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Ayn Rand could have saved herself a lot of heartache and unpleasantness if she had heeded the kinds of advice rampant in our country:
"Go along to get along."
"Don't offend anyone."
"Be compassionate."
"Avoid telling the full truth."
"Never say what you really believe or feel."
"Abstain from intolerance."
"Don't judge people."
"Avoid absolutes."
Many people who know about Rand and her writings hate her and despise what she believed. She's been called a Nazi, a fascist, and a cold, unfeeling woman who peddled cheap philosophy to impressionable young people. A cult leader.
It is certainly true that many of her friendships fell by the wayside during her lifetime. Isabel Paterson (author of The God of the Machine). Barbara and Nathaniel Branden. Many members of "The Collective." Especially in her later years (after the hostile reception Atlas Shrugged received), Rand appeared to be more rigid and sensitive to slights and disagreements, even from relative strangers.
Of course, if she had followed the politically correct admonitions that have seeped into the pores even of many who profess today to uphold liberty and reason, she would never have written what she did. At best, she would be a figure obscure to those active in the movement to restore classical liberalism and virtually unknown to the public, at large.
She did not, of course, tread down that path of least resistance. For Rand, truth and freedom remained her highest ideals. Even on those occasions when she failed to live up to her own standards, still she adhered as best she could to the principles she and her predecessors had discovered.
Then and now, the vitriol heaped upon her and those who accept the principles of the philosophy she developed is ironic and sad. Those who most loudly proclaim the evils of intolerance and hatred and the virtues of compassion and sensitivity are, of course, the least tolerant and compassionate, the most insensitive and hate-filled when it comes to those who disagree with them. They may heap any amount of scorn upon their opponents, promulgate the most outrageous lies that favor them or disparage their enemies, and commit the most egregious examples of incivility. If, however, those who struggle against that irrationality, that collectivism and statism, that sacrificial altruism merely speak the truth, they are derided, condemned, and ostracized for their supposed shortcomings in humanity.
Double-standards and self-contradiction are hardly surprising, though, for those who reject objectivity, who view truth as something to be manipulated, and who are fully and deeply committed to the notions that "might makes right," that the "ends justify the means."
In 1962, at the Ford Hall Forum in Boston, Massachusetts, Ayn Rand delivered a lecture entitled, "The Fascist New Frontier." In this talk, she began with a recitation of a political program advocated by many people. Government guaranteed right to employment; care for the elderly; special favors for small businesses; expansion of public education; public health coverage; prohibition of child labor; programs to fight materialism; and an acknowledgement that the good of the many must come before the good of the one.
These proposals of the Nazi party in 1920 Germany fit quite comfortably, of course, in the portfolios of 98% of our politicians and in the desires of 98% of the adult population in this country.
Rand went on to point out the similarities between these ideas and principles of the fascists and those of the administration of John Kennedy.
Distressingly, given the promises and programs advanced by the major political parties -- from expanded Medicare and Social Security benefits to extensions of government-run schools to include preschool and "grade 13" -- and the stated wishes of the populace, we have made little intellectual progress in the past four decades. What is rather amazing, though, is -- that by today's standards -- Kennedy might well be seen as a moderate or even a conservative politician (as when he advocated large tax cuts to energize the economy). That a platform considered "liberal" in its day appears "moderate" now is only one indicator of how far we have slid down that slippery slope to open fascism.
When Rand insisted that the published version of her speech be included in the collection of essays that became The Virtue of Selfishness, Bennett Cerf at Random House balked at fulfilling his original commitment. Rand took her collection elsewhere. (The essay remained unpublished in book form until 1998 when it appeared in the revised edition of The Ayn Rand Column.)
Rand could, of course, have acceded to Cerf's concerns and maintained a cordial relationship with him and his publishing company. She could have said, "Oh, dear. I don't wish to offend anyone," and toned down her rhetoric, diluted her analyses, and eschewed controversial subjects.
And in doing so, violated the essence of her character, betrayed her integrity, and destroyed what made her unique.
But Ayn Rand was a hero. She had the "courage of her convictions." Indeed, she was unafraid of confrontation and disagreement and had more cojones than most of her male contemporaries. (Why is it perfectly all right for the collectivists, the irrationalists, and the altruists to disagree with those who defend reason, liberty, and self-interest...but it is shameful, nasty, and morally wrong for the latter to disagree with the former?)
Rand did not believe in martyrdom, in sacrificing oneself to no purpose. She did not advocate that we proselytize to those uninterested in discussing ideas or lecture to those who disagree with us. A simple "I disagree" can suffice. Silence, however, gives implicit assent to those pushing for greater restrictions on freedom, to those who seek to undermine logic and objectivity. That, she contended, is impermissible. She celebrated the heroic to her dying day.
A hero is not someone who never errs, who is infallible. He is someone who will not let mistakes go uncorrected.
A hero is not someone who makes snap decisions, pretending to an impossible omniscience he does not possess. He respects evidence and consistency, weighs arguments, and renders judgments to the best of his knowledge and abilities.
A hero is not someone who evades responsibility and reality. He is dedicated to uncovering even unpleasant truths and accepting the consequences of what he says and what he does.
A hero is not someone who places the feelings of others at the pinnacle of his principles. He respects how others feel but adheres first and foremost to his own self, his own ideals, his own mind.
A hero is not someone who merely asserts a position and leaves the intellectual field. He proves what he believes and accepts the dictum of Abelard that understanding must precede belief, not the reverse as advocated by Augustine.
A hero is not someone who steers clear of conflict at any cost. While he doesn't relish fights, he does not shy from them when necessary and appropriate, knowing that to do so only leads to greater problems down the line.
A hero is not someone who brags or forces either himself or his wishes on others. He trades value-for-value and expects others to recognize and like him for his virtues, not for his faults.
A hero is not someone who deserts his friends when times are rough. He is loyal to those who honor him and his values with their friendship. He stands beside them despite the costs.
A hero is not someone who compromises who he is, what he believes, or what he does. He may compromise on specifics but only in those areas consonant with his morality.
A hero is not someone who indulges his emotions. He is intimately aware of what he feels but does not surrender to his whims at the expense of his mind. He realizes that head and heart should reflect -- not clash with -- one another.
A hero is not someone who wallows in envy or hates the good for being good. He responds to positives more than he does to negatives.
A hero is not someone who shields his self from scrutiny, either by himself or by others. He is open, honest, and above-board. He does not dissemble or hoard his virtues as though he might ruin them from too much use.
A hero is not someone who is a spendthrift with his love. He reserves that emotion for the best of what fills his existence.
A hero is someone who believes, professes, and relentlessly implements freedom, reason, individualism, and morality.
A coward is someone who knows that he should emulate the hero but chooses not to.
Honor the hero that you are. No other gift you can earn and give to yourself is half so precious.
