SOURCE: AP/Jason E. Miczek
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, left, and his vice-presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) arrive at a campaign rally Sunday, August 12, 2012, in Mooresville, North Carolina at the NASCAR Technical Institute.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, left, and his vice-presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) arrive at a campaign rally Sunday, August 12, 2012, in Mooresville, North Carolina at the NASCAR Technical Institute.
A Clear and Present Danger: The Insidious Romney-Ryan Presidential Ticket and Its Ominous Plan for America
by Kofi Natambu
The Republican/Tea Party ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan represents the most openly reactionary, repressive, and extreme rightwing political and ideological formation in modern U.S. presidential history. If that sounds like mere exaggeration or rhetorical hyperbole then you seriously haven't been paying attention to what these two truly slimy individuals have been doing in and out of state and federal government and the private and financial sectors of the economy for the past 30 years. Even with that caveat I realize that on the surface it would seem that this team couldn't possibly be even more backward, dangerous, and destructive than the monstrous Bush #2/Cheney team was from 2000-2008 or the insufferably arrogant and smugly lethal Reagan/Bush #1 combo from 1980-1988 or the thoroughly criminal, corrupt, and venal partnership of Nixon/Agnew from 1968-1974. But unfortunately for us all we would be wrong because Romney and Ryan's historical track records as well as immediate plans for the future of this country are the most stark, relentless, and draconian far rightwing social, economic, and cultural agenda of any presidential candidancy since Barry Goldwater and William Miller ran on the Republican ticket (and eventually lost in a landslide to LBJ!) in 1964. Like Goldwater/Miller and the other Republican tickets I have named here Romney and Ryan are not only deeply opposed to any and all forms of general social and economic justice and equality for the masses of American citizens (and especially the poor and working classes, racial/ethnic minorities, immigrants of color, young people, and women) but are also pathologically committed to the structural and systemic continuation and expansion of the massive transfer, theft, and consolidation of national wealth from the 'lower' 99% of the country's economy to the upper wealthy 1% of the American population. For starters on a fully comprehensive list of what Romney and Ryan are seriously proposing and publicly advocating in their heinous political and economic plan for this nation consider the following horrific FACTS (courtesy of MoveOn.org):
Meanwhile the progressive think tank and public policy institution Center for Public Progress have very recently published a brilliant series of political research and analysis papers under its auspices that exposes in exhaustive detail what Romney and Ryan's proposals and public policy positions are going to actually mean in precise practical terms for people of color. Consider the following two heavily detailed reports by CPP staff researcher and political/economic analyst Vanessa Cárdenas :
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2012/08/romney_ryan_2050.html
The Impact of Mitt Romney’s Policies on Essential Programs for People of Color
In spite of all of the evidence that points to the struggles communities of color are facing, both Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) continue advocating for cuts to essential programs that are a lifeline for communities of color.
By Vanessa Cárdenas | August 16, 2012
In various speeches this election season, including at the NAACP Annual Conference and the Latino Coalition Annual Economic Summit, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has been making the case that when it comes to people of color, his economic policies are the answer to their economic wellbeing.
Yet closer analyses of his stated positions on key issues that matter to these communities do not bear this out.
As has already been widely reported, communities of color have suffered and continue suffering the brunt of the effects of the Great Recession. African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and subgroups within the Asian American community continue to lag far behind their white counterparts on key economic indicators. And while it is true that these communities have historically faced significant economic challenges, the Great Recession pushed them even lower on the ladder of opportunity and farther from the American Dream.
How communities of color fare today and down the road matters greatly, not just for their own sake, but also because they are the future of our nation. Today the majority of children under one year old are kids of color and in 10 states people of color make up the majority of the population. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by the year 2042 there won’t be an ethnic majority in our nation. It is therefore urgent that our next president not only understands the depth of the challenges communities of color face, but even more importantly that he puts forth policy solutions that match the urgency of the moment.
Unfortunately, Gov. Romney and his newly picked running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) have thus far shown a deep disregard for these communities’ economic struggles. By embracing and promoting a “cut at all costs” approach, they threaten to push further down those individuals and families who are already barely holding on and worsen the economic outlook of the next generations of Americans.
This brief takes a closer look at the positions of the Romney-Ryan ticket on essential programs that benefit all Americans, but especially communities of color, and provides an analysis on what would happen if their ideas where to be implemented.
Gov. Romney’s approach to solving the economic problems of communities of color
Earlier this year Rep. Ryan, chair of the House Budget Committee and now republican vice presidential nominee, forwarded a budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 that would significantly cut discretionary government spending. Ryan’s budget groups education, training, employment, and social services into one budget function that would be cut by about 20 percent. It would privatize Medicare while slashing nutrition assistance and health spending. According to calculations from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, two-thirds of Ryan’s cuts target programs that serve low-income Americans.
Gov. Romney supports this budget and called it “a bold step toward putting our nation back on the track to fiscal sanity.”
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has not only embraced Ryan’s budget but has gone even further. His “Believe in America” plan would slash vital programs for the poor and middle classes, repeal the Affordable Care Act, and gut Medicare and Social Security.
By embracing these policies, Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan have demonstrated that they do not grasp the impact these cuts would have on people who are struggling to make ends meet, especially the impact on people of color.
In the following section we lay out how these policies would affect essential programs for communities of color.
Jobs
Communities of color suffer from chronic high unemployment and the Great Recession and subsequent anemic recovery has worsened this situation, particularly among youth of color. The need for good jobs in key sectors as well as job-training programs, particularly for youth and the long-term unemployed, is more evident than ever.
Key employment sectors for communities of color include the public sector and the construction and food industries. According to the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Labor and Research, “The public sector is a key source of employment for African Americans. Blacks are 30 percent more likely to be employed in the public sector and at wage levels more equal to whites than in any other sector.”
For their part, Hispanics comprise a large part of the low-skilled labor market, making up more than 20 percent of workers in the construction and food industry.
Gov. Romney, however, opposes efforts to provide aid to states to prevent public-sector layoffs. In fact, he wants to dramatically reduce the size of government—which means eliminating jobs.
In addition, the Ryan plan, which Gov. Romney has repeatedly indicated that he supports, eliminates jobs in sectors that disproportionately employ Latinos, like construction. The Ryan plan disinvests in transportation infrastructure investment and under his proposed cuts, investments in construction projects to improve and repair the nation’s interstate highway system, public transportation, and railroads will be cut.
Rep. Ryan’s plan also proposes $133.5 billion in cuts over 10 years to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which not only helps families keep food on the table, but is a job creator as well, particularly in the food industry, which includes grocers, truckers, and agricultural workers. Even cuts of 10 percent would translate into nearly 96,000 jobs lost—job losses that disproportionately impact the food-processing industry, which employs many Latinos.
Moreover, one of Romney’s actual “jobs policies” is reducing the federal workforce by 10 percent, an idea that was also included in Ryan’s budget. Ironically, Romney’s 59-point jobs agenda would actually result in 360,000 fewer jobs in 2013. Six of his proposals would directly eliminate jobs from the U.S. economy by undermining growth-focused investments and by eliminating jobs in the public sector.
Job training
Another set of programs on the chopping block under both Gov. Romney’s and Rep. Ryan’s plans would be job-training programs. High youth-unemployment rates and disproportionate rates of long-term unemployment among communities of color make job-training programs a key bridge to the future for these workers. As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney vetoed $11 million in job-training funds. As a presidential candidate he has proposed significant job-training cuts, which fall in line with House Republicans, who in 2011 passed a shortsighted and potentially devastating bill
(H.R. 1) to cut more than $4 billion from job-training programs, including:
Eliminating $3 billion for Workforce Investment Act employment and training programs
Eliminating $100 million to educate and train at-risk youth
Eliminating $100 million to educate and train ex-offenders
Rescinding $300 million from Job Corps
In addition, this past June House Republicans pushed through committee the Workforce Investment Act (H.R. 4297), which includes cuts to popular programs such as YouthBuild and the Job Corps, which as figures 1 and 2 show, serve a substantial number of young people of color. This legislation cuts these programs in the pursuit of consolidating workforce and job-training programs, an integral feature of Ryan’s proposed budget to reduce federal spending.
In light of high unemployment rates among people of color in general and specifically for Latino and African American young people (19.2 percent and 25.8 percent, respectively), it is particularly concerning that the Romney-Ryan ticket would pursue and support policies that reduce opportunities in employment, education, and training.
Taxes
Mitt Romney has not been forthcoming with concrete plans on jobs or the economy. He has stated that he will repeal some of President Obama’s tax cuts for working families, extend the Bush-era taxes, and enact massive tax cuts benefitting high-income households. As figure 3 shows, under Romney’s plan 3.7 million Hispanic and 2.2 million African American families would receive a tax increase from the loss of tax credits from the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit.
But millionaires would receive a tax cut averaging $250,000 in 2015. It’s important to note that Gov. Romney has not specified what middle-class tax benefits he would eliminate in order to pay for the tax breaks for the rich and thus these figures do not show the full impact of the tax increases on working families resulting from Gov. Romney’s plan.
Unions
Unions bolster opportunities for all workers in our country, but unions and the benefits they offer are especially important for communities of color. In 2008 people of color made up 30 percent of union membership. Unions provide workers with collective leverage and competitive benefits, protecting workers of color from falling further down the wage scale. As figure 4 shows, workers’ mean weekly earnings across the board are greater when they are union members; but this difference is especially significant for African Americans and Hispanics.
Yet Gov. Romney has cast himself as one of the staunchest antiunion candidates in recent history. He has promised to undo President Obama’s union-friendly executive orders while encouraging states to adopt laws prohibiting union/ employer agreements concerning union membership. If elected president, the former governor of Massachusetts has vowed to promote a robust antiunion agenda, including:
Supporting states pursuing so-called “right-to-work” laws, which undermine the resources that help workers bargain for better wages and benefits
Amending the National Labor Relations Act to guarantee secret ballots in union elections, a proposal that unions oppose
Reversing an executive order from President Obama requiring federal agencies to use union labor on some government projects
Instead of offering solutions that will ensure that workers have good jobs with decent wages, Gov. Romney proposes to undermine their economic security by making it more difficult for workers to organize in spite of the fact that unions are key to their economic mobility.
Housing
Communities of color were most affected by the implosion of our housing market. The foreclosure rate in 2011 for Latinos and African Americans was nearly double that of whites—11.9 percent for Latinos and 9.8 percent for African Americans, compared to 5 percent for whites. The foreclosure rate for Asians was 6.6 percent. (see figure 5) In addition, approximately 25 percent of all Latino and African-American borrowers have lost their homes to foreclosure or are seriously delinquent, compared to just under than 12 percent for white borrowers. The same can be said about subprime loans where predatory lending practices contributed to the high foreclosure rates among people of color. African American and Latino borrowers are more than twice as likely to get a subprime loan than whites. What’s more, Asian borrowers are seven times more likely to receive a subprime loan. (see figure 6) This type of financial discrimination made it harder for people of color to pay their loans and thus contributed to the high numbers of foreclosures in those communities.
Moreover, African Americans and Latinos pay 3 percent more than white homebuyers for their homes, according to a study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research that looked at 2 million home sales in four cities. Further, the study found that the higher prices were not tied to income, wealth, or credit rating, suggesting discrimination may be a factor.
According to the Center for Responsible Lending, in addition to the 2.5 million foreclosures already completed, there are an estimated 5.7 million borrowers at imminent risk of foreclosure. Independent analysts have projected that between 10 million and 13 million foreclosures will have occurred by the time the housing crisis finally ends. The Center for Responsible Lending further asserts that “as a share of the population of homeowners as of 2006, we estimate that 17 percent of Latino homeowners, 11 percent of African American homeowners, and 7 percent of non-Hispanic white homeowners already have lost or are at imminent risk of losing their home.”
And what is Gov. Romney’s answer to communities of color losing their homes in unprecedented numbers? In an October 2011 interview Gov. Romney, speaking about the housing crisis, stated, “Don’t try to stop the foreclosure process, let it run its course and hit the bottom.” Gov. Romney doubled down on this position during a Republican presidential debate on October 18, when he said that the right thing to do is to let the markets work, while condemning the idea of the federal government interceding to help families avoid foreclosure.
Gov. Romney has also promised to repeal the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a move that would eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is key to protecting consumers, particularly consumers of color, from the financial abuses of the past because its mission is to enforce the laws regulating credit cards, mortgages, student loans, payday loans, and other kinds of financial products and services. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is also charged with enforcing federal fair-lending laws that protect consumers from discriminatory lending practices.
Immigration
Mitt Romney has not only made it clear that he would do nothing to fix our dysfunctional immigration system, he has even gone so far as call for a policy of “self-deportation” for undocumented immigrants. By “self-deportation,” he means that the federal government would need to make life as miserable as possible for the undocumented in an effort to drive them to leave the United States voluntarily. Consistent with that agenda, Gov. Romney would support Arizona-style “papers please” laws in more states.
Rep. Ryan, who this past April defended Gov. Romney’s extreme stance on immigration, voted, in 2005, in favor of the infamous Sensenbrenner bill, the most anti-immigrant bill to pass the House in the history of our country. With his vote Ryan showed support for turning every undocumented immigrant into a felon based solely on their lack of legal status.
And while Gov. Romney continues to dodge questions about whether or not he would repeal the president’s June 15 announcement to grant deferred action to DREAM Act-eligible youth, he has been very clear on the fact that he would veto the DREAM Act if it landed on his desk. On this issue too, there is no daylight between the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and his vice presidential pick. In December 2010 Rep. Ryan voted against passage of the DREAM Act in the House of Representatives.
Social Security
Social Security is an essential program for low-income communities of color. Research shows that people of color are more likely to rely on Social Security as their source of income, primarily because these communities tend to be in lower-wage jobs that do not offer retirement and or pension plans. Currently more than 25 percent of blacks and Latinos rely on these benefits for more than 90 percent of their family income. Among beneficiaries aged 65 and older, Social Security represents 90 percent or more of income for 25 percent of whites, 34 percent of blacks, and 33 percent of Hispanics.
Given that families of color have also been hit disproportionately by the Great Recession in terms of job loss and stagnating wages, there is less economic security in these families—in fact, an estimated 9 out of 10 senior households of color do not have enough economic security to sustain themselves throughout their projected lifetimes.
Gov. Romney’s plan to raise the retirement age for Social Security eligibility would have a disproportionately negative impact on Latinos and African Americans because Social Security is the primary or only income source in retirement for these communities. African American and Latino workers as they age tend to be in worse health than their white counterparts, tend to have lower life expectancies, and tend to have less retirement wealth outside of Social Security. Raising the retirement age is an across-the-board benefit cut that especially impacts communities of color who already disproportionately depend on Social Security.
Medicare
Medicare is another essential program that has a large impact on the health of communities of color. In 2010, for instance, 23 percent of seniors of color relied on Medicare as their only source of health care coverage.
Gov. Romney has proposed raising the eligibility age for Medicare, similar to his Social Security proposal—starting in 2022 the age for Medicare eligibility would rise by one month each year, which would shift costs to seniors. Some seniors who would no longer be eligible for Medicare would pick up employer coverage, but would end up paying more in premiums and cost sharing. He has also proposed giving individuals the option to stay on traditional Medicare or purchase health insurance from private companies through vouchers.
