And gee, look what happened--blackouts! And Gray "that 70s show" Davis has hired a bunch of spin doctors to demonize the entire energy industry. Oh no, we could all learn quite a bit from Ms. Rand.
Rating: 
Summary: Read this if You're Stupid and wish to be so Irreversibly
Review: Once you enslave your mind to a blind, fantasy-based, utopian distortion of capitalist society, which has nothing to do with the actual functioning of that system on any level, at anytime whatsoever (and the top beneficiaries wouldn't have it any other way - no matter what this "economic-libertarian" drivel espouses), this is what comes out of your pencil. Read this book, turn off the real world, and turn on to a reactionary and libertarian-utopian festival of greed, plunder, pillage and plutocracy WORSHIP touted as "common sense." Don't let any "libertarian" tell you that capitalists are against "big government." Capitalism requires state power and public plunder like plants require soil, and an un-revised, true account of actual history will back that up completely.
Rating:
Summary: A Stellar Introduction to Capitalism
Review: The dissatisfaction most people feel for the current state of their society has been attributed to many things: cunning politicians; greedy businessmen; absence of community spirit; lack of sympathy; lack of empathy. You name it, it has been suggested. Most commonly overlooked, because it's taken for granted, is statism---the use of force by the government against its citizens. This element, though obviously the tool for wholesale slaughter in the Thirdworld, has been largely ignored in America as a necessary consequence of a "social conscience". Few intellectuals before Ayn Rand, and since one could add, have recognized statism as a means to destroying freedom in the West and hence, prosperity, while realizing the more fundamental nature of statism---the implementation of altruism into practice. This book rejects statism outright and provides an alternative as it elucidates the principles of laissez-faire capitalism. Through some of the most compelling and original writing on the subject, the reader discovers the socio-political system built for rational beings, which was almost America's but then fell into obscurity. Systematically, the leading myths about capitalism are refuted from the theoretical outlook, while incorporating historical events for demonstration and concretization. Without this moral defence presented by Rand, any argument for capitalism is superficial and incomplete. It is only by understanding the ethical framework of capitalism, that one will ever be able to profit with pride. If you would like to be removed from the current swamp of uncertain, unprincipled, trial-and-error politics which is destroying society, this book is indispensable and will make apparent why Rand herself refused to compromise.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: For those who have not given Atlas Shrugged a shot, perhaps intimidated by its girth, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal seems to summarize its best points. While I don't consider myself a true objectivist--I am one of the mixed up individuals who CAN advocate 100% lasse-faire free market policy and yet entertain the idea of a realm "beyond the grave"--Capitalism spends its time advocating (mostly) the areas where objective concepts can work. Ayn demonstrates the roots of war, persecution of big business, child labor, copyrights, leftist student rebellion, and "extremism". Also, ironic commentary by the market "bubble popper" himself, Alan Greenspan, show how much a man can change in 30 years, as he blasts antitrust laws and the abolition of the gold standard. All in all, this collection of ideas will really make one realize exactly why Tom Daschle can persuade 1/2 the American public that the rich are getting more tax returns than they deserve in thirty seconds (Lexus and Muffler). Logic and reason cannot win without the facts--our society doesn't have time for the facts. The Keyensian socialism that is running rampant in government economics and university economic departments MUST be aware that their policies are simply illogical "band-aid on broken leg" policy--it is an ideological philosophy that is shared among them. All in poverty is better than wealth discrepency. One quote shown throughout this our history (and this book) is simply "At the cost of WHOM?". Keep that in mind when watching both our lefties and righties and their great new programs offerred (clips for 30 seconds) on your local news.
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Summary: Her least original book, and she had help
Review: That's why it's her best: she knew her strengths and stuck to them, letting other people do the hard parts. She also had the sense to include a shortlist of recommended reading, which she had never done before and never did again. So we can forgive this book some of its antilibertarian, statist flaws: for example, her defense of "big business" as "America's most persecuted minority" (Murray Rothbard had a few chuckles over this); her thoroughly statist account of "The Nature of Government" and her oracular dismissal of anarchocapitalism; her undermining of the Second Amendment by declaring that government needs a monopoly on the power of coercion (the whole point of the federalist system is to _avoid_ such a monopoly, though perhaps Russian immigrants don't always grasp this point); her insistence that the American commonwealth was based on the (also statist) philosophy of Aristotle (when in fact it owed a great deal more to John Calvin, though Calvin himself might have been surprised to hear it). In fact, forget her own positive account altogether; her philosophy itself was almost uniformly rhetorical-polemical nonsense. But she had a fine knack for picking apart the arguments of some of the _opponents_ of capitalism, and there's quite a bit of that in this volume. And her bibliography will introduce you to Ludwig von Mises. For _that_, we can forgive her a lot.
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Summary: Non-Fiction that's GOOD to read!
Review: Indeed, this is great non-fiction. A collection of articles by Ayn Rand, Alan Greenspan, and Nathaniel Branden make this book a battering ram against the so-called ideals of today's society. My copy was dog-eared, permanenlty lent, then a new one repurchased. Personal notes in the margins. This book made a continuously great read. We all long for a perfect world. Ayn is one of the few who says, "What is reality for but application of theory?" Don't let people say "Well, that's great in THEORY, but in the real world..." they only show their own inability to stand up for what they believe. Believe in capitalism.
Rating: 
Summary: A provacative but futile exercise in wishful thinking
Review: If for no other reason than that it includes three essays by fed chairman Alan Greenspan, this is an important, and sometimes even a thought-provoking work. True enough, the theories presented in this book will tell you a great deal more about the sentiments of their authors than they will about how politics works in the real world of fact, but that is true of nearly all books on politics. The main flaw in this book is that it is far too obssessed with proving what "ought" to be rather than with showing what actually is. Rand regarded politics as a mere extension of ethics. I would argue that this is a mistake. Politics is about power and the competition for social and political advantage. It is not about what "ought to be." Rand regarded the theory of rights presented in this book as one of her great achievements. Perhaps on a purely theoretical level she is correct. But on a practical level, she is surely wrong. Theories of rights, when examined empirically, are merely speculative (and hence impotent) attempts to regulate the division of social advantage. In reality, however, no merely speculative theory of right can be found to regulate the division of social advantage: those individuals with the greater strength, intelligence, and shrewdness take the lion's share, regardless of what any moral philosopher might say. Nor is it clear how any theory of rights, even if it could be established logically, could be enforced in a real world dominated by vested interests and political sharks. It is for this reason that a great deal of what is presented by Rand and her colleagues in this book appears to me quite beside the point--a mere exercise in wishful thinking. The laissez-faire capitalism which Rand advocated is purely utopian. But it is not utopian for economic reasons, as leftists naively believe, but for political reasons: the corporation and politicians who run this country will never tolerate a system of laissez-faire (they are not about to give up their power).
Rating:
Summary: Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal - until now
Review: Ayn Rand's "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal" is an inspiring case against the plague of misinformed criticisms made by the "New Left". Rand provides essays which are both convincing and to the point. The essays provided by Nathaniel Brandon make the book even more solid in presenting the moral case for Capitalism. 5 stars - need I say more?
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