Ayn Rand & The World She Made: Q&A with Anne Heller

[SwordOfApollo]

To understand Ayn Rand, you have to understand her philosophy, because this is what she strove to live by. You cannot judge whether she succeeded or failed in various cases without BOTH a very strong understanding of Objectivism AND a detailed knowledge of her life. It is clear that Heller does not understand Objectivism, and because of this, she frequently attributes false psychological motives to Rand. She also does so because she takes the subtle Rand-smears of the Brandens at face value.

[endauthority]

lol ayn rand. what a useless retard she was

[bearmare]

My reading of Rand also convinced me that she lived with a fear of humanity, and for good reason; humanity is a pretty terrifying creation. It easily bending to any irrationality, no matter how nakedly violent it maybe, as though it feels to satisfy its thirst for bloodlust. Humanity is the only creature that kills for pleasure or advancement, not survival. Yet, I think Rand still believed that humanity could rise to its ideals through its capacity to reason. Reason is the path to civilization.

[welaughindoors91]

why are these objectivists getting so pissed off at this woman? She doesn't seem to adhere to the philosophy but she never attacks it. She's actually a refreshingly unbiased, fairly neutral and OBJECTIVE biographer on Ayn. I think, if it wasn't about her and therefore a little insulting, Rand would have appreciated that.

[mustang607]

I couldn't watch. Afraid to be turned to stone.

[urdisturbing]

Rands intellectual and financial heir is Leonard Peikoff, and he has advocates THE most evil foreign policy in American politics. He believes that we should invade Iran and all other oil producing countries, using nuclear force if necessary, simply because their oil rightfully belongs to American oil companies. I don't think most of her supporters truely understand her philosophy. If people with Rands mindset get into power it may well mean the end of our species.

[jimmyt3411]

@urdisturbing Attacking Iran for their 'hard earned oil' is against anybody's philosophy if they endorse Ayn Rand's views, having the integrity follow the principle of earning your own wealth also includes a nation earning their own wealth. Society is far from accepting Ayn Rand's views, which is the exact reason why the U.S. will fall. The three top most expensive programs that are draining our national budget are entitlement liabilities, which Ayn Rand detested.

[urdisturbing]

@jimmyt3411 Leonard Peikoff wrote the introduction to the current edition of Atlas Shrugged, and Ayn Rand refered to him as "The only other person who truly understands my philosophy." If he doesn't understand objectivism then nobody does. Remember, Rand hated libertarians because of their "Wimpish" foreign policies, so she wouldn't have supported Ron Paul and she would have loved the war in Iraq. btw, the 1.5 trillion America spends on its military is the real reason for its debt.

[Nationstatesuser]

@jimmyt3411 So, those views are Ayn Rand's alone? There are multiple ways to govern. One possible solution (which I am giving just to prove you wrong in that the only workable ideas are Rand's and other like-minded free-marketeers) is that you simply tax everyone to make up the deficit and sustain the gov't's current budget.

[tekproxy]

The crypt keeper has some fairly erudite views on literature. I keep waiting for him to do the laugh...

[SMSUMarine]

When did Moammar Gadhafi write a book about Ayn Rand?

[jajajlol]

Ugly in spirit and body. Wow.

[Megabyxos]

This lady should play a Death Eater in a Harry Potter movie.

[AkaiTsukiShimitsu]

Maybe Ayn Rand had her problems... but there was no fear in Atlas Shrugged o.o

Don't really know how her fears could be used as a basis for debating her philosophy xD

[lowslowflyer77]

Wow i won't be looking up this (Anne Heller's) book anytime soon! She makes no sense i know that some people have fears that can boarder on phobias but you can't read any of Rand books and get any picture like this women is peddling .

[AmericanNohbuddy]

Anyone ever play Bioshock?

[BIackOp]

@AmericanNohbuddy Yes, and I can tell you why Rapture failed. It was because Andrew Ryan was a monarchist, breaking every principle he started with. He had faith in a market, but never looked on what made the market. Instead he put a box around human action and decided as a King (which was hypocritical against his supposed position) how society should function. He should of studied Austrian Economics and instead of faith, know something for once.