The governor’s running mate has also proposed dismantling this important safety net for communities of color. Under Rep. Ryan’s budget, tens of thousands of seniors could lose their coverage in the next 10 years, and most of the remaining beneficiaries would see their premiums increase.
Besides the above-mentioned problems of raising the eligibility age for certain communities of color, converting Medicare into a voucher program would aggravate the economic insecurity of seniors of color. For instance, studies show that more than one-third of African American and Latino senior households (34 percent and 39 percent) are financially at risk based on their current health expenses.
Health care
As stated earlier, racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care in the United States are persistent and well documented. Communities of color fare far worse than their white counterparts across a range of health indicators—life expectancy, infant mortality, prevalence of chronic diseases, self-rated health status, insurance coverage, and many others. And in 2010, 20.8 percent of African Americans and 30.7 percent of Latinos did not have health insurance compared to 11.7 percent of whites. One in five Asian Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 report having no health insurance or being uninsured during some portion of the past year.
Yet Gov. Romney has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which includes numerous provisions that are explicitly intended to reduce health disparities and improve the health of racially and ethnically diverse populations, including expanding coverage to those who currently have no health insurance and providing financial assistance to help those with lower incomes purchase coverage. In addition, Obamacare has already benefited more than a million young people of color by allowing them to access health care through their parents’ insurance.
Another key feature of the Affordable Care Act is that it increases funding for community health centers. Obamacare provides an additional $9.5 billion in operating costs and $1.5 billion for new construction for community health centers. With this additional funding community health centers will be able to double the number of patients they serve to up to 40 million annually by 2015.
Community health centers serve vulnerable populations such as low-income people, the uninsured, migrant and seasonal farm workers, individuals and families experiencing homelessness, and people living in public housing. In fact, more than two-thirds of the patients who receive care at community health centers are people of color. Community health care centers also provide needed economic activity in the communities they serve. Studies demonstrate that increased funding to community health centers creates additional economic stimulus both within the center and beyond. The nearly $2 billion investment from the stimulus act, for example, generated $3.2 billion of economic activity, and in 2009, health centers generated approximately $20 billion in economic activity for their local communities. By intent, these health centers are located in lower-income, medically underserved communities mostly in rural and inner-city neighborhoods. In addition, studies find these are the same areas with the highest rates of unemployment and the highest rates of the uninsured.
Pell Grants
There aren’t many other programs that are as vital as the federal Pell Grant program in terms of opening the doors of higher education to students from low-income families. It is a key rung in the ladder of opportunity and has been enormously successful in leveling the playing field by providing access to higher education. As the following chart shows, Pell Grants are especially important for Hispanic and African American students who often come from low-income families, making the program key to their graduation prospects, their future economic success, and U.S. competitiveness.
One standout feature of the Romney-endorsed Ryan budget is that it would deliver the biggest reductions to funding of Pell Grants in program history. It would cut the Pell Grant program by $200 billion, which could “ultimately knock more than 1 million students off ” the program over the next 10 years and would reduce the number of low-income students receiving bachelor’s degrees each year by as much as 61,000.
Head Start
The Head Start program was created to promote school readiness for preschool children. Today Head Start serves thousands of children of color. (See figure 10) According to James Heckman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, “Every dollar invested in Head Start yields between $7 and $9 as the program’s alumni enter the work force and start contributing to the economy.”
While he was governor of Massachusetts, Romney cut funding for the Head Start program: In 2005 he cut the state’s Head Start program by $1.3 million and the next year he cut $1 million from the program.
The Romney-approved Ryan budget could cut programs like Head Start by 20 percent. An analysis by the National Education Association estimated that close to 200,000 children would lose Head Start classroom slots by 2014 under the Ryan budget. More alarmingly, over the next decade this would amount to 2 million children who would not be able to attend Head Start. According to the National Education Association the numbers breakdown like this: Cuts to Head Start in fiscal year 2013 would cause the loss of more than 61,000 slots for low-income children in the program and more than 22,000 jobs; and, in fiscal year 2014, the Romney-approved Ryan plan would cut an additional $1.6 billion from Head Start resulting in the loss of more than 191,000 slots for poor children and more than 79,000 jobs.
Quality early-childhood education is a key predictor of a child’s future educational achievement and emotional development. Slashing early childhood education is shortsighted and will ultimately hinder the nation’s economic recovery and dim its long-term economic prospects.
Conclusion
In spite of all of the evidence that points to the struggles communities of color are facing, both Romney and Ryan continue advocating for cuts to essential programs that are a lifeline for communities of color. Meanwhile, Romney’s platform offers $2.24 trillion in tax cuts for the top 1 percent of earners over 10 years.
The 2012 election affords us the opportunity to make choices that will have long-term impacts on our collective economic wellbeing. We need national leaders committed to ensuring that the economic ladder ascending to the middle class remains sturdy and available for the next generation of Americans. The economic plans of the Romney-Ryan ticket fall far short of delivering that.
Vanessa Cárdenas is Director for Progress 2050 Action at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
To speak with our experts on this topic, please contact:
Print: Katie Peters (economy, education, and health care)
202.741.6285 or kpeters@americanprogressaction.org
Print: Christina DiPasquale (foreign policy and security, energy)
202.481.8181 or cdipasquale@americanprogressaction.org
Print: Laura Pereyra (ethnic media, immigration)
202.741.6258 or lpereyra@americanprogressaction.org
Radio: Anne Shoup
202.481.7146 or ashoup@americanprogressaction.org
TV: Lindsay Hamilton
202.483.2675 or lhamilton@americanprogressaction.org
Web: Andrea Peterson
202.481.8119 or apeterson@americanprogressaction.org
© Center for American Progress Action Fund
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2012/08/romney_ryan_latinos.html
How the Romney-Ryan Ticket Hurts Latinos
By Vanessa Cárdenas
August 15, 2012
American Progress Action
It is probably safe to assume that not many Latinos had heard of or knew much about Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) before GOP presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced that he was choosing Rep. Ryan as his running mate. Yet now that he is the Republican vice presidential nominee, his budget proposal—along with Gov. Romney’s—will be scrutinized by the Latino community.
When Latinos look closely, they will find that the policies that both candidates embrace are in direct contradiction to the policies that most Latinos support. As a 2011 LatinoDecision/Impremedia poll shows, 55 percent of Latinos believe that the government should make investments to stimulate the economy, 72 percent oppose cutting Medicare, and 60 percent believe that government should ensure that everyone has access to health care, among other findings.
Below we provide the facts on where Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan stand on the key issues Latinos care about.
Health care
Under the Affordable Care Act, an estimated 5.4 million Latinos will gain health care coverage.
736,000 Latino young adults between ages 19 and 25 now have coverage under their parent’s employer-sponsored or individually purchased health plan, thanks to the Affordable Care Act.
Both Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan have committed to repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.
Pell Grants
According to a Student Aid Policy Analysis report, from 2007 to 2008 Latino students were 13.7 percent of Pell Grant recipients. The federal Pell Grant program provides need-based grants to low-income undergraduate and certain postbaccalaureate students to promote access to postsecondary education.
Rep. Ryan’s budget would cut the Pell Grant program by $200 billion, which could “ultimately knock more than one million students off” the program over the next 10 years.
Gov. Romney plans to “simplify” (i.e., cut) federal higher education spending, which will make it much more difficult for students to receive financial support for school. He also plans to “refocus” education spending, which would result in increasing the requirements of receiving a Pell Grant.
Head Start
In 2010, 34 percent of children in Head Start were of Hispanic origin. Head Start is a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children from birth to 5 years old from low-income families.
The Ryan budget would cut $430.3 million from Head Start programs nationally, eliminating 61,612 slots for children and 22,640 jobs in fiscal year 2013 alone.
Gov. Romney, as governor of Massachusetts, cut money from Head Start; in 2005 he cut Head Start by $1.3 million, and in 2006 he cut $1 million from the program.
Housing
Latinos have a foreclosure rate about double that of whites—9.8 percent, compared to 5 percent for whites.
Gov. Romney advocates a hands-off approach to the housing crisis, letting it run its course and hit rock bottom.
Gov. Romney supports the elimination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was established to enforce federal fair-lending laws that protect consumers from discriminatory lending practices. According to the Center for Responsible Lending, Latino borrowers were 30 percent more likely to get a subprime loan than were whites.
Jobs and job training
Hispanics comprise a large part of the low-skilled labor market, making up more than 20 percent of workers in the construction and food industry.
Under the Ryan budget plan, investments to improve and repair the nation’s interstate highway system, public transportation, and railroads will be cut, which would eliminate jobs for Latinos.
If the Ryan budget were adopted into law, funding for federal job-training programs would be virtually eliminated. According to the Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce, the Ryan budget would reduce the budget line that funds job-training programs by more than $16 billion, or 22 percent.
The Ryan budget would cut programs such as YouthBuild and JobCorps, which serve a substantial number of Latinos.
As governor of Massachusetts, Romney vetoed $11 million in job-training funds. As a presidential candidate, he has proposed big job-training cuts, as well.
Taxes
Gov. Romney plans to increase taxes for millions of families and children of color by cutting the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit, which reduces families’ income taxes for all dependent children and supplements the wages of low-income families, respectively.
3.7 million Hispanic families with 8 million Hispanic children would receive a tax increase from the loss of tax credits from the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit.
Immigration
Gov. Romney supports a policy of “self-deportation,” which aims to make the lives of the undocumented so difficult that they would choose to leave the country voluntarily.
Gov. Romney also supports Arizona’s “papers please” law, which requires that law enforcement officers demand proof of legal status from anyone they suspect is undocumented.
Rep. Ryan voted for the infamous Sensenbrenner bill (H.R. 4437) back in 2005, which made it a felony to be in the country without immigration status.
Gov. Romney has promised to veto the DREAM Act, which would provide kids who lack immigration status and came to the United States as children the opportunity to earn citizenship by going to college or serving the country through military service.
Rep. Ryan voted against the DREAM Act in 2010.
Poverty
The Hispanic poverty rate increased from 25.3 percent in 2009 to 26.6 percent in 2010. Thirteen million Latinos were considered poor in 2010, representing an increase of 893,000 since 2009.
More Latino children are living in poverty—6.1 million in 2010—than children of any other racial or ethnic group.
Rep. Ryan gets 62 percent of his budget cuts from programs for lower-income Americans. His budget would kick millions off of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and would gut the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program. Nineteen percent of nutrition assistance participants are Hispanic, and Hispanics represent the largest racial or ethnic group in the Women, Infants, and Children program.
Gov. Romney’s budget plans could kick 13 million people off of food stamps.
Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program
In 2009, 27 percent of Hispanic Americans—13 million people, including 9 million children—were covered by Medicaid.
According to the National Council of La Raza, Latinos are about two times more likely than whites to have coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program; nearly half (49.3 percent) of Latino children have Medicaid or are covered by the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Rep. Ryan proposed ending the Medicaid entitlement, instead providing fixed-dollar- amount funding to states through block grants that would reduce funding for the program, thus jeopardizing the coverage and protections currently guaranteed for children and other vulnerable populations.
The Ryan budget would dramatically reduce funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program by cutting nearly $29 billion in two years alone.
Reproductive rights
Latina women experience unintended pregnancies at double the rate of white women. In addition, the abortion rate among Latina women is double the rate among white women.
Gov. Romney has pledged to “get rid of” Planned Parenthood and to end funding for our nation’s family planning program. Rep. Ryan has voted to deny federal funding for both. They also have also supported legislation that would allow employers to take away no-cost contraceptive coverage from employees.
Both Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan have supported “personhood” amendments that would ban abortion in all circumstances with no exceptions whatsoever and would criminalize certain forms of birth control and fertility treatments.
Eliminating the Title X Family Planning Program, which serves more than 5 million people with family planning services each year, would disproportionately hurt Latina women. In 2011, 29 percent of Title X clients were identified as Latina—many of whom have no other health care access.
Vanessa Cárdenas is the Director of Progress 2050 Action, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
To speak with our experts on this topic, please contact:
Print: Katie Peters (economy, education, and health care)
202.741.6285 or kpeters@americanprogressaction.org
Print: Christina DiPasquale (foreign policy and security, energy)
202.481.8181 or cdipasquale@americanprogressaction.org
Print: Laura Pereyra (ethnic media, immigration)
202.741.6258 or lpereyra@americanprogressaction.org
Radio: Anne Shoup
202.481.7146 or ashoup@americanprogressaction.org
TV: Lindsay Hamilton
202.483.2675 or lhamilton@americanprogressaction.org
Web: Andrea Peterson
202.481.8119 or apeterson@americanprogressaction.org
© Center for American Progress Action Fund
What's eminently clear from just this data alone is that Romney/Ryan as weel as the Republican/Tea Party right in Congress and the filthy rich private sector in corporate America and on Wall Street (led by the notorious billionaires, the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson) is not only virulently racist, sexist, classist, imperialist, and xenophobic but is absolutely determined to turn the entire nation's clock back more than a hundred years ago when white supremacy, patriarchy, corporate and financial (i.e. Wall Street) plutocracy and oligarchy--as well as imperialist militarism-- ruled the United States with an iron fist and the executive branch of the federal government, Congress, and the Supreme Court all paid strict and slavish obeisance to the wealthiest and most ruthlessly corrupt and powerful white men in the country at the murderous expense of everyone else--especially women and children. The only major difference in this century from that very oppressive earlier era is that Romney and Ryan are now bidding for hegemonic power over a much larger and more interdependent global economy than the early 20th century could have even imagined. If that's not enough to scare the living shit out of you I don't know what will.
Meanwhile President Obama's campaign for re-election continues to obsessively point out and about the obvious that Romney and Ryan are pathological liars, mean spirited social darwinists, arrogant hypocrites, insidious ideological demagogues, and pompous reactionary elitists while simultaneously dreading the potential impact on voters of negative, lying ads about the President and his agenda paid for by mammoth SUPER-PAC donations that mostly hidden super wealthy donors like the Brothers Koch and Adelson keep surreptitiously giving to the Republican candidates. But in the midst of all these lowly but utterly predictable political and extralegal shenanigans by the right and their demagogic legion of mindless supporters throughout the country; and despite the general meandering tone and far too often inept political direction of the Obama campaign one thing is absolutely certain beyond all doubt:
Economist Robert Reich lays out what's at stake in the 2012 Presidential Election:
--Paul Ryan would give massive tax cuts for millionaires, while raising taxes on the middle and working classes. He's a Tea Party favorite who takes donations from the billionaire Koch brothers, and he introduced one of harshest and most inhumane budgets in recent history. His ideological and philosophical hero for many years--AYN RAND-- called selfishness a virtue and charity an abomination.
But most people don't know just how bad Paul Ryan is. So we made this list of 10 things to know about Mitt Romney's Vice Presidential pick, Paul Ryan. Read it, then click here to share this list as an image on social media, or just forward this email! The future of America is on the line—from a woman's right to choose to our economy.
