Gary Weiss Talks Ayn Rand - the Laissez-Faire Capitalist

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Whether you like or loathe Ayn Rand (and there are plenty of people on either side of that wall), it is impossible to deny the impact that her ideology and philosophy have had on modern politics and economics. Many might find her notion that "selflessness is evil" to be repulsive, but others find the idea that we should look after our own self-interests attractive. Rand's influence can be seen and heard everywhere from Ron Paul and the Libertarians to the Tea Party, not to mention other, more extreme groups. Journalist Gary Weiss was not a fan of Rand when he started writing his book,
Ayn Rand Nation
(St. Martin's Press), and he wasn't one when he finished. However, at the end of the project he had found respect for her, and he had found a way to ignore some of her more extreme ideas and take positive lessons from Rand's teachings. Weiss spoke to Benzinga and told us some of what he learned, as well as why he wrote the book in the first place.
First of all Gary, can you share a little of background? What brought you to Rand?
I've been a journalist for many years. I've spent most of the past 25 or 30 years writing about Wall Street, and particularly the underside of Wall Street. What got me interested in Ayn Rand was that I was trying to take a different approach to looking at the financial crisis. I wanted to look at the ideology that gave rise to the financial crisis. That's what really led me to Rand. As I point out in the book, I was fascinated by this photograph showing Ayn Rand posing with Alan Greenspan as he was being sworn in as head of the Council of Economic Advisors, the chairman of the CEA in 1974. There was Ayn Rand posing right with him in the White House like they're one big, happy family. I was curious to find out how much Rand had influenced Greenspan. Even though Greenspan is generally known in the U.S. for his monetary policy, his actions as a regulator had a great impact on America in the run up to the financial crisis. It got me very interested in Rand, her influences and the political dialog. That's what gave rise to the book.
You say in the book that for a long time, Rand remained in the back of your mind…
Yeah, for a long time I hadn't paid much attention to her. I had read her books when I was very young, or at least most of them (
Fountainhead
and
Atlas Shrugged
). So I hadn't paid her much attention, and I think that was a mistake. I think there are many good things you can get from reading Rand. I disagree with the people who say that she just writes crap and you have to ignore everything she says. I think there are benefits from reading Rand in a certain way. Much of what she writes can be helpful. It's where she goes off into the philosophy of laissez-faire capitalism, that's where we part company.
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What would she make of the Tea Party? They obviously adore her…
She generally did not have a high opinion of groups like the Tea Party that existed in her lifetime. Groups that existed back in the '50s and '60s that sort of came close to her ideology, she found them to be threats. She was anti-Libertarian. She felt that the Libertarians were ripping off her philosophy. She felt that you were either on her team, she didn't want anything to do with you, or you were ripping her off. She would not like the Tea Party because of the fact that so many of them are into religion. She would have found that very off-putting. Even though the current leadership of the Ayn Rand institute is reaching out to the Tea Party, I don't think Ayn Rand herself would have done that. I don't think she would have liked them at all.
Why should investors care about Ayn Rand, and what can they learn from her?
There are two ways you can look upon her. First of all, you can look upon her as a teacher of how to live your life and conduct your business. I know that there are some successful business people who say they have applied Rand's philosophies to their business. There are definitely business people who greatly admire her. I think another way that business people can look at her, the other thing about her, is that I feel that her opposition to and her views on regulation really brought about the financial crisis. Many enlightened business people believe that there should be regulation and restraints on business. You can look upon her as either a good or a bad example.
She compared JFK to Hitler, so what would she have made of the current President?
She would have felt the same about Obama. She would have despised Obama. There's no question about that at all.
Finally, did she make you rethink your own values at all?
Sure. I think that her views on self-interest are interesting. One should look after one's personal self-interest. I think her views on self-interest were extreme but if you view them with a certain discernment, you can derive value from them. She's right, people should look out for their self-interests. That same principal can be applied to political debates that we're having in this country. I mean, look. If one favors Medicare for instance, it's in the self-interests of people who are approaching retirement to favor Medicare. There's nothing to apologize for. People should have no problem arguing in favor of things that are in their interests. I think that she has a point about sacrifice. My quarrel with Rand is that I think she completely goes off the deep end in terms of selfishness and selflessness. She goes off the deep end to the point that you'd have a society if you applied her principals that wouldn't be worth living in.
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Posted In: PoliticsGeneralAyn RandGary Weiss
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