[conradjulian]

@BIackOp "Austrian economics" isn't real. It's a propaganda construct financed by American billionaires like the Koch brothers. Austrian economists can't even get real jobs because the market doesn't consider their field valuable and worth paying competitive wages to employ them at it. If my son wanted to become an Austrian economist, I'd tell him that he'd be a loser for doing so.

[BIackOp]

@conradjulian Post Hoc Reasoning.

[freesk8]

Rand had a fear of totalitarianism. Unlimited govt.  I think that fear was justified.

She feared collectivist ideas. She feared the law of the jungle, and the use of force against peaceful people. Again, rational fears.

Yet she was not afraid to appear on national television, nor to insist on her own artistic vision when editors and film directors wanted to dilute it. Most people would rather die than speak in public. Most would cave in to authorities.

She did not let her fear stop her.

[TymBenn]

I don't agree Heller's appraisal of Ayn Rand's fear, there is a fearlessness in dealing with reality as it is, and reality is a dangerous place. Most people avoid contemplating the things they are afraid of, Rand investigated them relentlessly.

[smttysmth02gt]

Man she looks rough. I bet she is an insomniac.

[conradjulian]

@smttysmth02gt Like Ayn Rand looked healthy, with her amphetamine addiction?

[averagejoe040]

I don't think it diminishes Ayn Rand in the least that she was fearful. She was human after all. She was a gift to us all. Sometimes I google "Ayn Rand Quotes". She had so many great ones. Here's one - "We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force." - Ayn Rand

[conradjulian]

Rand apparently found a niche writing novels for adult male virgins and other geeky, sexually inadequate guys. I mean, seriously, John Galt doesn't get laid until he's well into 30's. The Argentine character got lucky with Dagny a few times around the age of 20, but then he spent the rest of his life pretending he had game, apparently because he couldn't get other women to put out. (You don't believe his story about other women not measuring up to Dagny, do you?)

[Dumpster510]

statists will always proclaim rand to be wrong, always disagree with her, spit at her, mock her, etc. you dont even have to know much about her to realize this. anyone who's read atlas shrugged knows that in order for statists to win a point/argument against you is if the debate presupposes that their morality (altruism, aka the morality of death and non-existence) is right and hence underscores the convo. once you trash their suicidal moral code, all of their slogans and pantomiming is useless.

[Malthus0]

Anne C. Heller looks like she has been dug up.

[elvisfan22]

@Malthus0 LMAO!!!!!!!!

[hob976]

Why are they both dressed like vampires...?

[chopsky]

Talk about a zero-value interview. A bunch of worthless opinions on Rand's personality. As if it has any real bearing on her philosophical views.

[selfyeshua]

I don't like her

She focuses on ayn rand personality, bordering on slanderous statements between the lines type

"ayn rand landed in a very anti Semitic America"? I think she is underestimating Russian anti-Semitism and overestimating American anti-Semitism. She has a leftish sent to her

[bareknuckles11]

Anne Heller is quite endearing, in some way.

[LordNapalm]

ZOMBIE!!!!!!

[JohnTightlips]

I think we have found Emperor Palpatine's wife.

[audiofeel1]

if you are living today without 'fear of your world cracking', there is something seriously wrong.

[thestonemaster]

She looks like something wrong with her face

[TylerNull]

So, Rand's ideas are all about fear? Got it.

"... her own fear ... how fearful a human being she was ... the fear that she had ... her own fear of chaos ... 'the most fearful person I ever encountered' ... a very fear making situation for a very sensitive ... little girl ... "

This Heller gal seems to be just another easily led person parroting the socialists' storyline that those who dissent from their socialist agenda are driven by fear.

[Jazzper79]

@TylerNull Right on buddy

[Dumpster510]

@TylerNull statists will be statists ;)

[fitobcnfito]

@TylerNull Now I'm scared, to find out about this "fear" woman O.o!

What ever happen to courage, valor, daring, hope and freedom... :-)

[TylerNull]

@fitobcnfito

Such lofty terms are reserved for Leftist Fundies who betray the USA most effectively during wartime.

[JesusConvictScorpion]

@TylerNull that's not what she's saying.

