Ayn Rand and the Angels of Industry

I enjoyed "Atlas Shrugged"; particularly the "money speech" in it.

Ayn Rand is an object of worship for many corporatists and even some honest business-people, due to her focus on self-interest and the reduction/elimination of government and the idea that institutionalized altruism can be a cover for oppression. Her heroes are inspiring and "Atlas Shrugged" is one of the best books I've ever read.

That said, Ayn Rand focused on the good guys among captains of industry, and paid scant attention to cronyism, collusion between corporations and governments, monopoly and other forms of large-scale lying, cheating and stealing. A refugee from the turmoil resulting from the Russian Revolution, and useful to those in the United States who wanted to increase powers of the corporate elite while reducing the influence of the unionized working class, Ayn Rand paints a wonderful picture of un-regulated capitalism.

The flaw I percieve in this puristic portrayal is that she fails to account for the fact that all men are not angels, and that if there is no referee in the business-game, capitalism will naturally tend towards such forms of destruction as monopoly, much in the same manner that an un-contained nuclear reaction in a power-plant will result in disaster. There must be an effective, fair, regulatory referee to ensure that productive competition is maintained. This should be the purpose of our government, not oppression under the disguise of altruism or security. Thomas Jefferson said we should have "...a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned."

With no constitutional democratic republic, we are doomed to corporate feudal slavery and wars. I think Ayn Rand tended to ignore that truth, but I still highly recommend "Atlas Shrugged".