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[[Image:Jhyu65.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Ayn Rand. A philosopher and writer who developed the [[Objectivism|Objectivist]] school of thought]]

[[Image:Jhyu65.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Ayn Rand. A philosopher and writer who developed the [[Objectivism|Objectivist]] school of thought]]

'''Ayn Rand''' (1905-1982), born in St. Petersburg, [[Russia]],<ref>Born as Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum.</ref> was a [[libertarian]] author.  She was a [[fiscal conservative]] advocating free unregulated [[capitalism]], who opposed [[collectivism]], [[socialism]], [[communism]] and [[fascism]]. However, on social issues, she was [[liberal]]. Ayn Rand was a big supporter of unlimited [[abortion]]-on-demand,<ref>Ayn Rand wrote that "An embryo ''has no rights''. ...  A child cannot acquire any rights until it is born." http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_FAQ#obj_nr_vs_ar (emphasis in original)</ref> and an [[atheism|atheist]].  She began her career in Hollywood, and has been described as a promoter of a philosophy known as [[Objectivism]]. Her best-known novels are ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'' and ''[[The Fountainhead]]''. Ayn Rand asserted that selfishness was a virtue and [[altruism]] was wrongheaded (see also: [[Atheism and uncharitableness]]). She wrote a book entitled ''The Virtue of Selfishness''.  

'''Ayn Rand''' (February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982), born in St. Petersburg, [[Russia]],<ref>Born as Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum.</ref> was a [[libertarian]] author.  She was a [[fiscal conservative]] advocating free unregulated [[capitalism]], who opposed [[collectivism]], [[socialism]], [[communism]] and [[fascism]]. However, on social issues, she was [[liberal]]. Ayn Rand was a big supporter of unlimited [[abortion]]-on-demand,<ref>Ayn Rand wrote that "An embryo ''has no rights''. ...  A child cannot acquire any rights until it is born." http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_FAQ#obj_nr_vs_ar (emphasis in original)</ref> and an [[atheism|atheist]].  She began her career in Hollywood, and has been described as a promoter of a philosophy known as [[Objectivism]]. Her best-known novels are ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'' and ''[[The Fountainhead]]''. Ayn Rand asserted that selfishness was a virtue and [[altruism]] was wrongheaded (see also: [[Atheism and uncharitableness]]). She wrote a book entitled ''The Virtue of Selfishness''.  

Ayn Rand's novels often had political messages, such as laissez faire capitalism with minimum government intervention (known by the name Minarchism) in business.  Ayn Rand strongly objected to socialism and nationalism. Combined, more than twelve million copies of her two best-known novels have been sold in the U.S. alone. Despite her anti-[[Christian]] and liberal views on social issues, her opposition to state economic intervention has made her works and philosophy popular with the [[TEA Party]] movement.<ref>''Ayn Rand stars at Denver stimulus ‘tea party’ protest'', Colorado Independent, Wendy Norris - 2/28/09 - [http://coloradoindependent.com/23026/ayn-rand-stars-at-denver-stimulus-tea-party-protest]</ref>

Ayn Rand's novels often had political messages, such as laissez-faire capitalism with minimum government intervention (known by the name Minarchism) in business.  Ayn Rand strongly objected to socialism and nationalism. Combined, more than twelve million copies of her two best-known novels have been sold in the U.S. alone. Despite her anti-[[Christian]] and liberal views on social issues, her opposition to state economic intervention has made her works and philosophy popular with the [[TEA Party]] movement.<ref>''Ayn Rand stars at Denver stimulus ‘tea party’ protest'', Colorado Independent, Wendy Norris - 2/28/09 - [http://coloradoindependent.com/23026/ayn-rand-stars-at-denver-stimulus-tea-party-protest]</ref>

==Early life==

==Early life==

Ayn Rand was born on February 2, 1905 in Saint Petersburg Russia.  Her first name "Ayn" rhymes with "mine", and she was born as '''Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum.'''  She was the first of three daughters to her parents Zinovy Zakharovich Rosenbaum and Anna Borisovna.

Ayn Rand was born on February 2, 1905, in Saint Petersburg Russia.  Her first name "Ayn" rhymes with "mine", and she was born as '''Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum.'''  She was the first of three daughters to her parents Zinovy Zakharovich Rosenbaum and Anna Borisovna.

During the Bolshevik revolution, her family saw everything it had confiscated and they fled the country.  They returned home after the revolution, the city having been renamed to Petrograd.  As a young adult she enrolled in Petrograd University, where she studied the works of Aristotle, Plato, and Nietzsche.  Her first published work was an essay about Pola Negri, a polish actress.

During the Bolshevik revolution, her family saw everything it had confiscated and they fled the country.  They returned home after the revolution, the city having been renamed to Petrograd.  As a young adult, she enrolled in Petrograd University, where she studied the works of Aristotle, Plato, and Nietzsche.  Her first published work was an essay about Pola Negri, a Polish actress.

==Philosophy==

==Philosophy==

[[Conservative]] [[Whittaker Chambers]] was a harsh critic of the caricatures in Ayn Rand's work, and how she implied that evil systems would collapse on their own without the need for good men to do anything.  [[Edmund Burke]] famously stated, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing," but one might conclude from Rand's work that being selfish and doing nothing is what good people should do, and then evil will fail all by itself.  Whittaker Chambers observed in a book review he wrote for ''National Review'' in 1957, "Happily, in ''Atlas Shrugged'' ('''''though not in life'''''), all the children of Darkness are utterly incompetent" (emphasis added).