[omarlyn]

@TylerNull FEAR... GOT WHAT.. in her opening statements she said " I THINK"...which is NOT FACT..

[famemolto]

If Ayn Rand was as fearful as Ms. Heller believes, then Ayn Rand was braver than I ever imagined.

[tsummerlee]

Rand's family weren't practicing Jews in Russia, so they were probably left alone before the Revolution largely due to that.

[blummedia]

"Fiction is a way to transport ideas infused with emotion."

A way to explain to the common man.

[jonahfox]

I honestly found the plot, dialogue and characters in Atlas Shrugged to be bland, flat and unrealistic. Although the philosophy is good. My inclination was that Atlas Shrugged was a way for her to experience her own fantasy. She was Dagny.

[Garboth]

@jonahfox I was always reminded of Greek philosophical narratives whenever I read anything of her's. The Republic, for example, is told like a story, all the characters are historical figures but who knows if the discussions ever took place. I don't consider her science fiction as most do, I think it's more of a philosophical narrative.

[BIackOp]

I prefer getting the new paper back version of Mise's Human Action, far superior.

[rooftopeagle]

More people get screwed over after they are gone from people dissecting their life and work for decades and possibly centuries than they could possibly be screwed while they are around to defend their beliefs. Take people at their word and actions but don't try to figure out what they were thinking once they are no longer around to clarify our misconceptions and mistakes about them.

[Ronok888]

Sounds like Ayn had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

[whoo689]

ANOTHER Reasontv episode about fucking Ayn Rand? You've gotta be kiddin me. If I see one more ayn rand video here, I'm unsubscribing. This is ridiculous.

Yes... one Russian immigrant woman who wrote a bunch of stupid, hyperbolic novels and gave a few speeches here and there. SHE is the "key" to the liberty movement. Oh, please. You'd have done just fine without her existence. Besides, Ron Paul and his followers have done way more for the liberty movement in recent years.

[whoo689]

The liberty movement soared to new heights after Ron Paul's campaign, heights it probably has never seen before. This woman's been DEAD since the 1980s! She died when Reagan's so-called "revolution" was really making waves. A lot has changed since her death. She may have been partially responsible for some free-market and libertarian folks converting during the 50s-80s, but after that, it's taken on its own course. I mean, someone actually wrote a book called "goddess" of the market??

[GeminiK]

@whoo689 If you haven't read Atlas Shrugged I highly recommend it. Criticizing some of her political views that most likely are out of context isn't fair to the wealth of ideas contained in that book.

[whoo689]

Ayn Rand was not a fan of the feminists? WHICH ONES? Look, I understand many objections to modern-day 'feminism' (3rd Wave and shit), and I'm not a huge fan of today's version, but back in the day (60s and 70s), it was a much more reasonable movement. It fought for real causes like antidiscrimination, equal pay, opening opportunities for women, etc. In a time when gender relations were much different. Feminists were nowhere near as liberal or weird before Rand died as they are today.

[4gl2u]

@whoo689 "Equal pay" is not a reasonable demand because it's a completely fictional problem. The reason women were on average paid less than men was because they were on average less competent, less efficient, and had less training than men. It's not like the world just happened to be run by sexists. They wanted women to be paid as much as men whose output was twice as much as theirs was. Many people only got on board because they feared for the jobs of men as women entered the workforce.

[whoo689]

A libertarian or "pro-freedom" woman who's against freeing women in society with the help of the feminists of the early days... how laughable.

[Ronok888]

@whoo689 The feminist movement has been bullshit since 1918.

[rrush2214]

@Ronok888 yep. there are more women then men, as soon as they got the right to vote they lost the right to complain. someone should tell them that.

[carolm62]

@whoo689 Many of whom were influenced by Ayn Rand....

[4gl2u]

@whoo689 The reason Ayn Rand is such an often looked onto cultural figure is because she was well-written, her ideas were new at the time, and her work continues to inspire people even beyond her death. If she were still alive today, I have no doubt that she would be just as influential as Ron Paul.

