Every now and then you meet someone who claims that Ayn Rand’s philosophy is the philosophy of fascism, that in practice it eventually would lead to Hitler. Arguing with such people is difficult now that the “Ayn Rand Institute” has become the official representative of Ayn Rand’s philosophy. According to ARI her philosophy means violating individual rights while uttering patriotic bromides, placing halos above the heads of bold fearless leaders, reveling in war, torturing perceived enemies of the state – the whole playbook of fascism. That is what ARI says, not very consistently.
But of course Ayn Rand’s philosophy means none of these things. The coil of verbiage thrown out by the Ayn Rand Institute to ensnare the young and ignorant no more represents Ayn Rand’s philosophy than a con man’s spiel is an honest business proposition.
What a disgusting spectacle the official Objectivists make, now, when we need real insight the most.
Ayn Rand’s lifework and savings pay for the humbug generated by ARI, and for its advertisement. Leonard Peikoff, the man behind ARI and the executor of her estate, recently issued a new paperback printing of Atlas Shrugged to celebrate its semi-centennial. Printed on the back cover you find ARI’s website address. Bound among its pages is a request-for-information card which on mailing gets you an advertisement for Impact newsletter. People will read this literature expecting to find Ayn Rand’s ideas applied to current events, and instead find a grotesque caricature of her ideas, like biting into a mock apple pie and gagging on a mouthful of sawdust.
Decent people will respond: “If this is what Ayn Rand’s philosophy means, I want nothing to do with it !” ARI hinders the spread of Ayn Rand’s philosophy more than all her forthright enemies combined.
ARI is like Janus of legend, the man with two faces: a face on the front of his head and, hideous to imagine, a face symmetrically opposite on the back. One face of this monster works its jaws praising the pursuit of happiness and the virtue of benevolent self-interest. Then he turns around and presents to you his hind face. Just as animated as the first, this face praises dying for “freedom” everywhere on earth, and remains silent about the systematic destruction of authentic freedom here at home. This twofaced monster bumbles about showing each of its faces in turn, promoting inalienable human rights, honesty, and Ancient Greece with one face – and the expedient violation of human rights, the noble lie, and torture with the other.
The raft of contradictions is the last insult to the idea of ideas. Crate this monster and label it “To be sent to the zoo, Ash bin of History section.”
Ayn Rand once observed that her philosophy is its own avenger. The intellectual vandals at ARI won’t get away with aping her language while corrupting her ideas. The sincere and intelligent in their audience will be repelled once they see the true colors of ARI.
ARI must be fought continually, though, because Leonard Peikoff continually helps finance it from Ayn Rand’s estate. Each time someone buys a book by Ayn Rand part of the purchase price eventually goes to ARI, and every time someone looks at a paperback edition they see what appears to be Ayn Rand’s endorsement of ARI on the cover. When Ayn Rand chose Mr. Peikoff as her heir she ended up posthumously financing the perversion of her own philosophy. But again, there is good reason to believe that her real philosophy will win in the end. When a man says A is A and acts like Up is Down, most people won’t conclude A is not A, they will conclude the man is a hypocrite.