[[Conservative]] [[Whittaker Chambers]] was a harsh critic of the caricatures in Ayn Rand's work, and how she implied that evil systems would collapse on their own without the need for good men to do anything.  [[Edmund Burke]] famously stated, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing," but one might conclude from Rand's work that being selfish and doing nothing is what good people should do, and then evil will fail all by itself.  Whittaker Chambers observed in a book review he wrote for ''National Review'' in 1957, "Happily, in ''Atlas Shrugged'' ('''''though not in life'''''), all the children of Darkness are utterly incompetent" (emphasis added).

Rand's most famous and powerful follower was [[Alan Greenspan]] (b. 1926), long-time head of the Federal Researve System (1987–2006), though it is difficult to see manifestations of Rand's ideas in Greenspan's work.  

Rand's most famous and powerful follower was [[Alan Greenspan]] (b. 1926), long-time head of the Federal Reserve System (1987–2006), though it is difficult to see manifestations of Rand's ideas in Greenspan's work.  

Rand was a moral absolutist with the virtues of rationality and hard-work as central themes to her writing. However, conservatives reject Rand’s elevation of reason over faith, sentiment, and tradition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atlassociety.org/myth-ayn-rand-was-conservative|title=Myth: Ayn Rand was a Conservative|author=William R. Thomas}}</ref> Social conservatives in particular reject Rand’s view that sexual fulfillment is an important part of life and not merely limited to procreation. Her views are seen as hedonistic, selfish, and sinful—she accepts the usage of birth control and abortion<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5105|title=Abortion:An Absolute Right|publisher=The Ayn Rand Center}}</ref> as proper means to an active sexual life without the consequences of child-rearing. In general Rand’s view of the perfection of human character is at odds with the Christian view of man’s essential sinfulness.

Rand was a moral absolutist with the virtues of rationality and hard-work as central themes to her writing. However, conservatives reject Rand’s elevation of reason over faith, sentiment, and tradition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atlassociety.org/myth-ayn-rand-was-conservative|title=Myth: Ayn Rand was a Conservative|author=William R. Thomas}}</ref> Social conservatives in particular reject Rand’s view that sexual fulfillment is an important part of life and not merely limited to procreation. Her views are seen as hedonistic, selfish, and sinful—she accepts the usage of birth control and abortion<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5105|title=Abortion:An Absolute Right|publisher=The Ayn Rand Center}}</ref> as proper means to an active sexual life without the consequences of child-rearing. In general Rand’s view of the perfection of human character is at odds with the Christian view of man’s essential sinfulness.

Similar to [[George Orwell]], Rand had first-hand knowledge of living under a [[communist]]/[[socialist]] [[dictatorship]]. They both used their knowledge to paint vivid pictures of the specific ways in which these political philosophies break down. Orwell's focus was on control of the mind through the use of secret police forces and through the reworking of the language itself, Orwell's ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' was about the horror of a functioning dictatorship; Rand focused on the corruption and vice that inevitably follows from a political philosophy that rewards failure, Rand also pinpointed the specific maneuverings that liberals use to avoid justice and justify their might makes right attitudes.

Similar to [[George Orwell]], Rand had first-hand knowledge of living under a [[communist]]/[[socialist]] [[dictatorship]]. They both used their knowledge to paint vivid pictures of the specific ways in which these political philosophies break down. Orwell's focus was on control of the mind through the use of secret police forces and through the reworking of the language itself, Orwell's ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' was about the horror of a functioning dictatorship; Rand focused on the corruption and vice that inevitably follows from a political philosophy that rewards failure, Rand also pinpointed the specific maneuverings that liberals use to avoid justice and justify their might makes right attitudes.

In Atlas Shrugged Rand put a great deal of emphasis on the use of informal procedures as a way to rob victims of any tools they might be able to use in their defense, production tribunals in the book met and had an informal discussion, so that the producers that they were strangling could not call any kind of precedent or procedure to rescue them from the abuse of power. In the crumbling socialist world of Atlas Shrugged the only defense was to agree with those in power. Orwell envisioned (and had seen) the same problem, a world in which the market place of ideas was as strangled as the marketplace of goods and services, only done in private and hellish jail cells.

In Atlas Shrugged Rand put a great deal of emphasis on the use of informal procedures as a way to rob victims of any tools they might be able to use in their defense, production tribunals in the book met and had an informal discussion, so that the producers that they were strangling could not call any kind of precedent or procedure to rescue them from the abuse of power. In the crumbling socialist world of Atlas Shrugged the only defense was to agree with those in power. Orwell envisioned (and had seen) the same problem, a world in which the marketplace of ideas was as strangled as the marketplace of goods and services, only done in private and hellish jail cells.

Both of these authors had some very liberal characteristics, Orwell being a socialist himself and Ayn being an atheist and egoist but in spite of their liberal traits they couldn't help but look at the world that liberals created and decry how wicked it was. Author [[Christopher Hitchens]], writing about Orwell, called this a "power of facing", where in Orwell was able to face the issues on his own side, a very important characteristic shared by many great academics and philosophers in the Christian tradition.wa

Both of these authors had some very liberal characteristics, Orwell being a socialist himself and Ayn being an atheist and egoist but in spite of their liberal traits they couldn't help but look at the world that liberals created and decry how wicked it was. Author [[Christopher Hitchens]], writing about Orwell, called this a "power of facing", where in Orwell was able to face the issues on his own side, a very important characteristic shared by many great academics and philosophers in the Christian tradition.wa

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