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Ayn Rand

Alan Greenspan

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Synopsis

The foundations of capitalism are being battered by a flood of altruism, which is the cause of the modern world's collapse. This is the view of Ayn Rand, a view so radically opposed to prevailing attitudes that it constitutes a major philosophic revolution. In this series of essays, she presents her stand on the persecution of big business, the causes of war, the student rebellion, and the evils of altruism.

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The disintegration of philosophy in the nineteenth century and its collapse in the twentieth have led to a similar, though much slower and less obvious, process in the course of modern science. Read the first page

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great promise, moderate execution., 25 April 2010

By

Wordy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (Signet Shakespeare) (Mass Market Paperback)

Ayn Rand's book on Capitalism presents itself as a philosophical alternative to "Das Kapital", it explains that Capitalism needs this "psycho-epistemological" viewpoint in order to provide would-be defenders of Capitalism with a basis to defend it. The book presents a fundamental "moral" basis of Capitalism in a self-assertive, powerful collection of essays which does brilliantly in some respects, yet fails to make a clear case for Capitalism.

I will quickly analyse why.

While you will find a well fought defence of Capitalism, especially in the first few chapters, which provide a brilliant beginning on "What is Capitalism" with a very concise and precise essay by Nathaniel Branden on "Common Fallacies of Capitalism", there exist a few critical flaws which prevent this book from being the one stop book for Capitalism as a theory.

First, the book divides itself into two parts, one relevant for the books purpose, the other not. While the first half on the "Theory and History" of Capitalism has the majority of its essays both well written and suited towards the purpose of defending Capitalism, the second half concerns itself with "Current events", which are set in the 1960's and fail to be convincing in the timeless manner a work like this should aspire to.
The latter essays drone on too long about New York times articles, speeches made by students and a document made by the Pope. Rather than rely on academic writing and an erudite approach to constructing an argument, we are treated with extremely irritating slang words (the childish repetition of "Blank Out" when Ayn Rand or her followers feel like they have found a critical gap in someone else's argument), petty elitist slurs, and *worst* of all, the belief that quoting John Galt from Atlas shrugged (a fiction novel) INCESSANTLY, is somehow a legitimate way of making an argument.

Presenting Capitalism as a theory (a theory which I endorse fully and passionately) requires not resorting to fiction as a substitute for scholarship, and presenting the argument from an intelligent *objective* perspective (ie: not have half the book set in the 1960's). All these things erode the foundation of a serious work, and cheapen the case made.

In conclusion, there is a great deal to this book that you can walk away with as useful, illuminating knowledge. It presents Capitalism from a necessarily different standpoint than is often taken by Capitalisms other defenders, and it enriches anyone who is interested in the subject. It falls short of being a stand-alone work on the defence of Capitalism however, and for the reasons above I would be hesitant to recommend it to anyone as a "read it front to back" book. If I did I would have to advise the reading of only certain chapters, for the fear that others may actually harm the case of Capitalism by the methods which Rand uses to defend it. Passion and force are attributes that helps Rand in this regard, coarse slurs and fiction quoting do not.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique defence of freedom, 5 Nov 2005

By

Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)

This review is from: Rand Ayn : Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal (Signet) (Paperback)

This riveting compilation of 26 essays includes contributions by Alan Greenspan, Nathaniel Branden and Robert Hessen. It is primarily a treatise on the moral aspects of capitalism. The themes revolve around human nature and mankind’s relationship to existence. Capitalism is advocated because it is the only system compatible with the life of a rational being.

Rand claims that the classical defenders and modern apologists of capitalism are by default responsible for undermining it. In her view, they are unwilling or unable to fight the battle on moral-philosophical grounds.

The essays provide a plethora of gripping insights and novel angles. Rand detests the idea of using altruism to defend capitalism. She proposes rationality instead, with a ruling principle of justice.

I do not necessarily agree with her on this but I enjoy Rand’s scathing criticism of conservatism’s perceived fallacies. Her vitriolic dissection of the 3 conservative strains is highly amusing! She identifies and attacks the Religious and the Traditionalists but really unleashes the sharp edge of her scorn on those who defend capitalism from the argument of mankind’s depravity.

In the essay Requiem For Man, she savages the encyclical Populorum Progressio by Pope Paul VI, in which she also rips apart the reactions to it by publications like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Fortune magazine.

The book consists of two parts. The first is Theory And History, which includes essays on inter alia war, the persecution of big business, antitrust, gold and economic freedom, property status of the airwaves, and patents and copyrights.

Part two: Current State, includes essays on the anatomy of compromise, the art of smearing, rule by consensus as a form of fascism, and the student rebellion. The final two essays: Man’s Rights and The Nature Of Government, appear in the appendix.

Whatever the flaws in Rand’s Objectivist philosophy, this book remains a brilliant and unique defence of freedom and capitalism. Moreover, history has proved Rand a prescient thinker who was correct in many of her analyses.

Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal ranks among the very best of her non-fiction works. It is highly engaging, thought-provoking and often quite amusing. The book concludes with an index and a bibliography listing titles by Henry Hazlitt, Isabel Paterson and Ludwig von Mises, amongst others.