10 Things to know about Paul Ryan:
1. His economic plan would cost America 1 million jobs in the first year. Ryan's proposed budget would cripple the economy. He'd slash spending deeply, which would not only slow job growth, but shock the economy and cost 1 million of us our jobs in 2013 alone and kill more than 4 million jobs by the end of 2014.1
2. He'd kill Medicare. He'd replace Medicare with vouchers for retirees to purchase insurance, eliminating the guarantee of health care for seniors and putting them at the mercy of the private insurance industry. That could amount to a cost increase of more than $5,900 by 2050, leaving many seniors broke or without the health care they need. He'd also raise the age of eligibility to 67.2
3. He'd pickpocket the middle class to line the pockets of the rich. His tax plan is Robin Hood in reverse. He wants to cut taxes by $4.6 trillion over the next decade, but only for corporations and the rich, like giving families earning more than $1 million a year a $300,000 tax cut. And to pay for them, he'd raise taxes on middle- and lower-income households and butcher social service programs that help middle- and working-class Americans.3
4. He's an anti-choice extremist. Ryan co-sponsored an extremist anti-choice bill, nicknamed the 'Let Women Die Act,' that would have allowed hospitals to deny women emergency abortion care even if their lives were at risk. And he co-sponsored another bill that would criminalize some forms of birth control, all abortions--even in cases of rape and incest, and in vitro fertilization.4
5. He'd dismantle Social Security. Ironically, Ryan used the Social Security Survivors benefit to help pay for college, but he wants to take that possibility away from future generations. He agrees with Rick Perry's view that Social Security is a "Ponzi scheme" and he supported George W. Bush's disastrous proposal to privatize Social Security.5
6. He'd eliminate Pell grants for more than 1 million low-income students. His budget plan cuts the Pell Grant program by $200 billion, which could mean a loss of educational funding for 1 million low-income students.6
7. He'd give $40 billion in subsidies to Big Oil. His budget includes oil tax breaks worth $40 billion, while cutting "billions of dollars from investments to develop alternative fuels and clean energy technologies that would serve as substitutes for oil."7
8. He's another Koch-head politician. Not surprisingly, the billionaire oil-baron Koch brothers are some of Ryan's biggest political contributors. And their company, Koch industries, is Ryan's biggest energy-related donor. The company's PAC and affiliated individuals have given him $65,500 in donations.8
9. He opposes gay rights. Ryan has an abysmal voting record on gay rights. He's voted to ban adoption by gay couples, against same-sex marriage, and against repealing "don't ask, don't tell." He also voted against the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which President Obama signed into law in 2009.9
10. He thinks an "I got mine, who cares if you're okay" philosophy is admirable. For many years, Paul Ryan devoted himself to Ayn Rand's philosophy of selfishness as a virtue. It has shaped his entire ethic about whom he serves in public office. He even went as far as making his interns read her work.10
If there was ever any doubt that Mitt Romney's got a disastrous plan for America—he made himself 100% clear when he picked right-wing extremist Paul Ryan as his running mate. Paul Ryan is bad for America, but we can't beat him if Americans don't know everything he stands for. Share this list with all your friends by clicking here, or simply forward this email.
Sources:
1. "Ryan's Budget, Robin Hood in reverse," Economic Policy Institute
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278939&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=4
2. "12 Things You Should Know About Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan," Think Progress, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278662&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=5
3."Ryan Budget Would Raise Some Taxes; Guess Who Gets Hit?," Off the Charts, April 12, 2012 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278692&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=6
"Middle class could face higher taxes under Republican plan, analysis finds," The Washington Post, June 19, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278693&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=7
4. "Statement on Mitt Romney's Selection of Rep. Paul Ryan for His Vice-Presidential Running Mate," NARAL, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278694&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=8
"Paul Ryan's Extreme Abortion Views," The Daily Beast, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278695&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=10
"Paul Ryan Sponsored Fetal Personhood Bill, Opposes Family Planning Funds," Huffington Post, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278852&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=12
5. "12 Things You Should Know About Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan," Think Progress, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278662&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=13
"Ayn Rand would have HATED Paul Ryan," Daily Kos, August 12, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278853&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=14
6. "Pell Grants For Poor Students Lose $170 Billion In Ryan Budget," Huffington Post, March 27, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278696&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=15
7. "Ryan Budget Pads Big Oil's Pockets with Senseless Subsidies," Center for American Progress, March 20, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278697&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=16
8. "Koch brothers have Paul Ryan's back," Politico, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278940&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=17
9. "Paul Ryan as VP Matches Mitt Romney on Homophobia," The Advocate, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278698&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=18
10."Paul Ryan And Ayn Rand", The New Republic, December 28, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278699&id=48818-9442574-kiwkc_x&t=19
Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.
[PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.]
Meanwhile the progressive think tank and public policy institution Center for Public Progress have very recently published a brilliant series of political research and analysis papers under its auspices that exposes in exhaustive detail what Romney and Ryan's proposals and public policy positions are going to actually mean in precise practical terms for people of color. Consider the following two heavily detailed reports by CPP staff researcher and political/economic analyst Vanessa Cárdenas :
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2012/08/romney_ryan_2050.html
The Impact of Mitt Romney’s Policies on Essential Programs for People of Color
In spite of all of the evidence that points to the struggles communities of color are facing, both Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) continue advocating for cuts to essential programs that are a lifeline for communities of color.
By Vanessa Cárdenas | August 16, 2012
In various speeches this election season, including at the NAACP Annual Conference and the Latino Coalition Annual Economic Summit, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has been making the case that when it comes to people of color, his economic policies are the answer to their economic wellbeing.
Yet closer analyses of his stated positions on key issues that matter to these communities do not bear this out.
As has already been widely reported, communities of color have suffered and continue suffering the brunt of the effects of the Great Recession. African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and subgroups within the Asian American community continue to lag far behind their white counterparts on key economic indicators. And while it is true that these communities have historically faced significant economic challenges, the Great Recession pushed them even lower on the ladder of opportunity and farther from the American Dream.
How communities of color fare today and down the road matters greatly, not just for their own sake, but also because they are the future of our nation. Today the majority of children under one year old are kids of color and in 10 states people of color make up the majority of the population. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by the year 2042 there won’t be an ethnic majority in our nation. It is therefore urgent that our next president not only understands the depth of the challenges communities of color face, but even more importantly that he puts forth policy solutions that match the urgency of the moment.
Unfortunately, Gov. Romney and his newly picked running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) have thus far shown a deep disregard for these communities’ economic struggles. By embracing and promoting a “cut at all costs” approach, they threaten to push further down those individuals and families who are already barely holding on and worsen the economic outlook of the next generations of Americans.
This brief takes a closer look at the positions of the Romney-Ryan ticket on essential programs that benefit all Americans, but especially communities of color, and provides an analysis on what would happen if their ideas where to be implemented.
Gov. Romney’s approach to solving the economic problems of communities of color
Earlier this year Rep. Ryan, chair of the House Budget Committee and now republican vice presidential nominee, forwarded a budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 that would significantly cut discretionary government spending. Ryan’s budget groups education, training, employment, and social services into one budget function that would be cut by about 20 percent. It would privatize Medicare while slashing nutrition assistance and health spending. According to calculations from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, two-thirds of Ryan’s cuts target programs that serve low-income Americans.
Gov. Romney supports this budget and called it “a bold step toward putting our nation back on the track to fiscal sanity.”
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has not only embraced Ryan’s budget but has gone even further. His “Believe in America” plan would slash vital programs for the poor and middle classes, repeal the Affordable Care Act, and gut Medicare and Social Security.
By embracing these policies, Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan have demonstrated that they do not grasp the impact these cuts would have on people who are struggling to make ends meet, especially the impact on people of color.
In the following section we lay out how these policies would affect essential programs for communities of color.
Jobs
Communities of color suffer from chronic high unemployment and the Great Recession and subsequent anemic recovery has worsened this situation, particularly among youth of color. The need for good jobs in key sectors as well as job-training programs, particularly for youth and the long-term unemployed, is more evident than ever.
Key employment sectors for communities of color include the public sector and the construction and food industries. According to the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Labor and Research, “The public sector is a key source of employment for African Americans. Blacks are 30 percent more likely to be employed in the public sector and at wage levels more equal to whites than in any other sector.”
For their part, Hispanics comprise a large part of the low-skilled labor market, making up more than 20 percent of workers in the construction and food industry.
Gov. Romney, however, opposes efforts to provide aid to states to prevent public-sector layoffs. In fact, he wants to dramatically reduce the size of government—which means eliminating jobs.
In addition, the Ryan plan, which Gov. Romney has repeatedly indicated that he supports, eliminates jobs in sectors that disproportionately employ Latinos, like construction. The Ryan plan disinvests in transportation infrastructure investment and under his proposed cuts, investments in construction projects to improve and repair the nation’s interstate highway system, public transportation, and railroads will be cut.
Rep. Ryan’s plan also proposes $133.5 billion in cuts over 10 years to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which not only helps families keep food on the table, but is a job creator as well, particularly in the food industry, which includes grocers, truckers, and agricultural workers. Even cuts of 10 percent would translate into nearly 96,000 jobs lost—job losses that disproportionately impact the food-processing industry, which employs many Latinos.
Moreover, one of Romney’s actual “jobs policies” is reducing the federal workforce by 10 percent, an idea that was also included in Ryan’s budget. Ironically, Romney’s 59-point jobs agenda would actually result in 360,000 fewer jobs in 2013. Six of his proposals would directly eliminate jobs from the U.S. economy by undermining growth-focused investments and by eliminating jobs in the public sector.
Job training
Another set of programs on the chopping block under both Gov. Romney’s and Rep. Ryan’s plans would be job-training programs. High youth-unemployment rates and disproportionate rates of long-term unemployment among communities of color make job-training programs a key bridge to the future for these workers. As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney vetoed $11 million in job-training funds. As a presidential candidate he has proposed significant job-training cuts, which fall in line with House Republicans, who in 2011 passed a shortsighted and potentially devastating bill
(H.R. 1) to cut more than $4 billion from job-training programs, including:
Eliminating $3 billion for Workforce Investment Act employment and training programs
Eliminating $100 million to educate and train at-risk youth
Eliminating $100 million to educate and train ex-offenders
Rescinding $300 million from Job Corps
In addition, this past June House Republicans pushed through committee the Workforce Investment Act (H.R. 4297), which includes cuts to popular programs such as YouthBuild and the Job Corps, which as figures 1 and 2 show, serve a substantial number of young people of color. This legislation cuts these programs in the pursuit of consolidating workforce and job-training programs, an integral feature of Ryan’s proposed budget to reduce federal spending.
In light of high unemployment rates among people of color in general and specifically for Latino and African American young people (19.2 percent and 25.8 percent, respectively), it is particularly concerning that the Romney-Ryan ticket would pursue and support policies that reduce opportunities in employment, education, and training.
Taxes
Mitt Romney has not been forthcoming with concrete plans on jobs or the economy. He has stated that he will repeal some of President Obama’s tax cuts for working families, extend the Bush-era taxes, and enact massive tax cuts benefitting high-income households. As figure 3 shows, under Romney’s plan 3.7 million Hispanic and 2.2 million African American families would receive a tax increase from the loss of tax credits from the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit.
But millionaires would receive a tax cut averaging $250,000 in 2015. It’s important to note that Gov. Romney has not specified what middle-class tax benefits he would eliminate in order to pay for the tax breaks for the rich and thus these figures do not show the full impact of the tax increases on working families resulting from Gov. Romney’s plan.
Unions
Unions bolster opportunities for all workers in our country, but unions and the benefits they offer are especially important for communities of color. In 2008 people of color made up 30 percent of union membership. Unions provide workers with collective leverage and competitive benefits, protecting workers of color from falling further down the wage scale. As figure 4 shows, workers’ mean weekly earnings across the board are greater when they are union members; but this difference is especially significant for African Americans and Hispanics.
Yet Gov. Romney has cast himself as one of the staunchest antiunion candidates in recent history. He has promised to undo President Obama’s union-friendly executive orders while encouraging states to adopt laws prohibiting union/ employer agreements concerning union membership. If elected president, the former governor of Massachusetts has vowed to promote a robust antiunion agenda, including:
Supporting states pursuing so-called “right-to-work” laws, which undermine the resources that help workers bargain for better wages and benefits
Amending the National Labor Relations Act to guarantee secret ballots in union elections, a proposal that unions oppose
Reversing an executive order from President Obama requiring federal agencies to use union labor on some government projects
Instead of offering solutions that will ensure that workers have good jobs with decent wages, Gov. Romney proposes to undermine their economic security by making it more difficult for workers to organize in spite of the fact that unions are key to their economic mobility.
Housing
Communities of color were most affected by the implosion of our housing market. The foreclosure rate in 2011 for Latinos and African Americans was nearly double that of whites—11.9 percent for Latinos and 9.8 percent for African Americans, compared to 5 percent for whites. The foreclosure rate for Asians was 6.6 percent. (see figure 5) In addition, approximately 25 percent of all Latino and African-American borrowers have lost their homes to foreclosure or are seriously delinquent, compared to just under than 12 percent for white borrowers. The same can be said about subprime loans where predatory lending practices contributed to the high foreclosure rates among people of color. African American and Latino borrowers are more than twice as likely to get a subprime loan than whites. What’s more, Asian borrowers are seven times more likely to receive a subprime loan. (see figure 6) This type of financial discrimination made it harder for people of color to pay their loans and thus contributed to the high numbers of foreclosures in those communities.
Moreover, African Americans and Latinos pay 3 percent more than white homebuyers for their homes, according to a study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research that looked at 2 million home sales in four cities. Further, the study found that the higher prices were not tied to income, wealth, or credit rating, suggesting discrimination may be a factor.
According to the Center for Responsible Lending, in addition to the 2.5 million foreclosures already completed, there are an estimated 5.7 million borrowers at imminent risk of foreclosure. Independent analysts have projected that between 10 million and 13 million foreclosures will have occurred by the time the housing crisis finally ends. The Center for Responsible Lending further asserts that “as a share of the population of homeowners as of 2006, we estimate that 17 percent of Latino homeowners, 11 percent of African American homeowners, and 7 percent of non-Hispanic white homeowners already have lost or are at imminent risk of losing their home.”
And what is Gov. Romney’s answer to communities of color losing their homes in unprecedented numbers? In an October 2011 interview Gov. Romney, speaking about the housing crisis, stated, “Don’t try to stop the foreclosure process, let it run its course and hit the bottom.” Gov. Romney doubled down on this position during a Republican presidential debate on October 18, when he said that the right thing to do is to let the markets work, while condemning the idea of the federal government interceding to help families avoid foreclosure.
Gov. Romney has also promised to repeal the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a move that would eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is key to protecting consumers, particularly consumers of color, from the financial abuses of the past because its mission is to enforce the laws regulating credit cards, mortgages, student loans, payday loans, and other kinds of financial products and services. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is also charged with enforcing federal fair-lending laws that protect consumers from discriminatory lending practices.
