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I read two of Ayn Rand’s books in the late 1960s. I did not agree with most of what she wrote. However, there were passages in “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged” that ring true when I step back and view the politics of today with a critical eye.
Why is denigrating achievement and talent given any semblance of credibility in our society? Why are we dumbing down and coarsening our culture? Why is mediocrity given any value at all? There is no logic or rationale behind any of these trends. They smack of nihilism raised to a higher exponent than I care to accept.
Ayn Rand saw these trends coming with the rise of socialism and the idea that everyone is equal in every aspect of life. Socialism mandates that no one should rise above anyone else and that there is no hierarchy in a just society. These kinds of beliefs run counter to the essence of life, to common sense, and the lessons of history.
There are those today in America who wish the ideas that Rand identified were true because such people believe so strongly in absolute fairness and justice. Absolute fairness and justice are unattainable. The truth is much harsher than that because life is not fair or just, nor can it be. We can strive to be fair and just in our own lives. However, when we try to raise fairness and justice to a broader application in all of society or life, we fall far short, because humankind is not perfectible in this life.
The Founding Fathers created a unique foundation for America that continues to the present day. That foundation was the recognition that life is an unalienable right, as are liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as I have written elsewhere in my blog, are natural rights. Natural rights are not derived from human law but are transcendental, which means they derive from a higher power.
I am afraid that the socialistic ideas that Rand wrote about in her novels have remarkable staying power. Their power appears to be inversely proportional to their validity and application in a democratic society. To counter them, I believe we have to bring back common sense and rational thinking to the national discourse.