Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal

Rating:
Summary: thought provoking
Review: this book has some good points but there still is no true objectivism other than an empty ideal falsely attributed to rand's (and her cults')subjective view of what rationality is. Also, this book always seems to be brain candy for eager young students of business, civil law, etc.. but they might also look into the newer ideal of compassionate capitalism.

Rating:
Summary: Myth mashing of the highest order.
Review: This book is a wonderful collection of 26 articles written by Ayn Rand (20 articles total), Nathaniel Branden (2), Alan Greenspan (3) and Robert Hessen (1). The 26 count includes the two articles in the appendix by Ayn Rand: "MAN'S RIGHTS" and "THE NATURE OF GOVERNMENT". I do have one criticism of this book but I will save it until the end here. All 26 articles relate in one way or another to the theme that 100% Laissez-faire Capitalism is the best Political-Economic system for mankind and that this fact is unknown to most people in the World --including most people in the United States. The first 13 articles deal with the THEORY AND HISTORY of Capitalism along with the opening article being true to form Ayn Rand: she defines her terms right away. Here she does it by positing and then answering the question: "WHAT IS CAPITALISM?". The next 12 articles deal with and destroy so many myths about capitalism that it is probably safe to say that anyone who reads this book will find at least 12 of their own myths about capitalism somewhere within the book. The next 11 articles (#14 through #24) deal with the CURRENT STATE of the United States in the mid 1960's and it is amazing how pertinent and informative these articles still are today. For example, for pertinence see article #20, "THE NEW FASCISM: RULE BY CONSENSUS", and for the informative see and discover the correct definition of 'freedom' on the first page of the article titled "CONSERVATISM: AN OBITUARY". There is simply too much good in this book to cover it all in one short review. It is a must read for anyone who is serious about politics and economics. Even if you disagree you will be compelled to think about your own position and attempt to solidify your thoughts about it after reading this book. The two ending (APPENDIX) articles speak for themselves and either alone is worth the price of the book. All the articles in the book were written and copyrighted in the 1960's and the book itself as collection of these articles was first published in 1967. Back then, and this is my only criticism, back then Capitalism WAS an Unknown Ideal, but today thanks to Ayn Rand and others, including the contributors to this book, Capitalism is now the KNOWN ideal, consequently the books title is not quite as accurate as it was when first published.

Rating:
Summary: The "Editorial" on this work is wrong
Review: This is probably some of Rands best writing and might be considered her "manifesto". I like her writing style and I think some people take her the wrong way. I don't think, like the editor says, Rand "protesteth" too much. I think the problem the editor is trying to identify is not capitalism, but monopolistic capitalism.
In this field of philosophy you have Russian born Jew Ayn Rand, and self-loathing Jew Noam Chomsky. I'm Mr. In-Between and I can see the merits of the ideas of both. Rand was smarter and more articulate, I think. It's just sociological philosophy and ideas and stuff-it's not policy. Don't get wrapped around the axle with this stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Greenspan's Early Beliefs
Review: This is the best of Rand's non-fiction. In addition, it contains two articles by Alan Greenspan. Most strangely, in "Gold and Economic Freedom", he argues that the federal reserve is unnecessary, immoral, founded on a misunderstanding of economics, distructive to freedom and wealth, exists primarily to support chronic deficit spending and the welfare state, and was the cause of the great depression. That's right, our current Fed Head!