Immigration
Mitt Romney has not only made it clear that he would do nothing to fix our dysfunctional immigration system, he has even gone so far as call for a policy of “self-deportation” for undocumented immigrants. By “self-deportation,” he means that the federal government would need to make life as miserable as possible for the undocumented in an effort to drive them to leave the United States voluntarily. Consistent with that agenda, Gov. Romney would support Arizona-style “papers please” laws in more states.
Rep. Ryan, who this past April defended Gov. Romney’s extreme stance on immigration, voted, in 2005, in favor of the infamous Sensenbrenner bill, the most anti-immigrant bill to pass the House in the history of our country. With his vote Ryan showed support for turning every undocumented immigrant into a felon based solely on their lack of legal status.
And while Gov. Romney continues to dodge questions about whether or not he would repeal the president’s June 15 announcement to grant deferred action to DREAM Act-eligible youth, he has been very clear on the fact that he would veto the DREAM Act if it landed on his desk. On this issue too, there is no daylight between the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and his vice presidential pick. In December 2010 Rep. Ryan voted against passage of the DREAM Act in the House of Representatives.
Social Security
Social Security is an essential program for low-income communities of color. Research shows that people of color are more likely to rely on Social Security as their source of income, primarily because these communities tend to be in lower-wage jobs that do not offer retirement and or pension plans. Currently more than 25 percent of blacks and Latinos rely on these benefits for more than 90 percent of their family income. Among beneficiaries aged 65 and older, Social Security represents 90 percent or more of income for 25 percent of whites, 34 percent of blacks, and 33 percent of Hispanics.
Given that families of color have also been hit disproportionately by the Great Recession in terms of job loss and stagnating wages, there is less economic security in these families—in fact, an estimated 9 out of 10 senior households of color do not have enough economic security to sustain themselves throughout their projected lifetimes.
Gov. Romney’s plan to raise the retirement age for Social Security eligibility would have a disproportionately negative impact on Latinos and African Americans because Social Security is the primary or only income source in retirement for these communities. African American and Latino workers as they age tend to be in worse health than their white counterparts, tend to have lower life expectancies, and tend to have less retirement wealth outside of Social Security. Raising the retirement age is an across-the-board benefit cut that especially impacts communities of color who already disproportionately depend on Social Security.
Medicare
Medicare is another essential program that has a large impact on the health of communities of color. In 2010, for instance, 23 percent of seniors of color relied on Medicare as their only source of health care coverage.
Gov. Romney has proposed raising the eligibility age for Medicare, similar to his Social Security proposal—starting in 2022 the age for Medicare eligibility would rise by one month each year, which would shift costs to seniors. Some seniors who would no longer be eligible for Medicare would pick up employer coverage, but would end up paying more in premiums and cost sharing. He has also proposed giving individuals the option to stay on traditional Medicare or purchase health insurance from private companies through vouchers.
The governor’s running mate has also proposed dismantling this important safety net for communities of color. Under Rep. Ryan’s budget, tens of thousands of seniors could lose their coverage in the next 10 years, and most of the remaining beneficiaries would see their premiums increase.
Besides the above-mentioned problems of raising the eligibility age for certain communities of color, converting Medicare into a voucher program would aggravate the economic insecurity of seniors of color. For instance, studies show that more than one-third of African American and Latino senior households (34 percent and 39 percent) are financially at risk based on their current health expenses.
Health care
As stated earlier, racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care in the United States are persistent and well documented. Communities of color fare far worse than their white counterparts across a range of health indicators—life expectancy, infant mortality, prevalence of chronic diseases, self-rated health status, insurance coverage, and many others. And in 2010, 20.8 percent of African Americans and 30.7 percent of Latinos did not have health insurance compared to 11.7 percent of whites. One in five Asian Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 report having no health insurance or being uninsured during some portion of the past year.
Yet Gov. Romney has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which includes numerous provisions that are explicitly intended to reduce health disparities and improve the health of racially and ethnically diverse populations, including expanding coverage to those who currently have no health insurance and providing financial assistance to help those with lower incomes purchase coverage. In addition, Obamacare has already benefited more than a million young people of color by allowing them to access health care through their parents’ insurance.
Another key feature of the Affordable Care Act is that it increases funding for community health centers. Obamacare provides an additional $9.5 billion in operating costs and $1.5 billion for new construction for community health centers. With this additional funding community health centers will be able to double the number of patients they serve to up to 40 million annually by 2015.
Community health centers serve vulnerable populations such as low-income people, the uninsured, migrant and seasonal farm workers, individuals and families experiencing homelessness, and people living in public housing. In fact, more than two-thirds of the patients who receive care at community health centers are people of color. Community health care centers also provide needed economic activity in the communities they serve. Studies demonstrate that increased funding to community health centers creates additional economic stimulus both within the center and beyond. The nearly $2 billion investment from the stimulus act, for example, generated $3.2 billion of economic activity, and in 2009, health centers generated approximately $20 billion in economic activity for their local communities. By intent, these health centers are located in lower-income, medically underserved communities mostly in rural and inner-city neighborhoods. In addition, studies find these are the same areas with the highest rates of unemployment and the highest rates of the uninsured.
Pell Grants
There aren’t many other programs that are as vital as the federal Pell Grant program in terms of opening the doors of higher education to students from low-income families. It is a key rung in the ladder of opportunity and has been enormously successful in leveling the playing field by providing access to higher education. As the following chart shows, Pell Grants are especially important for Hispanic and African American students who often come from low-income families, making the program key to their graduation prospects, their future economic success, and U.S. competitiveness.
One standout feature of the Romney-endorsed Ryan budget is that it would deliver the biggest reductions to funding of Pell Grants in program history. It would cut the Pell Grant program by $200 billion, which could “ultimately knock more than 1 million students off ” the program over the next 10 years and would reduce the number of low-income students receiving bachelor’s degrees each year by as much as 61,000.
Head Start
The Head Start program was created to promote school readiness for preschool children. Today Head Start serves thousands of children of color. (See figure 10) According to James Heckman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, “Every dollar invested in Head Start yields between $7 and $9 as the program’s alumni enter the work force and start contributing to the economy.”
While he was governor of Massachusetts, Romney cut funding for the Head Start program: In 2005 he cut the state’s Head Start program by $1.3 million and the next year he cut $1 million from the program.
The Romney-approved Ryan budget could cut programs like Head Start by 20 percent. An analysis by the National Education Association estimated that close to 200,000 children would lose Head Start classroom slots by 2014 under the Ryan budget. More alarmingly, over the next decade this would amount to 2 million children who would not be able to attend Head Start. According to the National Education Association the numbers breakdown like this: Cuts to Head Start in fiscal year 2013 would cause the loss of more than 61,000 slots for low-income children in the program and more than 22,000 jobs; and, in fiscal year 2014, the Romney-approved Ryan plan would cut an additional $1.6 billion from Head Start resulting in the loss of more than 191,000 slots for poor children and more than 79,000 jobs.
Quality early-childhood education is a key predictor of a child’s future educational achievement and emotional development. Slashing early childhood education is shortsighted and will ultimately hinder the nation’s economic recovery and dim its long-term economic prospects.
Conclusion
In spite of all of the evidence that points to the struggles communities of color are facing, both Romney and Ryan continue advocating for cuts to essential programs that are a lifeline for communities of color. Meanwhile, Romney’s platform offers $2.24 trillion in tax cuts for the top 1 percent of earners over 10 years.
The 2012 election affords us the opportunity to make choices that will have long-term impacts on our collective economic wellbeing. We need national leaders committed to ensuring that the economic ladder ascending to the middle class remains sturdy and available for the next generation of Americans. The economic plans of the Romney-Ryan ticket fall far short of delivering that.
Vanessa Cárdenas is Director for Progress 2050 Action at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
To speak with our experts on this topic, please contact:
Print: Katie Peters (economy, education, and health care)
202.741.6285 or kpeters@americanprogressaction.org
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© Center for American Progress Action Fund
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2012/08/romney_ryan_latinos.html
How the Romney-Ryan Ticket Hurts Latinos
By Vanessa Cárdenas
August 15, 2012
American Progress Action
It is probably safe to assume that not many Latinos had heard of or knew much about Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) before GOP presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced that he was choosing Rep. Ryan as his running mate. Yet now that he is the Republican vice presidential nominee, his budget proposal—along with Gov. Romney’s—will be scrutinized by the Latino community.
When Latinos look closely, they will find that the policies that both candidates embrace are in direct contradiction to the policies that most Latinos support. As a 2011 LatinoDecision/Impremedia poll shows, 55 percent of Latinos believe that the government should make investments to stimulate the economy, 72 percent oppose cutting Medicare, and 60 percent believe that government should ensure that everyone has access to health care, among other findings.
Below we provide the facts on where Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan stand on the key issues Latinos care about.
Health care
Under the Affordable Care Act, an estimated 5.4 million Latinos will gain health care coverage.
736,000 Latino young adults between ages 19 and 25 now have coverage under their parent’s employer-sponsored or individually purchased health plan, thanks to the Affordable Care Act.
Both Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan have committed to repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.
Pell Grants
According to a Student Aid Policy Analysis report, from 2007 to 2008 Latino students were 13.7 percent of Pell Grant recipients. The federal Pell Grant program provides need-based grants to low-income undergraduate and certain postbaccalaureate students to promote access to postsecondary education.
Rep. Ryan’s budget would cut the Pell Grant program by $200 billion, which could “ultimately knock more than one million students off” the program over the next 10 years.
Gov. Romney plans to “simplify” (i.e., cut) federal higher education spending, which will make it much more difficult for students to receive financial support for school. He also plans to “refocus” education spending, which would result in increasing the requirements of receiving a Pell Grant.
Head Start
In 2010, 34 percent of children in Head Start were of Hispanic origin. Head Start is a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children from birth to 5 years old from low-income families.
The Ryan budget would cut $430.3 million from Head Start programs nationally, eliminating 61,612 slots for children and 22,640 jobs in fiscal year 2013 alone.
Gov. Romney, as governor of Massachusetts, cut money from Head Start; in 2005 he cut Head Start by $1.3 million, and in 2006 he cut $1 million from the program.
Housing
Latinos have a foreclosure rate about double that of whites—9.8 percent, compared to 5 percent for whites.
Gov. Romney advocates a hands-off approach to the housing crisis, letting it run its course and hit rock bottom.
Gov. Romney supports the elimination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was established to enforce federal fair-lending laws that protect consumers from discriminatory lending practices. According to the Center for Responsible Lending, Latino borrowers were 30 percent more likely to get a subprime loan than were whites.
Jobs and job training
Hispanics comprise a large part of the low-skilled labor market, making up more than 20 percent of workers in the construction and food industry.
Under the Ryan budget plan, investments to improve and repair the nation’s interstate highway system, public transportation, and railroads will be cut, which would eliminate jobs for Latinos.
If the Ryan budget were adopted into law, funding for federal job-training programs would be virtually eliminated. According to the Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce, the Ryan budget would reduce the budget line that funds job-training programs by more than $16 billion, or 22 percent.
The Ryan budget would cut programs such as YouthBuild and JobCorps, which serve a substantial number of Latinos.
As governor of Massachusetts, Romney vetoed $11 million in job-training funds. As a presidential candidate, he has proposed big job-training cuts, as well.
Taxes
Gov. Romney plans to increase taxes for millions of families and children of color by cutting the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit, which reduces families’ income taxes for all dependent children and supplements the wages of low-income families, respectively.
3.7 million Hispanic families with 8 million Hispanic children would receive a tax increase from the loss of tax credits from the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit.
Immigration
Gov. Romney supports a policy of “self-deportation,” which aims to make the lives of the undocumented so difficult that they would choose to leave the country voluntarily.
Gov. Romney also supports Arizona’s “papers please” law, which requires that law enforcement officers demand proof of legal status from anyone they suspect is undocumented.
Rep. Ryan voted for the infamous Sensenbrenner bill (H.R. 4437) back in 2005, which made it a felony to be in the country without immigration status.
Gov. Romney has promised to veto the DREAM Act, which would provide kids who lack immigration status and came to the United States as children the opportunity to earn citizenship by going to college or serving the country through military service.
Rep. Ryan voted against the DREAM Act in 2010.
Poverty
The Hispanic poverty rate increased from 25.3 percent in 2009 to 26.6 percent in 2010. Thirteen million Latinos were considered poor in 2010, representing an increase of 893,000 since 2009.
More Latino children are living in poverty—6.1 million in 2010—than children of any other racial or ethnic group.
Rep. Ryan gets 62 percent of his budget cuts from programs for lower-income Americans. His budget would kick millions off of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and would gut the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program. Nineteen percent of nutrition assistance participants are Hispanic, and Hispanics represent the largest racial or ethnic group in the Women, Infants, and Children program.
Gov. Romney’s budget plans could kick 13 million people off of food stamps.
Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program
In 2009, 27 percent of Hispanic Americans—13 million people, including 9 million children—were covered by Medicaid.
According to the National Council of La Raza, Latinos are about two times more likely than whites to have coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program; nearly half (49.3 percent) of Latino children have Medicaid or are covered by the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Rep. Ryan proposed ending the Medicaid entitlement, instead providing fixed-dollar- amount funding to states through block grants that would reduce funding for the program, thus jeopardizing the coverage and protections currently guaranteed for children and other vulnerable populations.
The Ryan budget would dramatically reduce funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program by cutting nearly $29 billion in two years alone.
Reproductive rights
Latina women experience unintended pregnancies at double the rate of white women. In addition, the abortion rate among Latina women is double the rate among white women.
Gov. Romney has pledged to “get rid of” Planned Parenthood and to end funding for our nation’s family planning program. Rep. Ryan has voted to deny federal funding for both. They also have also supported legislation that would allow employers to take away no-cost contraceptive coverage from employees.
Both Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan have supported “personhood” amendments that would ban abortion in all circumstances with no exceptions whatsoever and would criminalize certain forms of birth control and fertility treatments.
Eliminating the Title X Family Planning Program, which serves more than 5 million people with family planning services each year, would disproportionately hurt Latina women. In 2011, 29 percent of Title X clients were identified as Latina—many of whom have no other health care access.
Vanessa Cárdenas is the Director of Progress 2050 Action, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
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What's eminently clear from just this data alone is that Romney/Ryan as weel as the Republican/Tea Party right in Congress and the filthy rich private sector in corporate America and on Wall Street (led by the notorious billionaires, the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson) is not only virulently racist, sexist, classist, imperialist, and xenophobic but is absolutely determined to turn the entire nation's clock back more than a hundred years ago when white supremacy, patriarchy, corporate and financial (i.e. Wall Street) plutocracy and oligarchy--as well as imperialist militarism-- ruled the United States with an iron fist and the executive branch of the federal government, Congress, and the Supreme Court all paid strict and slavish obeisance to the wealthiest and most ruthlessly corrupt and powerful white men in the country at the murderous expense of everyone else--especially women and children. The only major difference in this century from that very oppressive earlier era is that Romney and Ryan are now bidding for hegemonic power over a much larger and more interdependent global economy than the early 20th century could have even imagined. If that's not enough to scare the living shit out of you I don't know what will.