[hughtub]

Sorry but the USSR wasn't anti-semitic. Perhaps later on in the 40s Stalin turned against jews ethnically, but the Bolshevik revolution itself was primarily jewish-led. Hell, under Stalin anti-semitism was even punishable by death! You can find that under the wikipedia page on him. However, religious people of all types were targeted, including jews, but not for their ethnicity.

[4gl2u]

@hughtub What a great quote: "[T]he USSR wasn't anti-semitic ... religious people of all types were targeted, including jews... ." I'm not against Catholicism, I just hate all religions, including Catholicism. I think what you mean to say is that the USSR wasn't racist, which still wouldn't be entirely true unless you're only referring to the written law and what the government claimed at the time. It was the citizens who were antisemitic, as they were in most places.

[hughtub]

@4gl2u The anti-semitism (I think this word is illegitimate, it creates a protected group who is beyond criticism, and non-jewish semitic people are often called it) of Russians was due to the overwhelming leadership of the early Bolshevik Revolution. Nobel winner Solzhenistyn and other Russian writers explained that the people saw Jews getting privileges and better treatment, and because of this fact, they grew hostile.

[Clemburke1111]

I guess I just will never get past Ayn Rand's disgust for Homosexuality.

[blummedia]

@Clemburke1111 SO what's your position on a prolapsed anus?

[Clemburke1111]

@blummedia New a lot of gay men in my life and not a one of them had this condition, so what is the point of asking such a ridiculous queston?

[blummedia]

@Clemburke1111 "New"?

Well it is a condition that usually causes problems later in ones life so the question still stands.

Then to Rand's position I say that there is absolutely no reason for a man to have sex with another man. At its base sex between humans is for the purpose of procreation...... but I don't care what people do with each other.

[Clemburke1111]

@blummedia I have met gay men of all generations and this is a rare health issue, as for sex being for procreation only, then sterile humens and married couples who do not want children need to stop having sex, Males have a prostate and whe stimulated males become arroused, Homosexuality is also found in over 2000 species, so unatural? I dont think so. Every one from the World heath org to the AMA and the APA says otherwise.

[blummedia]

@Clemburke1111 And penile stimulation works just fine if you are alone.

So are you suggesting that because a majority says something that it is right or moral?

As to the below comment, I don't think Rand "hates" homosexuals, she rejects them and is repulsed by them.

It's un-natural behavior to put your penis in another persons anus. Looking at the biological functions of the body I take the same position of Rand, I don't hate homosexuals, I reject their behavior as not right thinking.

[blummedia]

@blummedia 1.3 billion Muslims think that the Koran is a virtuous work. SO if 1.3 billion people believe having sex with 9 year olds is ok, then do you accept Islam as being virtuous or right thinking?

[Clemburke1111]

@blummedia If your against things that are unatural,,then your against automobiles and electricity to name just two,,good luck with that, plus if you have sex dont use a condem or the pill, all of those things are agaisnts nature, good luck with that.

[Clemburke1111]

@blummedia So your against Sodomy? Did you know that oral sex is sodomy ?

[Clemburke1111]

@blummedia If you tell me you have never or will never perfrom oral sex,,,,your a liar.

[Dumpster510]

@blummedia great example of why democracy,pure democracy,will always fail and ruin any society that adheres to it(ancient Greece anyone?). when there's a pure democracy, whatever gets voted in by the majority is not only proclaimedo right morally but is then parroted to be the truth as well. if one person can be wrong, so can 10, 1000,or a billion. just because they agree on something doesn't make it truthful or virtuous. the avg joe hasn't a clue what virtue or morality mean, however.

[thegillotine09]

@blummedia

"It's un-natural behavior to put your penis in another persons anus."

Of course we can go into the countless examples of homosexuality amongst animals and whatnot. But it's beside the point. The main point is whether you'd use the inherent violence of the state to control other people's lives.

[blummedia]

@thegillotine09 Violence? It's not me engaging in a violent act. Then I think that like myself, Rand wouldn't give a hoot what two people do as consenting adults. That doesn't mean either of us are incapable of forming an opinion about the behavior.

I find it odd that homosexuals have been very vocal about keeping the government out of their bedrooms,,,,, but now homosexuals want that same government to sanction their unions.

