Biography: Exploring Capitalist Novelist Ayn Rand -- Vision.org

PASADENA, CA, May 19 (MARKET WIRE) --
In today's economic climate, as financial crises continue and governments
worldwide seek interventions that will stem monetary collapse, novelist
Ayn Rand's concept of laissez-faire capitalism has resurfaced in many
quarters. Are her views based on sound principles? In the Vision.org
biography, "Ayn Rand: Fantasyland," contributing writer Dan Cloer
explores the premises on which she based her capitalist philosophy.

Born in 1905 in St. Petersburg, Rand experienced the Bolshevik revolution
firsthand. Emigrating to America in 1926, her philosophy of Objectivism
and the heroic nature of man was already solidified. "I have held the same
philosophy I now hold, for as far back as I can remember," she reminisced
at age 52. "I have learned a great deal through the years and expanded my
knowledge of details... but I have never had to change any of my
fundamentals."

In her seminal work, "Atlas Shrugged," Rand claimed that all can be
explained if one works out from the proper perspective. "Contradictions do
not exist," she wrote. "Whenever you think that you are facing a
contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is
wrong."

"Certainly Rand was correct when she argued that humans need a philosophy
of life lest we become lost in one form of chaos or another," Cloer
writes. "Rand failed to recognize," the article continues, "that humans
are neither perfectly logical nor perfectly emotional; she misunderstood
her own humanity. We rarely have all the facts; our perceptions are
skewed by experience and by our natural tendency to stereotype and
self-affirm. We are thus apt to draw invalid conclusions."

Nevertheless, Rand's philosophy has continued to inform policymakers.
Cloer points out that "notable leaders including former Federal Reserve
chairman Alan Greenspan and the chief economic advisor to Russia's former
president, Vladimir Putin, note Rand's influence in their thinking." The
leaders are among others "who strongly believe it is imperative to
acknowledge and remove all barriers to Rand's laissez-faire capitalism and
thus allow pure human self-interest to run free."

The Vision biography, Fantasyland, illuminates the philosophy and ideas
which Rand called her "personal inspiration" upon which she built all of
her objectivist and capitalistic directives. Cloer notes and asks, "The
core questions that Rand often posed continue to call out. To what
internal fantasies do I still cling? Am I anchoring the foundation of my
life on fact or on fiction?" You can view the entire article on the
Vision.org homepage at www.vision.org.

About Vision:

Vision.org is an online magazine with quarterly print issues that feature
in-depth coverage of current social issues, religion and the Bible,
history, family relationship topics and insights into philosophical,
moral and ethical issues in society today. For a free subscription to the
Vision quarterly magazine, visit their web site at http://www.vision.org.

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Contact
Edwin Stepp
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www.vision.org

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