Meanwhile President Obama's campaign for re-election continues to obsessively point out and about the obvious that Romney and Ryan are pathological liars, mean spirited social darwinists, arrogant hypocrites, insidious ideological demagogues, and pompous reactionary elitists while simultaneously dreading the potential impact on voters of negative, lying ads about the President and his agenda paid for by mammoth SUPER-PAC donations that mostly hidden super wealthy donors like the Brothers Koch and Adelson keep surreptitiously giving to the Republican candidates. But in the midst of all these lowly but utterly predictable political and extralegal shenanigans by the right and their demagogic legion of mindless supporters throughout the country; and despite the general meandering tone and far too often inept political direction of the Obama campaign one thing is absolutely certain beyond all doubt:
The Romney/Ryan ticket MUST BE DEFEATED at all costs at the polls in November because while it may sound merely melodramatic to idle cynics and hopelessly disillusioned liberal voters and the progressive left alike the very future direction of the Republic--and most importantly our lives!--is really at stake now in a fundamental manner that hasn't been this urgently at risk or as seriously challenged since the early 1930s...Stay tuned...Kofi
Economist Robert Reich lays out what's at stake in the 2012 Presidential Election:
Ayn Rand From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ayn Rand in 1957
Born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum February 2, 1905 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire Died March 6, 1982 (aged 77) New York City, United States Resting place Kensico Cemetery Occupation Writer, philosopher Language English Ethnicity Russian Jew Citizenship United States Alma mater Petrograd State University Period 1934–1982 Subjects Philosophy Notable work(s) The Fountainhead Atlas Shrugged Notable award(s) Prometheus Award – Hall of Fame 1983 Atlas Shrugged 1987 Anthem Spouse(s) Frank O'Connor (m. 1929-1979, his death)
Ayn Rand ( /ˈaɪn ˈrænd/;[1] born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum, February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982) was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher,[2] playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism.
Born and educated in Russia, Rand moved to the United States in 1926. She worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood and had a play produced on Broadway in 1935–1936. After two early novels that were initially less successful, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel The Fountainhead. In 1957, she published her best-known work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward she turned to nonfiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own magazines and releasing several collections of essays until her death in 1982.
Rand advocated reason as the only means of acquiring knowledge and rejected all forms of faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism, and rejected ethical altruism. In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral and opposed all forms of collectivism and statism, instead supporting laissez-faire capitalism, which she believed was the only social system that protected individual rights. She promoted romantic realism in art. She was sharply critical of the philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her besides Aristotle.
Rand's fiction was poorly received by many literary critics,[3] and academia generally ignored or rejected her philosophy. The Objectivist movement attempts to spread her ideas, both to the public and in academic settings.[4] She has been a significant influence among libertarians and American conservatives.[5]
Early life
Rand was born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum (Russian: Алиса Зиновьевна Розенбаум) on February 2, 1905, to a bourgeois family living in Saint Petersburg. She was the eldest of the three daughters of Zinovy Zakharovich Rosenbaum and Anna Borisovna Rosenbaum, largely non-observant Jews. Rand's father was a successful pharmacist, eventually owning a pharmacy and the building in which it was located.[6] Rand was twelve at the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917, during which her sympathies were with Alexander Kerensky. Rand's family life was disrupted by the rise of the Bolshevik party under Vladimir Lenin. Her father's pharmacy was confiscated by the Bolsheviks, and the family fled to the Crimea, which was initially under the control of the White Army during the Russian Civil War. She later recalled that while in high school she determined that she was an atheist and that she valued reason above any other human attribute. After graduating from high school in the Crimea at 16, Rand returned with her family to Petrograd (the new name for Saint Petersburg), where they faced desperate conditions, on occasion nearly starving.[7][8]
Rand completed a three-year program at Petrograd State University.
After the Russian Revolution, universities were opened to women, allowing Rand to be in the first group of women to enroll at Petrograd State University,[9] where she studied in the department of social pedagogy, majoring in history.[10] At the university she was introduced to the writings of Aristotle and Plato,[11] who would be her greatest influence and counter-influence, respectively.[12] A third figure whose philosophical works she studied heavily was Friedrich Nietzsche.[13] Able to read French, German and Russian, Rand also discovered the writers Fyodor Dostoevsky, Victor Hugo, Edmond Rostand, and Friedrich Schiller, who became her perennial favorites.[14]
Along with many other "bourgeois" students, Rand was purged from the university shortly before graduating. However, after complaints from a group of visiting foreign scientists, many of the purged students were allowed to complete their work and graduate,[15] which Rand did in October 1924.[16] She subsequently studied for a year at the State Technicum for Screen Arts in Leningrad. For one of her assignments, she wrote an essay about the actress Pola Negri, which became her first published work.[17]
By this time she had decided her professional surname for writing would be Rand,[18] possibly as a Cyrillic contraction of her birth surname,[19] and she adopted the first name Ayn, either from a Finnish name or from the Hebrew word עין (ayin, meaning "eye").[20]
In the fall of 1925, Rand was granted a visa to visit American relatives. Rand was so impressed with the skyline of Manhattan upon her arrival in New York Harbor that she cried what she later called "tears of splendor".[21] Intent on staying in the United States to become a screenwriter, she lived for a few months with relatives in Chicago, one of whom owned a movie theater and allowed her to watch dozens of films for free. She then set out for Hollywood, California.[22]
Initially, Rand struggled in Hollywood and took odd jobs to pay her basic living expenses. A chance meeting with famed director Cecil B. DeMille led to a job as an extra in his film, The King of Kings, and to subsequent work as a junior screenwriter.[23] While working on The King of Kings, she met an aspiring young actor, Frank O'Connor; the two were married on April 15, 1929. . Rand became an American citizen in 1931. Taking various jobs during the 1930s to support her writing, Rand worked for a time as the head of the costume department at RKO Studios.[24] She made several attempts to bring her parents and sisters to the United States, but they were unable to acquire permission to emigrate.[25]
Early fiction
See also: Night of January 16th, We the Living, and Anthem (novella)
Rand's first literary success came with the sale of her screenplay Red Pawn to Universal Studios in 1932, although it was never produced.[26] This was followed by the courtroom drama Night of January 16th, first produced by E.E. Clive in Hollywood in 1934 and then successfully reopened on Broadway in 1935. Each night the "jury" was selected from members of the audience, and one of the two different endings, depending on the jury's "verdict", would then be performed.[27] In 1941, Paramount Pictures produced a movie version of the play. Rand did not participate in the production and was highly critical of the result.[28]
Rand's first novel, the semi-autobiographical We the Living, was published in 1936. Set in Soviet Russia, it focused on the struggle between the individual and the state. In a 1959 foreword to the novel, Rand stated that We the Living "is as near to an autobiography as I will ever write. It is not an autobiography in the literal, but only in the intellectual sense. The plot is invented, the background is not..."[29] Initial sales were slow and the American publisher let it go out of print,[30] although European editions continued to sell.[31] After the success of her later novels, Rand was able to release a revised version in 1959 that has since sold over three million copies.[32] Without Rand's knowledge or permission, the novel was made into a pair of Italian films, Noi vivi and Addio, Kira, in 1942. Rediscovered in the 1960s, these films were re-edited into a new version which was approved by Rand and re-released as We the Living in 1986.[33]
Her novella Anthem was written during a break from the writing of her next major novel, The Fountainhead. It presents a vision of a dystopian future world in which totalitarian collectivism has triumphed to such an extent that even the word 'I' has been forgotten and replaced with 'we'.[34] It was published in England in 1938, but Rand initially could not find an American publisher. As with We the Living, Rand's later success allowed her to get a revised version published in 1946, which has sold more than 3.5 million copies.[35]
The Fountainhead and political activism
See also: The Fountainhead and The Fountainhead (film)
During the 1940s, Rand became politically active. Both she and her husband worked full time in volunteer positions for the 1940 presidential campaign of Republican Wendell Willkie. This work led to Rand's first public speaking experiences, including fielding the sometimes hostile questions from New York City audiences who had just viewed pro-Willkie newsreels, an experience she greatly enjoyed.[36] This activity also brought her into contact with other intellectuals sympathetic to free-market capitalism. She became friends with journalist Henry Hazlitt and his wife, and Hazlitt introduced her to the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises. Despite her philosophical differences with them, Rand strongly endorsed the writings of both men throughout her career, and both of them expressed admiration for her. Once Mises referred to Rand as "the most courageous man in America", a compliment that particularly pleased her because he said "man" instead of "woman".[37] Rand also developed a friendship with libertarian writer Isabel Paterson. Rand questioned the well-informed Paterson about American history and politics long into the night during their numerous meetings and gave Paterson ideas for her only nonfiction book, The God of the Machine.[38]
Rand's first major success as a writer came with The Fountainhead in 1943, a romantic and philosophical novel that she wrote over a period of seven years.[39] The novel centers on an uncompromising young architect named Howard Roark and his struggle against what Rand described as "second-handers"—those who attempt to live through others, placing others above self. It was rejected by twelve publishers before finally being accepted by the Bobbs-Merrill Company on the insistence of editor Archibald Ogden, who threatened to quit if his employer did not publish it.[40] While completing the novel, Rand was prescribed the amphetamine Benzedrine to fight fatigue.[41] The drug helped her to work long hours to meet her deadline for delivering the finished novel, but when the book was done, she was so exhausted that her doctor ordered two weeks' rest.[42] Her continued use of the drug for approximately three decades may have contributed to what some of her later associates described as volatile mood swings.[43]
The Fountainhead eventually became a worldwide success, bringing Rand fame and financial security.[44] In 1943, Rand sold the rights for a film version to Warner Bros., and she returned to Hollywood to write the screenplay. Finishing her work on that screenplay, she was hired by producer Hal Wallis as a screenwriter and script-doctor. Her work for Wallis included the screenplays for the Oscar-nominated Love Letters and You Came Along.[45] This role gave Rand time to work on other projects, including a planned nonfiction treatment of her philosophy to be called The Moral Basis of Individualism. Although the planned book was never completed, a condensed version was published as an essay titled "The Only Path to Tomorrow", in the January 1944 edition of Reader's Digest magazine.[46]
Ayn Rand's testimony before the House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities
While working in Hollywood, Rand extended her involvement with free-market and anti-communist activism. She became involved with the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a Hollywood anti-Communist group, and wrote articles on the group's behalf. She also joined the anti-Communist American Writers Association.[47] A visit by Isabel Paterson to meet with Rand's California associates led to a final falling out between the two when Paterson made comments that Rand saw as rude to valued political allies.[48] In 1947, during the Second Red Scare, Rand testified as a "friendly witness" before the United States House Un-American Activities Committee. Her testimony described the disparity between her personal experiences in the Soviet Union and the portrayal of it in the 1944 film Song of Russia.[49] Rand argued that the film grossly misrepresented conditions in the Soviet Union, portraying life there as being much better and happier than it actually was.[50] When asked about her feelings on the effectiveness of the investigations after the hearings, Rand described the process as "futile".[51]
After several delays, the film version of The Fountainhead was released in 1949. Although it used Rand's screenplay with minimal alterations, she "disliked the movie from beginning to end", complaining about its editing, acting, and other elements.[52]
Atlas Shrugged and Objectivism
See also: Atlas Shrugged, Objectivism (Ayn Rand), and Objectivist movement
After the publication of The Fountainhead, Rand received numerous letters from readers, some of whom it had profoundly influenced. In 1951 Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City, where she gathered a group of these admirers around her. This group (jokingly designated "The Collective") included future Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, a young psychology student named Nathan Blumenthal (later Nathaniel Branden) and his wife Barbara, and Barbara's cousin Leonard Peikoff. At first the group was an informal gathering of friends who met with Rand on weekends at her apartment to discuss philosophy. Later she began allowing them to read the drafts of her new novel, Atlas Shrugged, as the manuscript pages were written. In 1954 Rand's close relationship with the much younger Nathaniel Branden turned into a romantic affair, with the consent of their spouses.[53]
Atlas Shrugged, published in 1957, was Rand's magnum opus.[54] Rand described the theme of the novel as "the role of the mind in man's existence—and, as a corollary, the demonstration of a new moral philosophy: the morality of rational self-interest."[55] It advocates the core tenets of Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and expresses her concept of human achievement. The plot involves a dystopian United States in which the most creative industrialists, scientists and artists go on strike and retreat to a mountainous hideaway where they build an independent free economy. The novel's hero and leader of the strike, John Galt, describes the strike as "stopping the motor of the world" by withdrawing the minds of the individuals most contributing to the nation's wealth and achievement. With this fictional strike, Rand intended to illustrate that without the efforts of the rational and productive, the economy would collapse and society would fall apart. The novel includes elements of romance,[56][57][58] mystery, and science fiction,[59] and it contains Rand's most extensive statement of Objectivism in any of her works of fiction, a lengthy monologue delivered by Galt.
