Ayn Rand

[fpb]

There is one person in HP fandom who detested me instinctively, and whom I detested with equal intensity, almost as soon as we became aware of each other. Now I have found out why. She is an Ayn Rand fan. I am, to begin with, too old to put up with Rand's infantile attempts at philosophy - she is one of those people who managed to remain mentally fifteen all their lives - but I also have my roots in European Socialism and Christian Democracy, of all political views in the world the most offensive to an Objectivist (as her cultists arrogantly call themselves). Rand was a disaster and a hypocrite in real life, and her doctrines are only rescued from having to be called revolting by their sheer, self-parodying stupidity. One would think that anyone over the age of sixteen would be able to see through such obiter dicta as "altruism is the root of all evil" or her praise of the dollar sign; alas, America is still full of people without enough culture or self-understanding to see through this sort of thing. One of the things that make Europe still superior to America is that there is no way that a Rand phenomenon could ever take place among us. We do have our follies, but ultra-individualism is not one of them.

Comments

Re: Hey, watch what you say about the U.S.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I regret extremely that you have seen fit to take this attitude - on Christmas Eve, yet. I do not know where I have said or even implied any of the nonsense you ascribe to me. And when it comes to picking fights, does it not occur to you that "watch what you say about the US" is not exactly a peace proposal? I take the right of any free man (my fathers took their freedom with their hands and blood, from the wars of 1848 to the insurrection of 1945 and the execution of Mussolini) to say whatever I think right about any country. If two sentences about the enduring influence of someone you do not seem willing to defend are enough to send you into a tizzy, then I think you are rather too sensitive yourself.

Re: Hey, watch what you say about the U.S.

[thepreciouss.livejournal.com]

This has nothing to do with Ayn Rand, of whom I have little knowledge. I could care less about her. This has to do with comments made in this entry and previous entries (to which I restrained from commenting) that serve to maintain an unfounded negative stereotype of America and Americans. Perhaps I am projecting my frustration toward Europe on you, for which I apologize. However, you have proven to be yet another example of unwarranted anti-Americanism, which I am quite fed up with. Considering what this country has had to put up with from brutal beasts intent on killing us (including our children), the least we can receive is an absence of sneering snobbery from Western Europe. furthermore, I am told by my professors that this hate toward America is justified solely by our economic prosperity and status as a superpower! We may have major faults in the realm of international relations, but the opportunities afforded to its citizens are unrivaled.
Why would you call America without culture? We are a nation of many cultures. We build museums, opera houses, and theaters to celebrate different cultures. We may celebrate the "almighty dollar," but we use these dollars to fill collection plates at churches, to fund missionary trips to Africa, to support poor children in Eastern Europe.
Why do I laud Tony Blair, knowing that we agree on very little? Because he seems to be one of the only Europeans to actually support the U.S (and I am not merely speaking of the war in Iraq). How difficult it is for me to understand why the same countries we love to visit and whose citizens we love to meet have nothing but contempt for us in almost all respects!
Yes, you have the perfect right to criticize the U.S. Go ahead, and God forbid that I would stop you in any way. Know that for this American, to my regret, you are simply filling a dreaded stereotype of European anti-americanism. Above all of the news reports, university classes, etc., I just don't want to see/hear another example of it.

Re: Hey, watch what you say about the U.S.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

If your professors are actually telling you, abusing their responsibility as educators, that the only reason why anyone (let alone European countries that are, on average, MORE prosperous than the US - check your facts before you speak) should take an anti-US position is "envy", they ought to be sacked: they are not fit for their jobs. The reasons for disliking specific features of American society are many and various. I am personally quite sympathetic with the Catholic wing of the American conservative spectrum, and regularly read such magazines as FIRST THINGS, CRISIS, THE WANDERER, CULTURE WARS and so on. I regard, however, with intense distaste the non-religious right, where I believe Rand and Objectivism to be major influences. As for her abiding presence in American culture, you should check various "favourite books" or "favourite scenes" threads in Fiction Alley, where you would find several people quoting her directly.
My view of American culture is largely positive, and if you had ASKED me instead of loading me with expletives and unwarranted hypotheses, I would have told you so. I believe that in many areas, Americans have been among the finest figures in the twentieth century (no other country, for instance, boasts an architect remotely to be compared with Frank Lloyd Wright), and that in popular culture throughout the world American influence has been and remains, in the main, benignant and enlivening. (I exclude most Hollywood "action" movies.) From Bruce Springsteen to Jack Kirby, most of my artistic heroes of the recent past are American, and I have just added Garth Brooks to the number after being introduced to his music by Jennilee.
It so happens, Stephanie, that I like you, too. Which is why I have not taken your head off about your various misrepresentations and general defensiveness and arrogance. But Ayn Rand is a peculiarly American phenomenon; it is a poisonous phenomenon; and whether or not you personally are protected from her influence by the fact of your family being Catholic, her influence is unfortunately still with us. If I had had to criticize Italian or British culture and politics - which you know perfectly well I do freely - I would have regarded any appeal to patriotism or whatever as a pure red herring. Patriotism does not defend what is bad in one's country, rather it is the first to criticize it. (Patriotism is one thing I have written about: http://www.livejournal.com/users/fpb/22050.html)

I would really like this to be over now. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

Re: Hey, watch what you say about the U.S.

[thepreciouss.livejournal.com]

If this is true, then, I sincerely beg your pardon.

Sometimes I get quiet overwraught when it starts to feel as if all conflicts boil down to the United States versus the rest of the world.

Anyway, have a happy Christmas in lovely Italy.