[AmericanNohbuddy]

@blummedia

the government has banned them from marrying, they want to be allowed to be recognized as a married couple.

That isn't odd at all.

[Clemburke1111]

@blummedia I was raised in Satelite Beach by a Scientist who worked for NASA and knew back as far as the 50's that homosexuality was not a choice. Ayn Rand just had a chosen hatred for them, with nothing more than an oppinion.

[blummedia]

@Clemburke1111 I don't care if is a choice, what difference does that make? Some people are born killers, should that be justified?

I like how you make assumptions as to what I think with no basis to do so. Sex is sex, so having sex with children should be acceptable? That's the logic you're using. Then injecting a religious term like "sodomy" into an argument with an Objectivist is quite comical when you think about it.

[blummedia]

@blummedia As a human I can swim. Should I swim at the sewage treatment plant?

[Clemburke1111]

@blummedia You take issue with ass aex, but you do not mind oral sex , do you,,,so in other words your a two face liar. simple is it not?

[Clemburke1111]

@blummedia you avoided the oral sex question like a plague and the mouth carries many more germs then the ass, so please tell me why some sodomy is ok and others are not, I am off to Maui for Kahunamas,,so I will talk to you later.

[Clemburke1111]

@blummedia Sex with a child or an animal is not good due to the fact they do not have the mental capabilities to make a decission on this act.

[conradjulian]

@Clemburke1111 Women generally don't have the mental capabilities to decide about having sex either. That's why you have to liquor them up first.

[Jazzper79]

I would never read this book. People should study objectivism instead of reading a book about the author. The comment about Ayn Rand being fearful -- what the heck is she talking about? -- She was anything but fearful, she was heroic -- her philosophy is about courage and not about being affraid. She missed her philosophy totally.

[AnotherUserNamedPaul]

@Jazzper79 Perhaps she should have interviewed you instead Rand's associates. People have studied authors ever since there were authors. You're pissing into the wind on that one.

[Jazzper79]

@AnotherUserNamedPaul No -- I am just saying that when that lady says that Ayn Rand was afraid, I just know she does not know anything about her. If Ayn Rand was afraid she would not have done what she has done in her life. I think the word afraid is the wrong word to use about Ayn Rand.

[Graffight]

@Jazzper79 to say this woman knows nothing about Rand may be just as much of an overstatement as you clam her being fearful is. Surely this woman knows something about Rand....at least enough to right a book.

[Jazzper79]

@Graffight Yes she does. But I don't like this clip, because it is too negative about Ayn Rand.

[Buergs323]

@Jazzper79

She wasn't talking about her philosophy when she said that...and she even said that when she studies Ayn Rand, she doesn't take that into consideration...it was just something she found interesting, almost a dichotomy of sorts...thats all

[Jazzper79]

@Buergs323 Okay. I just hate when great people are being attacked. I don't like to hear the word fearful about Rand, when she was more heroic than most people in the world today.

[blummedia]

@Jazzper79 Not from a standpoint that the majority is usually wrong. I can see the world in a similar light, the masses are easily mislead down the path of doom. All one needs to do is read history to see that play out again and again. I fear the masses causing a great regression of liberty...... the darkening of freedom and the extinguishment of the flame of liberty. Look around you.

[Jazzper79]

@blummedia I agree with that. From the interview I just got a negative impression of Ayn Rand, and that is what I am against.

[blummedia]

@Jazzper79 I think most people become frustrated with accepting her views and then in turn make excuses. You get that when people go on with the whole "cult" thing. It wasn't Rand, it was those around her who were over zealous. She rejected the idea that people "worshiped" her, that goes totally against her ideals.

I haven't run into too many people that understand what she is all about, then with a great title like "The Virtue of Selfishness" it's easy to see why most would turn away. Good Day.

[Jazzper79]

@blummedia You are absolutely right

[AdamaGeist]

@Jazzper79

Courage is being afraid, and acting anyway. One who knows no fear is only a fool. A wise man knows the risks. To himself, to those he loves, to that which matters to him.

But that's why a wise man is a hero, and a fool is a catastrophe.