Despite many negative reviews, Atlas Shrugged became an international bestseller, and in an interview with Mike Wallace, Rand declared herself "the most creative thinker alive".[60] After completing the novel, Rand fell into a severe depression.[61] Atlas Shrugged was Rand's last completed work of fiction; a turning point in her life, it marked the end of Rand's career as a novelist and the beginning of her role as a popular philosopher.[62]
In 1958 Nathaniel Branden established Nathaniel Branden Lectures, later incorporated as the Nathaniel Branden Institute (NBI), to promote Rand's philosophy. Collective members gave lectures for NBI and wrote articles for Objectivist periodicals that she edited. Rand later published some of these articles in book form. Critics, including some former NBI students and Branden himself, have described the culture of NBI as one of intellectual conformity and excessive reverence for Rand, with some describing NBI or the Objectivist movement itself as a cult or religion.[63] Rand expressed opinions on a wide range of topics, from literature and music to sexuality and facial hair, and some of her followers mimicked her preferences, wearing clothes to match characters from her novels and buying furniture like hers.[64] Rand was unimpressed with many of the NBI students[65] and held them to strict standards, sometimes reacting coldly or angrily to those who disagreed with her.[66] However, some former NBI students believe the extent of these behaviors has been exaggerated, with the problem being concentrated among Rand's closest followers in New York.[67]
Later years
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rand developed and promoted her Objectivist philosophy through her nonfiction works and by giving talks to students at institutions such as Yale, Princeton, Columbia,[68] Harvard, and MIT.[69] She received an honorary doctorate from Lewis & Clark College in 1963.[70] She also began delivering annual lectures at the Ford Hall Forum, responding afterward to questions from the audience.[71] During these speeches and Q&A sessions, she often took controversial stances on political and social issues of the day. These included supporting abortion rights,[72] opposing the Vietnam War and the military draft (but condemning many draft dodgers as "bums"),[73] supporting Israel in the Arab-Israeli War of 1973 as "civilized men fighting savages",[74] saying European colonists had the right to take land from American Indians,[75] and calling homosexuality "immoral" and "disgusting", while also advocating the repeal of all laws against it.[76] She also endorsed several Republican candidates for President of the United States, most strongly Barry Goldwater in 1964, whose candidacy she promoted in several articles for The Objectivist Newsletter.[77]
In 1964 Nathaniel Branden began an affair with the young actress Patrecia Scott, whom he later married. Nathaniel and Barbara Branden kept the affair hidden from Rand. When she learned of it in 1968, though her romantic relationship with Branden had already ended,[78] Rand terminated her relationship with both Brandens, which led to the closure of NBI.[79] Rand published an article in The Objectivist repudiating Nathaniel Branden for dishonesty and other "irrational behavior in his private life".[80] Branden later apologized in an interview to "every student of Objectivism" for "perpetuating the Ayn Rand mystique" and for "contributing to that dreadful atmosphere of intellectual repressiveness that pervades the Objectivist movement."[81] In subsequent years, Rand and several more of her closest associates parted company.[82]
Rand underwent surgery for lung cancer in 1974 after decades of heavy smoking.[83] In 1976 she retired from writing her newsletter and, despite her initial objections, reluctantly allowed Evva Pryor, a consultant from her attorney's office, to sign her up for Social Security and Medicare.[84] During the late 1970s her activities within the Objectivist movement declined, especially after the death of her husband on November 9, 1979.[85] One of her final projects was work on a never-completed television adaptation of Atlas Shrugged.[86]
Rand died of heart failure on March 6, 1982, at her home in New York City,[87] and was interred in the Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York.[88] Rand's funeral was attended by some of her prominent followers, including Alan Greenspan. A six-foot floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign was placed near her casket.[89] In her will, Rand named Leonard Peikoff the heir to her estate.[90]
Philosophy Objectivist movement Main article: Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
Rand called her philosophy "Objectivism", describing its essence as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."[91] She considered Objectivism a systematic philosophy and laid out positions on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy and esthetics.[92]
In metaphysics, Rand supported philosophical realism, and opposed anything she regarded as mysticism or supernaturalism, including all forms of religion.[93] In epistemology, she considered all knowledge to be based on sense perception, the validity of which she considered axiomatic,[94] and reason, which she described as "the faculty that identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses".[95] She rejected all claims of non-perceptual or a priori knowledge, including "'instinct,' 'intuition,' 'revelation,' or any form of 'just knowing.'"[96] In her Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, Rand presented a theory of concept formation and endorsed the rejection of the analytic–synthetic dichotomy.[97]
In ethics, Rand argued for rational egoism (rational self-interest), as the guiding moral principle. She said the individual should "exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself".[98] She referred to egoism as "the virtue of selfishness" in her book of that title,[99] in which she presented her solution to the is-ought problem by describing a meta-ethical theory that based morality in the needs of "man's survival qua man".[100] She condemned ethical altruism as incompatible with the requirements of human life and happiness,[101] and held that the initiation of force was evil and irrational, writing in Atlas Shrugged that "Force and mind are opposites".[102]
Rand's political philosophy emphasized individual rights (including property rights),[103] and she considered laissez-faire capitalism the only moral social system because in her view it was the only system based on the protection of those rights.[104] She opposed statism, which she understood to include theocracy, absolute monarchy, Nazism, fascism, communism, democratic socialism, and dictatorship.[105] Rand believed that rights should be enforced by a constitutionally limited government.[106] Although her political views are often classified as conservative or libertarian, she preferred the term "radical for capitalism". She worked with conservatives on political projects, but disagreed with them over issues such as religion and ethics.[107] She denounced libertarianism, which she associated with anarchism.[108] She rejected anarchism as a naïve theory based in subjectivism that could only lead to collectivism in practice.[109]
Rand's esthetics defined art as a "selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments". According to Rand, art allows philosophical concepts to be presented in a concrete form that can be easily grasped, thereby fulfilling a need of human consciousness.[110] As a writer, the art form Rand focused on most closely was literature, where she considered Romanticism to be the approach that most accurately reflected the existence of human free will.[111] She described her own approach to literature as "romantic realism".[112]
Rand acknowledged Aristotle as her greatest influence[113] and remarked that in the history of philosophy she could only recommend "three A's"—Aristotle, Aquinas, and Ayn Rand.[114] She also found early inspiration in Friedrich Nietzsche,[115] and scholars have found indications of his influence in early notes from Rand's journals,[116] in passages from the first edition of We the Living (which Rand later revised),[117] and in her overall writing style.[118] However, by the time she wrote The Fountainhead, Rand had turned against Nietzsche's ideas,[119] and the extent of his influence on her even during her early years is disputed.[120] Among the philosophers Rand held in particular disdain was Immanuel Kant, whom she referred to as a "monster",[121] although philosophers George Walsh[122] and Fred Seddon[123] have argued that she misinterpreted Kant and exaggerated their differences.
Rand said her most important contributions to philosophy were her "theory of concepts, [her] ethics, and [her] discovery in politics that evil—the violation of rights—consists of the initiation of force".[124] She believed epistemology was a foundational branch of philosophy and considered the advocacy of reason to be the single most significant aspect of her philosophy,[125] stating, "I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows."[126]
Reception and legacy
Review
During Rand's lifetime, her work evoked both extreme praise and condemnation. Rand's first novel, We the Living, was admired by the literary critic H.L. Mencken,[127] her Broadway play Night of January 16th was both a critical and popular success,[128] and The Fountainhead was hailed by a reviewer in The New York Times as "masterful".[129] Rand's novels were derided by some critics when they were first published as being long and melodramatic.[3] However, they became bestsellers largely through word of mouth.[130]
The first reviews Rand received were for Night of January 16th. Reviews of the production were largely positive, but Rand considered even positive reviews to be embarrassing because of significant changes made to her script by the producer.[128] Rand believed that her first novel, We the Living, was not widely reviewed, but Rand scholar Michael S. Berliner says "it was the most reviewed of any of her works", with approximately 125 different reviews being published in more than 200 publications. Overall these reviews were more positive than the reviews she received for her later work.[131] Her 1938 novella Anthem received little attention from reviewers, both for its first publication in England and for subsequent re-issues.[132]
Rand's first bestseller, The Fountainhead, received far fewer reviews than We the Living, and reviewers' opinions were mixed.[133] There was a positive review in The New York Times that Rand greatly appreciated.[134] The reviewer called Rand "a writer of great power" who wrote "brilliantly, beautifully and bitterly", and stated that "you will not be able to read this masterful book without thinking through some of the basic concepts of our time".[129] There were other positive reviews, but Rand dismissed most of them as either not understanding her message or as being from unimportant publications.[133] Some negative reviews focused on the length of the novel,[3] such as one that called it "a whale of a book" and another that said "anyone who is taken in by it deserves a stern lecture on paper-rationing". Other negative reviews called the characters unsympathetic and Rand's style "offensively pedestrian".[133]
Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged was widely reviewed, and many of the reviews were strongly negative.[3][135] In the National Review, conservative author Whittaker Chambers called the book "sophomoric" and "remarkably silly". He described the tone of the book as "shrillness without reprieve" and accused Rand of supporting a Godless system (which he related to that of the Soviets), claiming "From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard, from painful necessity, commanding: 'To a gas chamber—go!'"[136] Atlas Shrugged received positive reviews from a few publications, including praise from the noted book reviewer John Chamberlain,[135] but Rand scholar Mimi Reisel Gladstein later wrote that "reviewers seemed to vie with each other in a contest to devise the cleverest put-downs", calling it "execrable claptrap" and "a nightmare"; they said it was "written out of hate" and showed "remorseless hectoring and prolixity".[3] Author Flannery O'Connor wrote in a letter to a friend that "The fiction of Ayn Rand is as low as you can get re fiction. I hope you picked it up off the floor of the subway and threw it in the nearest garbage pail."[137]
Rand's nonfiction received far fewer reviews than her novels had. The tenor of the criticism for her first nonfiction book, For the New Intellectual, was similar to that for Atlas Shrugged,[138][139] with philosopher Sidney Hook likening her certainty to "the way philosophy is written in the Soviet Union",[140] and author Gore Vidal calling her viewpoint "nearly perfect in its immorality".[141] Her subsequent books got progressively less attention from reviewers.[138]
On the 100th anniversary of Rand's birth in 2005, Edward Rothstein, writing for The New York Times, referred to her fictional writing as quaint utopian "retro fantasy" and programmatic neo-Romanticism of the misunderstood artist, while criticizing her characters' "isolated rejection of democratic society".[142] In 2007, book critic Leslie Clark described her fiction as "romance novels with a patina of pseudo-philosophy".[143] In 2009, GQ's critic columnist Tom Carson described her books as "capitalism's version of middlebrow religious novels" such as Ben-Hur and the Left Behind series.[144]
Popular interest
A quote from Rand's book The Fountainhead, on the wall directly across from the entrance to The American Adventure rotunda at Walt Disney World's Epcot
In 1991, a survey conducted for the Library of Congress and the Book-of-the-Month Club asked club members what the most influential book in the respondent's life was. Rand's Atlas Shrugged was the second most popular choice, after the Bible.[145] Rand's books continue to be widely sold and read, with 25 million copies sold as of 2007[146] and another 500,000 sold and 300,000 donated by the Ayn Rand Institute in 2008.[147] Although Rand's influence has been greatest in the United States, there has been international interest in her work.[148] Rand's work continues to be among the top sellers among books in India.[149]
Rand's contemporary admirers included fellow novelists, such as Ira Levin, Kay Nolte Smith and L. Neil Smith, and later writers such as Erika Holzer and Terry Goodkind have been influenced by her.[150] Other artists who have cited Rand as an important influence on their lives and thought include comic book artist Steve Ditko[151] and musician Neil Peart of Rush.[152] Rand provided a positive view of business, and in response business executives and entrepreneurs have admired and promoted her work.[153] John Allison of BB&T and Ed Snider of Comcast Spectacor have funded the promotion of Rand's ideas,[154] while Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and John P. Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, among others, have said they consider Rand crucial to their success.[155]
Rand and her works have been referred to in a variety of media: on television shows including animated sitcoms, live-action comedies, dramas, and game shows,[156] as well as in movies and video games.[157] She, or characters based on her, figure prominently (in positive and negative lights) in literary and science fiction novels by prominent American authors.[158] Nick Gillespie, editor in chief of Reason, has remarked that "Rand's is a tortured immortality, one in which she's as likely to be a punch line as a protagonist..." and that "jibes at Rand as cold and inhuman, run through the popular culture".[159] Two movies have been made about Rand's life. A 1997 documentary film, Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, was nominated for the Academy Award for Documentary Feature.[160] The Passion of Ayn Rand, a 1999 television adaptation of the book of the same name, won several awards.[146] Rand's image also appears on a U.S. postage stamp designed by artist Nick Gaetano.[161]
Political influence
See also: Libertarianism and Objectivism
Although she rejected the labels "conservative" and "libertarian",[162] Rand has had continuing influence on right-wing politics and libertarianism.[5] Jim Powell, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, considers Rand one of the three most important women (along with Rose Wilder Lane and Isabel Paterson) of modern American libertarianism,[163] and David Nolan, one of the founders of the Libertarian Party, stated that "without Ayn Rand, the libertarian movement would not exist".[164] In his history of the libertarian movement, journalist Brian Doherty described her as "the most influential libertarian of the twentieth century to the public at large",[145] and biographer Jennifer Burns referred to her as "the ultimate gateway drug to life on the right".[165]
She faced intense opposition from William F. Buckley, Jr. and other contributors for the National Review magazine. They published numerous attacks in the 1950s and 1960s by Whittaker Chambers, Garry Wills, and M. Stanton Evans. Nevertheless, her influence among conservatives forced Buckley and other National Review contributors to reconsider how traditional notions of virtue and Christianity could be integrated with support for capitalism.[166]
The political figures who cite Rand as an influence are most often members of the United States Republican Party[167] despite Rand being a pro-choice atheist.[168] A 1987 article in The New York Times referred to her as the Reagan administration's "novelist laureate".[169] Republican Congressmen and conservative pundits have acknowledged her influence on their lives and recommended her novels.[170]
The late-2000s financial crisis spurred renewed interest in her works, especially Atlas Shrugged, which some saw as foreshadowing the crisis,[171] and opinion articles compared real-world events with the plot of the novel.[172] During this time, signs mentioning Rand and her fictional hero John Galt appeared at Tea Party protests.[173] There was also increased criticism of her ideas, especially from the political left, with critics blaming the economic crisis on her support of selfishness and free markets, particularly through her influence on Alan Greenspan.[174] For example, Mother Jones remarked that "Rand's particular genius has always been her ability to turn upside down traditional hierarchies and recast the wealthy, the talented, and the powerful as the oppressed",[168] while The Nation alleged similarities between the "moral syntax of Randianism" and fascism.[175]
[edit]
Academic reaction
During Rand's lifetime her work received little attention from academic scholars.[4] When the first academic book about Rand's philosophy appeared in 1971, its author declared writing about Rand "a treacherous undertaking" that could lead to "guilt by association" for taking her seriously.[176] A few articles about Rand's ideas appeared in academic journals before her death in 1982, many of them in The Personalist.[177] One of these was "On the Randian Argument" by libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick, who argued that her meta-ethical argument is unsound and fails to solve the is–ought problem posed by David Hume.[178] Some responses to Nozick by other academic philosophers were also published in The Personalist arguing that Nozick misstated Rand's case.[177] Academic consideration of Rand as a literary figure during her life was even more limited. Gladstein was unable to find any scholarly articles about Rand's novels when she began researching her in 1973, and only three such articles appeared during the rest of the 1970s.[179]
Since Rand's death, interest in her work has gradually increased.[180] Historian Jennifer Burns has identified "three overlapping waves" of scholarly interest in Rand, the most recent of which is "an explosion of scholarship" since the year 2000.[181] However, few universities currently include Rand or Objectivism as a philosophical specialty or research area, with many literature and philosophy departments dismissing her as a pop culture phenomenon rather than a subject for serious study.[182]
Academics Mimi Gladstein, Chris Sciabarra, Allan Gotthelf, Edwin A. Locke and Tara Smith have taught her work in academic institutions. Sciabarra co-edits the Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, a nonpartisan peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the study of Rand's philosophical and literary work.[183] In 1987 Gotthelf helped found the Ayn Rand Society, and has been active in sponsoring seminars about Rand and her ideas.[184] Smith has written several academic books and papers on Rand's ideas, including Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist, a volume on Rand's ethical theory published by Cambridge University Press. Rand's ideas have also been made subjects of study at Clemson and Duke universities.[185] Scholars of English and American literature have largely ignored her work,[186] although attention to her literary work has increased since the 1990s.[187]
Some academic philosophers have criticized Rand for what they consider her lack of rigor and limited understanding of philosophical subject matter.[4][99] The Philosophical Lexicon, a satirical web site maintained by philosophers Daniel Dennett and Asbjørn Steglich-Petersen, defines a 'rand' as: "An angry tirade occasioned by mistaking philosophical disagreement for a personal attack and/or evidence of unspeakable moral corruption."[188] Chris Matthew Sciabarra has called into question the motives of some of Rand's critics because of the unusual hostility of their criticisms.[189] Sciabarra writes, "The left was infuriated by her anti-communist, pro-capitalist politics, whereas the right was disgusted with her atheism and civil libertarianism."[4]
Rand scholars Douglas Den Uyl and Douglas B. Rasmussen, while stressing the importance and originality of her thought, describe her style as "literary, hyperbolic and emotional".[190] Philosopher Jack Wheeler says that despite "the incessant bombast and continuous venting of Randian rage", Rand's ethics are "a most immense achievement, the study of which is vastly more fruitful than any other in contemporary thought."[191] In the Literary Encyclopedia entry for Rand written in 2001, John Lewis declared that "Rand wrote the most intellectually challenging fiction of her generation".[192] In a 1999 interview in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Rand scholar Chris Matthew Sciabarra commented, "I know they laugh at Rand", while forecasting a growth of interest in her work in the academic community.[193]
Philosopher Michael Huemer has argued that very few people find Rand's ideas convincing, especially her ethics,[194] which he believes is difficult to interpret and may lack logical coherence.[195] He attributes the attention she receives to her being a "compelling writer", especially as a novelist. Thus, Atlas Shrugged outsells not only the works of other philosophers of classical liberalism as Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, or Frederic Bastiat, but also Rand's own non-fiction works.[194]
Philosopher Robert H. Bass has argued that her central ethical ideas are inconsistent and contradictory to her central political ideas.[196]
Objectivist movement
Main article: Objectivist movement
In 1985, Rand's heir Leonard Peikoff established the Ayn Rand Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading Rand's ideas and promoting her works. In 1990, philosopher David Kelley founded the Institute for Objectivist Studies, now known as The Atlas Society.[197] In 2001 historian John McCaskey organized the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship, which provides grants for scholarly work on Objectivism in academia.[198] The charitable foundation of BB&T Corporation has also given grants for teaching Rand's ideas or works. The University of Texas at Austin, the University of Pittsburgh, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are among the schools that have received grants. In some cases these grants have been controversial due to their requiring research or teaching related to Rand.[199]
Selected work
Wikisource has original works written by or about:
Ayn Rand
Main article: Bibliography for Ayn Rand and Objectivism
Novels
1936 We the Living
1943 The Fountainhead
1957 Atlas Shrugged
Other fiction
1934 Night of January 16th
1938 Anthem
Non-fiction
1961 For the New Intellectual
1964 The Virtue of Selfishness
1966 Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal
1969 The Romantic Manifesto
1971 The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution
1979 Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology
1982 Philosophy: Who Needs It
References
^ Branden 1986, p. 71; Gladstein 1999, p. 9
^ Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, p. x; Sciabarra 1995, pp. 1–2; Kukathas 1998, p. 55; Badhwar & Long 2010.
