Ayn Rand

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Ayn Rand

Алиса Розенбаум
Born
Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum

February 2, 1905
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
DiedMarch 6, 1982
New York City, New York, United States
NationalityRussian
Political orientationAnarcho-capitalism
Liberalism
White supremacy


Alice O'Connor (February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known as Ayn Rand, was a far-right political theorist who believed that the bourgeoisie should rule without restrictions.[1] She praised the genocide and colonization of indigenous peoples in North America.[2]

Early life

Rand's father owned a pharmacy in Petrograd, which was nationalized after the Russian Revolution. She became an atheist as a teenager studied history at the University of Petrograd, where she read Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, and Schiller. She admired Nietzsche's concept of an Übermensch (superhuman). After studying screenwriting for a year at the State Institute for Cinema Arts, she moved to the United States in 1926 and became a U.S. citizen in 1931.[3]

Early works

Rand wrote her first novel, The Fountainhead, in 1943, which is about a genius architect who blows up a housing complex that he designed after another architect made changes to its design. In 1950, Rand moved to New York.[3]

Objectivism

In the 1950s, Rand wrote her most famous novel, Atlas Shrugged. She created objectivism, a philosophy that attempted to encompass economics, epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, and politics. She believed that individuals must exist for their own sake and pursue their own self-interest.[3]

Political views

Rand supported laissez-faire capitalism and believed that the state should be completely separate from the economy. She generally sympathized with Austrian economists such as Hayek and Mises but criticized their utilitarianism, which she believed could be used to defend socialism.[3]

References

  1. Michael Roberts (2022-10-04). "Trickle down economics" MR Online. Archived from the original on 2023-06-08.
  2. “But now, as to the Indians, I don’t even care to discuss that kind of alleged complaints that they have against this country. I do believe with serious, scientific reasons the worst kind of movie that you have probably seen—worst from the Indian viewpoint—as to what they did to the white man. I do not think that they have any right to live in a country merely because they were born here and acted and lived like savages. Americans didn’t conquer; Americans did not conquer that country.”

    Ben Norton (2015-10-14). "Libertarian superstar Ayn Rand defended Native American genocide: "Racism didn't exist in this country until the liberals brought it up"" Salon. Archived from the original on 2022-09-27. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 James Farmelant, Mark Lindley (2008-12-16). "Six Prominent American Freethinkers" MR Online. Archived from the original on 2023-12-24.