[Jazzper79]

@AdamaGeist - Courage is confronting fear -- but saying Ayn Rand was fearful -- that is too much. Being fearful to me is being weak, and Ayn Rand was NOT a weak person.

[4gl2u]

@Jazzper79

Writing a book about being heroic and being heroic. Not the same thing.

[sexlessparents]

damn i bought the $36 hard cover book. i should of waited for the paper back

[schmij8]

@ExternalServerError Cruel, but funny.

[RangerKozak]

@ExternalServerError best comment ever

[Libertarianist]

@ExternalServerError If there's a god, you're going to hell. So am I for laughing. I hope she never reads that comment.

[pyro854]

@ExternalServerError BOOSH!!! That's the best comment I've read all week.

[Buergs323]

Rand's ideas were not that revolutionary -- I mean the US had the revolution hundreds of years earlier. But, what Rand successfully did was articulate the ideas of freedom, and individualism so eloquently that it gave freedom lovers and Libertarians alike a proverbial 'set of ammunition' to use in the battle of of ideas.

I plan on buying this book, and every Libertarians should as well.

[TheDarkTower1488]

@Buergs323 This book isn't written by Ayn Rand, it's book about her from the POV of Anne Heller. I'm big fen but I have still other books to read from her's, so if this one is worth while please do write your feedbacks here.

[Buergs323]

@TheDarkTower1488

I know its not by Rand...and I'll try to remember to write back...I have plenty of other books Im looking to read first however.

[JordanSeriously]

@Buergs323 true. this is often what the core of philosophy is though in my opinion. i think people often have the same ideas and they may know what they feel in their heart, yet, it takes a very intelligent person to articulate this feeling into logical words

[TheEntreprenenuer]

I don't like her, emphasising on the "jews-repressions". I don't think Ayn Rand was at any point discriminated against for her identity, non the less because she was strongly against theism of any sorts and therefor I personaly don't consider her as a jew. She was a great woman.

[Libertarianist]

@TheEntreprenenuer Antisemitism wasn't so much religiously motivated as it was racially motivated. Jews were oppressed as a race, rather than a religion, in her time. It didn't matter if she was an atheist, ethnically speaking, she was jewish. Which was the real crime at that time and place.

[hughtub]

@Libertarianist Then why was anti-semitism punishable by *death*, under Stalin. It's simply factually wrong to say that the USSR was anti-semitic, when the primary leaders (other than Stalin) of it were jewish, and they put to death anyone who publicly disliked jews!

[jonahfox]

@hughtub What about the Doctor's Plot?

[grraadd]

@TheEntreprenenuer still she could have been harassed - remember "Fiddler on the roof". It's based on the real stories and it happens in Russia.

I can understand that after being subjected to constant stream of jewish-holocaust hollywood propaganda you can be tired - I'm too :-)

antisemites don't recognise if somebody doesn't consider himself a jew...people were interrogated by Gestapo only because they had some % of jewish blood... and while left alone by nazis they were harassed by communists

[bocanutz]

@TheEntreprenenuer antisemites dont care about religion or religiosity of jews, by and large. She was a jew and she was a great woman.

[HoldingOnToLiberty]

@TheEntreprenenuer While it is true that looked at the "mystics" in the same light as the "moochers" there is a difference between being a Jew culturally and being a Jew religiously. Not all cultural Jews are theists they were just born into that culture and heritage.

[kainniak1]

@TheEntreprenenuer ypu do know jew is a race of ppl like black or or asian, its y we have cultural jews who dont believe in god

[kawaiigardiner]

@TheEntreprenenuer Even if she was an atheist she was still considered 'a jew' by the anti-semites and it wouldn't matter how much she tried to distance herself she would still be lumped in and discriminated against. The person being interviewed never said she was discriminated - she simply pointed out that Any Rand spoke very little about her experiences in Russia which begs to question as to why. You might actually want to watch the video instead of jumping through it at random points.

[ChasRMartin]

@TheEntreprenenuer Uh, not to put to fine a point on it, are you nuts? I'm not sure how much anti-semitism she ran into in the US, but growing up in Soviet Rissua was a whole 'nother thing.