^ a b c d e Gladstein 1999, pp. 117–119
^ a b c d Sciabarra 1995, pp. 1–2
^ a b Burns 2009, p. 4; Gladstein 2009, pp. 107–108, 124
^ Heller 2009, pp. 3–5; Britting 2004, pp. 2–3; Burns 2009, pp. 9
^ Branden 1986, pp. 35–39
^ Britting 2004, pp. 14–20
^ Burns 2009, p. 15
^ Sciabarra 1995, p. 77
^ Sciabarra 1999, pp. 5–8
^ Heller 2009, p. 41; Peikoff 1991, pp. 451–460
^ Britting 2004, pp. 17–18, 22–24
^ Britting 2004, pp. 17, 22
^ Heller 2009, p. 47; Britting 2004, p. 24
^ Sciabarra 1999, p. 1
^ a b Heller 2009, pp. 49–50
^ Britting 2004, p. 33
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 7; Heller 2009, p. 55
^ Rand said the origin of Ayn was Finnish (Rand 1995, p. 40), but some biographical sources question this, suggesting it may come from a Hebrew nickname. Heller 2009, pp. 55–57 provides a detailed discussion.
^ Heller 2009, p. 53
^ Heller 2009, pp. 57–60
^ Britting 2004, pp. 34–36
^ Britting 2004, pp. 35–40; Paxton 1998, pp. 74, 81, 84
^ Heller 2009, pp. 96–98; Britting 2004, pp. 43–44, 52
^ Britting 2004, pp. 40, 42
^ Heller 2009, pp. 76, 92
^ Heller 2009, pp. 78; Gladstein 2009, p. 87
^ Rand, Ayn (1995) [1936]. "Foreword". We the Living (60th Anniversary ed.). New York: Dutton. p. xviii. ISBN 0-525-94054-5. OCLC 32780458.
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 13
^ Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing We the Living". In Mayhew 2004, p. 141
^ Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing We the Living". In Mayhew 2004, p. 143
^ Paxton 1998, p. 104
^ Burns 2009, p. 50; Heller 2009, p. 102
^ Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing Anthem". In Mayhew 2005a, pp. 24–27
^ Britting 2004, p. 57
^ Burns 2009, p. 114; Heller 2009, p. 249; Branden 1986, pp. 188–189
^ Burns 2009, pp. 75–78
^ Britting 2004, pp. 61–78
^ Britting 2004, pp. 58–61
^ Burns 2009, p. 85
^ Burns 2009, p. 89
^ Burns 2009, p. 178; Heller 2009, pp. 304–305
^ Doherty 2007, p. 149; Branden 1986, pp. 180–181
^ Britting 2004, pp. 68–80; Branden 1986, pp. 183–198
^ Sciabarra 1995, p. 112; Heller 2009, p. 171
^ Burns 2009, pp. 100–101, 123
^ Burns 2009, pp. 130–131; Heller 2009, pp. 214–215
^ Mayhew 2005b, pp. 91–93
^ Mayhew 2005b, pp. 188–189
^ Mayhew 2005b, p. 83
^ Britting 2004, p. 71
^ Branden 1986, pp. 256–264, 331–343
^ Sciabarra 1995, p. 113; Mayhew 2005b, p. 78
^ Salmieri, Gregory. "Atlas Shrugged on the Role of the Mind in Man's Existence". In Mayhew 2009, p. 248
^ Dowd, Maureen (April 17, 2011). "Atlas Without Angelina". New York Times. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
^ McConnell 2010, pp. Al Ruddy section
^ Interview Transcript (1999). "The Making Of The Atlas Shrugged TV MiniSeries Albert Ruddy, Susan Black, Bill Collins". Prodos Institute Inc.. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
^ Gladstein 1999, p. 42
^ Burns 2009, p. 2
^ Burns 2009, p. 178; Heller 2009, pp. 303–306
^ Younkins 2007, p. 1
^ Gladstein 2009, pp. 105–106; Burns 2009, pp. 232–233
^ Burns 2009, pp. 236–237
^ Heller 2009, p. 303
^ Doherty 2007, pp. 237–238; Heller 2009, p. 329; Burns 2009, p. 235
^ Doherty 2007, p. 235; Burns 2009, p. 235
^ Branden 1986, pp. 315–316
^ Gladstein 1999, p. 14
^ Branden 1986, p. 318
^ Gladstein 1999, p. 16
^ Heller 2009, pp. 320–321
^ Burns 2009, pp. 228–229, 265; Heller 2009, p. 352
^ Rand 2005, p. 96; Burns 2009, p. 266
^ Burns 2009, p. 266; Heller 2009, p. 391
^ Heller 2009, pp. 362, 519
^ Burns 2009, pp. 204–206; Heller 2009, pp. 322–323
^ Britting 2004, p. 101
^ Branden 1986, pp. 344–358
^ Heller 2009, pp. 378–379
^ Heller 2009, p. 411
^ Branden 1986, pp. 386–389
^ Heller 2009, pp. 391–393
^ McConnell 2010, pp. 520–521
^ Branden 1986, pp. 392–395
^ Heller 2009, p. 406
^ Heller 2009, p. 410
^ Heller 2009, pp. 405, 410
^ Branden 1986, p. 403
^ Heller 2009, p. 400
^ Rand 1992, pp. 1170–1171
^ Peikoff 1991, pp. 2–3; Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, p. 224; Gladstein & Sciabarra 1999, p. 2
^ Den Uyl, Douglas J. & Rasmussen, Douglas B. "Ayn Rand's Realism". In Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, pp. 3–20
^ Peikoff 1991, pp. 38–39; Gotthelf 2000, p. 54
^ Rand 1964, p. 22
^ Rand 1982, pp. 62–63
^ Salmieri & Gotthelf 2005, p. 1997; Gladstein 1999, pp. 85–86
^ Rand 1989, p. 3
^ a b Kukathas 1998, p. 55
^ Rand 1964, p. 25; Badhwar & Long 2010; Peikoff 1991, pp. 207, 219
^ Badhwar & Long 2010
^ Rand 1992, p. 1023; Peikoff 1991, pp. 313–320
^ Peikoff 1991, pp. 350–352
^ Gotthelf 2000, pp. 91–92; Peikoff 1991, pp. 379–380
^ Peikoff 1991, pp. 369
^ Peikoff 1991, p. 367
^ Burns 2009, pp. 174–177, 209, 230–231; Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, pp. 225–226; Doherty 2007, pp. 189–190; Branden 1986, p. 252
^ Sciabarra 1995, pp. 266–267; Burns 2009, pp. 268–269
^ Sciabarra 1995, pp. 280–281; Peikoff 1991, pp. 371–372; Merrill 1991, p. 139
^ Sciabarra 1995, pp. 204–205
^ Peikoff 1991, p. 428
^ Sciabarra 1995, p. 207; Peikoff 1991, p. 437
^ Rand 1992, p. 1171
^ Sciabarra 1995, p. 12
^ Heller 2009, p. 42; Burns 2009, pp. 16, 22; Sciabarra 1995, pp. 100–106
^ Rand 1997, pp. 21; Burns 2009, pp. 24–25; Sciabarra 1998, pp. 136, 138–139
^ Merrill 1991, pp. 38–39; Sciabarra 1998, p. 135; Loiret-Prunet, Valerie. "Ayn Rand and Feminist Synthesis: Rereading We the Living". In Gladstein & Sciabarra 1999, p. 97
^ Badhwar & Long 2010; Sheaffer, Robert. "Rereading Rand on Gender in the Light of Paglia". In Gladstein & Sciabarra 1999, p. 313.
^ Burns 2009, pp. 41, 68; Heller 2009, p. 42; Merrill 1991, pp. 47–49
^ Burns 2009, pp. 303–304; Sciabarra 1998, pp. 135, 137–138; Mayhew, Robert. "We the Living '36 and '59". In Mayhew 2004, p. 205.
^ Rand 1971, p. 4
^ Walsh 2000
^ Seddon 2003, pp. 63–81
^ Rand 2005, p. 166
^ Rand, Ayn (1999). "The Left: Old and New". Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution. Edited by Peter Schwartz. New York: Meridian. p. 62. ISBN 0-452-01184-1. OCLC 39281836.
^ Rand 1971, p. 1
^ Rand 1995, pp. 10, 13–14
^ a b Branden 1986, pp. 122–124
^ a b Pruette, Lorine (May 16, 1943). "Battle Against Evil". The New York Times: p. BR7. Archived from the original on May 11 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011. Reprinted in McGrath, Charles, ed. (1998). Books of the Century. New York: Times Books. pp. 135–136. ISBN 0-8129-2965-9. OCLC 38439024.
^ Paxton 1998, p. 120; Britting 2004, p. 87
^ Berliner, Michael S. "Reviews of We the Living". In Mayhew 2004, pp. 147–151
^ Berliner, Michael S. "Reviews of Anthem". In Mayhew 2005a, pp. 55–60
^ a b c Berliner, Michael S. "The Fountainhead Reviews". In Mayhew 2006, pp. 77–82
^ Rand 1995, p. 74
^ a b Berliner, Michael S. "The Atlas Shrugged Reviews". In Mayhew 2009, pp. 133–137
^ Chambers, Whittaker (December 8, 1957). "Big Sister is Watching You". National Review: 594–596. Archived from the original on May 11 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ O'Connor, Flannery (1979). Fitzgerald, Sally. ed. The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. p. 398. ISBN 0-374-52104-2. OCLC 18175642.
^ a b Gladstein 1999, p. 119
^ Burns 2009, pp. 193–194
^ Hook, Sidney (April 9, 1961). "Each Man for Himself". The New York Times Book Review: p. 28. Archived from the original on May 11 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Vidal, Gore (1962). "Two Immoralists: Orville Prescott and Ayn Rand". Rocking the Boat. Boston: Little, Brown. p. 234. OCLC 291123. Reprinted from Esquire, July 1961.
^ Rothstein, Edward (February 2, 2005). "Considering the Last Romantic, Ayn Rand, at 100". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 12 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Clark, Leslie (February 17, 2007). "The philosophical art of looking out number one". The Herald. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
^ Corsello, Andrew (October 27, 2009). "The Bitch is Back". GQ (Condé Nast Publications). Archived from the original on May 14 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
^ a b Doherty 2007, p. 11
^ a b Gladstein 2009, p. 122
^ Burns 2009, pp. 2, 299n.3
^ Gladstein 2003, pp. 384–386; Delbroy, Bibek (2006). "Ayn Rand—The Indian Connection". In Machan, Tibor R. Ayn Rand at 100. New Delhi, India: Pragun Publications. pp. 2–4. ISBN 81-89645-57-9. OCLC 76829742.; Cohen, David (December 7, 2001). "A growing concern". The Guardian (London). Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Agence France-Presse/Jiji Press, "In India, Ayn Rand never out of style", Japan Times, 2 June 2012, p.4
^ Riggenbach, Jeff (Fall 2004). "Ayn Rand's Influence on American Popular Fiction". The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 6 (1): 91–144. Archived from the original on May 14 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
^ Sciabarra 2004, pp. 8–11
^ Sciabarra, Chris Matthew (Fall 2002). "Rand, Rush, and Rock". The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 4 (1): 161–185. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
^ Burns 2009, pp. 168–171
^ Burns 2009, p. 298; Branden 1986, p. 419
^ Rubin, Harriet (September 15, 2007). "Ayn Rand's Literature of Capitalism". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 12 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Sciabarra 2004, pp. 4–5
^ Burns 2009, p. 282
^ Sciabarra 2004, p. 3
^ Alex Chadwick (host), Nick Gillespie (contributor) (February 2, 2005). "Book Bag: Marking the Ayn Rand Centennial". Day to Day. National Public Radio.
^ Gladstein 1999, p. 128
^ Wozniak, Maurice D., ed. (2001). Krause-Minkus Standard Catalog of U.S. Stamps (5th ed.). Krause Publications. p. 380. ISBN 0-87349-321-4. OCLC 48663542.
^ Burns 2009, p. 258; Rand 2005, p. 73
^ Powell, Jim (May 1996). "Rose Wilder Lane, Isabel Paterson, and Ayn Rand: Three Women Who Inspired the Modern Libertarian Movement". The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty 46 (5): 322. Archived from the original on May 11 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Branden 1986, p. 414
^ Burns 2009, p. 4
^ Burns 2004
^ Doherty 2009, pp. 54
^ a b Benfer, Amy (July/August 2009). "And the Rand Played On". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on May 03 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Burns 2009, p. 279
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 124; Heller 2009, p. xi; Doherty 2009, p. 51; Burns 2009, p. 283
^ Burns 2009, pp. 283–284; Doherty 2009, pp. 51–52; Gladstein 2009, p. 125
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 125; Doherty 2009, pp. 54
^ Doherty 2009, pp. 51–52
^ Burns 2009, p. 283
^ Robin, Corey (June 7, 2010). "Garbage and Gravitas". The Nation. Archived from the original on May 14 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ O'Neill 1977, p. 3
^ a b Gladstein 1999, p. 115
^ Nozick, Robert (Spring 1971). "On the Randian Argument". The Personalist 52: 282–304.
^ Gladstein 2003, pp. 373–374, 379–381
^ Gladstein 2009, pp. 114–122; Salmieri & Gotthelf 2005, p. 1995; McLemee, Scott (September 1999). "The Heirs Of Ayn Rand: Has Objectivism Gone Subjective?". Lingua Franca 9 (6): 45–55. Archived from the original on May 15 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Burns 2009, pp. 295–296
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 116
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 118
^ Gotthelf 2000, pp. 2, 25
^ Harvey, Benjamin (May 15, 2005). "Ayn Rand at 100: An 'ism' struts its stuff". Rutland Herald. Columbia News Service. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
^ Gladstein 2003, p. 375
^ Gladstein 2003, pp. 384–391
^ Dennett, Daniel; Steglich-Petersen, Asbjørn (2008). "The Philosophical Lexicon: R". Retrieved August 2, 2009.
^ Sciabarra 1995, pp. 9–14
^ Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1978, p. 203
^ Wheeler, Jack. "Rand and Aristotle". In Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, p. 96
^ Lewis, John David (October 20, 2001). "Ayn Rand". The Literary Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
^ Sharlet, Jeff (April 9, 1999). "Ayn Rand Has Finally Caught the Attention of Scholars". The Chronicle of Higher Education 45 (31): A17–A18. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ a b Huemer, Michael (January 22, 2010). "Why Ayn Rand? Some Alternate Answers". Cato Unbound. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
^ Humer, Michael (Spring 2002). "Is Benevolent Egoism Coherent?". The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 3 (2): 259–288.
^ Bass, Robert H. (Spring 2006). "Egoism versus Right". The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 7 (2): 329–349.
^ Burns 2009, pp. 280–281; Gladstein 2009, pp. 19, 114
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 117
^ Gladstein 2009, pp. 116–117; Burns 2009, p. 297
Works cited
Badhwar, Neera; Long, Roderick T. (June 8, 2010). "Ayn Rand". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
Branden, Barbara (1986). The Passion of Ayn Rand. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company. ISBN 0-385-19171-5. OCLC 12614728.
Britting, Jeff (2004). Ayn Rand. Overlook Illustrated Lives series. New York: Overlook Duckworth. ISBN 1-58567-406-0. OCLC 56413971.
Burns, Jennifer (November 2004). "Godless Capitalism: Ayn Rand and the Conservative Movement". Modern Intellectual History 1 (3): 359–385. doi:10.1017/S1479244304000216.
Burns, Jennifer (2009). Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-532487-7. OCLC 313665028.
Den Uyl, Douglas & Rasmussen, Douglas (April 1978). "Nozick On the Randian Argument". The Personalist 59: 184–205.
Den Uyl, Douglas & Rasmussen, Douglas, eds. (1986) [1984]. The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand (paperback ed.). Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-01407-3. OCLC 15669115.
Doherty, Brian (2007). Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement. New York: Public Affairs. ISBN 1-58648-350-1. OCLC 76141517.
Doherty, Brian (December 2009). "She's Back!". Reason 41 (7): 51–58. Archived from the original on May 11 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
Gladstein, Mimi Reisel (1999). The New Ayn Rand Companion. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30321-5. OCLC 40359365.
Gladstein, Mimi Reisel (Spring 2003). "Ayn Rand Literary Criticism". The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 4 (2): 373–394. Archived from the original on May 14 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
Gladstein, Mimi Reisel (2009). Ayn Rand. Major Conservative and Libertarian Thinkers series. New York: Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-4513-1. OCLC 319595162.
Gladstein, Mimi Reisel & Sciabarra, Chris Matthew, eds. (1999). Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand. Re-reading the Canon series. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-01830-5. OCLC 38885754.
Gotthelf, Allan (2000). On Ayn Rand. Wadsworth Philosophers Series. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing. ISBN 0-534-57625-7. OCLC 43668181.
Heller, Anne C. (2009). Ayn Rand and the World She Made. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-51399-9. OCLC 229027437.
Kukathas, Chandran (1998). "Rand, Ayn (1905–82)". In Craig, Edward (ed). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 8. New York: Routledge. pp. 55–56. ISBN 0-415-07310-3. OCLC 318280731.
Mayhew, Robert, ed. (2004). Essays on Ayn Rand's We the Living. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. ISBN 0-7391-0697-X. OCLC 52979186.
Mayhew, Robert, ed. (2005a). Essays on Ayn Rand's Anthem. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. ISBN 0-7391-1031-4. OCLC 57577415.
Mayhew, Robert (2005b). Ayn Rand and Song of Russia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-5276-4. OCLC 55474309.
Mayhew, Robert, ed. (2006). Essays on Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. ISBN 0-7391-1578-2. OCLC 70707828.
Mayhew, Robert, ed. (2009). Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-2780-3. OCLC 315237945.
McConnell, Scott (2010). 100 Voices:An Oral History of Ayn Rand. New York: New American Library. ISBN 978-0-451-23130-7. OCLC 555642813.
Merrill, Ronald E. (1991). The Ideas of Ayn Rand. La Salle, Illinois: Open Court Publishing. ISBN 0-8126-9157-1. OCLC 23254190.
O'Neill, William F. (1977) [1971]. With Charity Toward None: An Analysis of Ayn Rand's Philosophy. New York: Littlefield, Adams & Company. ISBN 0-8226-0179-6. OCLC 133489.
Paxton, Michael (1998). Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life (The Companion Book). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 0-87905-845-5. OCLC 38048196.
Peikoff, Leonard (1991). Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. New York: E. P. Dutton. ISBN 0-452-01101-9. OCLC 28423965.
Rand, Ayn (1964). The Virtue of Selfishness. New York: Penguin. ISBN 0-451-16393-1. OCLC 28103453.
Rand, Ayn (September 1971). "Brief Summary". The Objectivist 10 (9): 1–4.
Rand, Ayn (1982). Peikoff, Leonard. ed. Philosophy: Who Needs It (paperback ed.). New York: Signet. ISBN 0-451-13249-1.
Rand, Ayn (1989). Peikoff, Leonard. ed. The Voice of Reason. New York: New American Library. ISBN 0-453-00634-5. OCLC 18048955.
Rand, Ayn (1992) [1957]. Atlas Shrugged (35th anniversary ed.). New York: Dutton. ISBN 0-525-94892-9. OCLC 60339555.
Rand, Ayn (1995). Berliner, Michael S. ed. Letters of Ayn Rand. New York: Dutton. ISBN 0-525-93946-6. OCLC 31412028.
Rand, Ayn (1996) [1943]. The Fountainhead (50th anniversary ed.). New York: Signet. ISBN 0-451-19115-3. OCLC 288347.
Rand, Ayn (1997). Harriman, David. ed. Journals of Ayn Rand. New York: Dutton. ISBN 0-525-94370-6. OCLC 36566117.
Rand, Ayn (2005). Mayhew, Robert. ed. Ayn Rand Answers, the Best of Her Q&A. New York: New American Library. ISBN 0-451-21665-2. OCLC 59148253.
Salmieri, Gregory & Gotthelf, Allan (2005). "Rand, Ayn (1905–82)". In Shook, John R.. The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers. 4. London: Thoemmes Continuum. pp. 1995–1999. ISBN 1-84371-037-4. OCLC 53388453.
Sciabarra, Chris Matthew (1995). Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-01440-7. OCLC 31133644.
Sciabarra, Chris Matthew (Fall 1998). "A Renaissance in Rand Scholarship". Reason Papers 23: 132–159. Archived from the original on May 13 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
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Ayn Rand
Bibliography
Novels
We the Living (1936) Anthem (1938) The Fountainhead (1943) Atlas Shrugged (1957)
Non-fiction books
For the New Intellectual (1961) Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology (1979) The Art of Fiction (2000)
Screenplays
Red Pawn (1932) Love Letters (1945) You Came Along (1945) The Fountainhead (1949)
Essay collections
The Virtue of Selfishness (1964) Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (1966) The Romantic Manifesto (1969) The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (1971) Philosophy: Who Needs It (1982) The Voice of Reason (1989)
Other
Night of January 16th (1934) The Early Ayn Rand (1984) Letters of Ayn Rand (1995) Journals of Ayn Rand (1997) Objectivist periodicals
Philosophy
Objectivism Objectivist movement Libertarianism and Objectivism Objectivism and homosexuality Romantic realism Randian hero
Biographical depictions
Ayn Rand in 1957Born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum February 2, 1905 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire Died March 6, 1982 (aged 77) New York City, United States Resting place Kensico Cemetery Occupation Writer, philosopher Language English Ethnicity Russian Jew Citizenship United States Alma mater Petrograd State University Period 1934–1982 Subjects Philosophy Notable work(s) The Fountainhead Atlas Shrugged Notable award(s) Prometheus Award – Hall of Fame 1983 Atlas Shrugged 1987 Anthem Spouse(s) Frank O'Connor (m. 1929-1979, his death)
Ayn Rand ( /ˈaɪn ˈrænd/;[1] born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum, February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982) was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher,[2] playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism.
Born and educated in Russia, Rand moved to the United States in 1926. She worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood and had a play produced on Broadway in 1935–1936. After two early novels that were initially less successful, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel The Fountainhead. In 1957, she published her best-known work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward she turned to nonfiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own magazines and releasing several collections of essays until her death in 1982.
Rand advocated reason as the only means of acquiring knowledge and rejected all forms of faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism, and rejected ethical altruism. In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral and opposed all forms of collectivism and statism, instead supporting laissez-faire capitalism, which she believed was the only social system that protected individual rights. She promoted romantic realism in art. She was sharply critical of the philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her besides Aristotle.
Rand's fiction was poorly received by many literary critics,[3] and academia generally ignored or rejected her philosophy. The Objectivist movement attempts to spread her ideas, both to the public and in academic settings.[4] She has been a significant influence among libertarians and American conservatives.[5]
Early life
Rand was born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum (Russian: Алиса Зиновьевна Розенбаум) on February 2, 1905, to a bourgeois family living in Saint Petersburg. She was the eldest of the three daughters of Zinovy Zakharovich Rosenbaum and Anna Borisovna Rosenbaum, largely non-observant Jews. Rand's father was a successful pharmacist, eventually owning a pharmacy and the building in which it was located.[6] Rand was twelve at the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917, during which her sympathies were with Alexander Kerensky. Rand's family life was disrupted by the rise of the Bolshevik party under Vladimir Lenin. Her father's pharmacy was confiscated by the Bolsheviks, and the family fled to the Crimea, which was initially under the control of the White Army during the Russian Civil War. She later recalled that while in high school she determined that she was an atheist and that she valued reason above any other human attribute. After graduating from high school in the Crimea at 16, Rand returned with her family to Petrograd (the new name for Saint Petersburg), where they faced desperate conditions, on occasion nearly starving.[7][8]
Rand completed a three-year program at Petrograd State University.
After the Russian Revolution, universities were opened to women, allowing Rand to be in the first group of women to enroll at Petrograd State University,[9] where she studied in the department of social pedagogy, majoring in history.[10] At the university she was introduced to the writings of Aristotle and Plato,[11] who would be her greatest influence and counter-influence, respectively.[12] A third figure whose philosophical works she studied heavily was Friedrich Nietzsche.[13] Able to read French, German and Russian, Rand also discovered the writers Fyodor Dostoevsky, Victor Hugo, Edmond Rostand, and Friedrich Schiller, who became her perennial favorites.[14]
Along with many other "bourgeois" students, Rand was purged from the university shortly before graduating. However, after complaints from a group of visiting foreign scientists, many of the purged students were allowed to complete their work and graduate,[15] which Rand did in October 1924.[16] She subsequently studied for a year at the State Technicum for Screen Arts in Leningrad. For one of her assignments, she wrote an essay about the actress Pola Negri, which became her first published work.[17]
By this time she had decided her professional surname for writing would be Rand,[18] possibly as a Cyrillic contraction of her birth surname,[19] and she adopted the first name Ayn, either from a Finnish name or from the Hebrew word עין (ayin, meaning "eye").[20]
In the fall of 1925, Rand was granted a visa to visit American relatives. Rand was so impressed with the skyline of Manhattan upon her arrival in New York Harbor that she cried what she later called "tears of splendor".[21] Intent on staying in the United States to become a screenwriter, she lived for a few months with relatives in Chicago, one of whom owned a movie theater and allowed her to watch dozens of films for free. She then set out for Hollywood, California.[22]
Initially, Rand struggled in Hollywood and took odd jobs to pay her basic living expenses. A chance meeting with famed director Cecil B. DeMille led to a job as an extra in his film, The King of Kings, and to subsequent work as a junior screenwriter.[23] While working on The King of Kings, she met an aspiring young actor, Frank O'Connor; the two were married on April 15, 1929. . Rand became an American citizen in 1931. Taking various jobs during the 1930s to support her writing, Rand worked for a time as the head of the costume department at RKO Studios.[24] She made several attempts to bring her parents and sisters to the United States, but they were unable to acquire permission to emigrate.[25]
Early fiction
See also: Night of January 16th, We the Living, and Anthem (novella)
Rand's first literary success came with the sale of her screenplay Red Pawn to Universal Studios in 1932, although it was never produced.[26] This was followed by the courtroom drama Night of January 16th, first produced by E.E. Clive in Hollywood in 1934 and then successfully reopened on Broadway in 1935. Each night the "jury" was selected from members of the audience, and one of the two different endings, depending on the jury's "verdict", would then be performed.[27] In 1941, Paramount Pictures produced a movie version of the play. Rand did not participate in the production and was highly critical of the result.[28]
Rand's first novel, the semi-autobiographical We the Living, was published in 1936. Set in Soviet Russia, it focused on the struggle between the individual and the state. In a 1959 foreword to the novel, Rand stated that We the Living "is as near to an autobiography as I will ever write. It is not an autobiography in the literal, but only in the intellectual sense. The plot is invented, the background is not..."[29] Initial sales were slow and the American publisher let it go out of print,[30] although European editions continued to sell.[31] After the success of her later novels, Rand was able to release a revised version in 1959 that has since sold over three million copies.[32] Without Rand's knowledge or permission, the novel was made into a pair of Italian films, Noi vivi and Addio, Kira, in 1942. Rediscovered in the 1960s, these films were re-edited into a new version which was approved by Rand and re-released as We the Living in 1986.[33]
Her novella Anthem was written during a break from the writing of her next major novel, The Fountainhead. It presents a vision of a dystopian future world in which totalitarian collectivism has triumphed to such an extent that even the word 'I' has been forgotten and replaced with 'we'.[34] It was published in England in 1938, but Rand initially could not find an American publisher. As with We the Living, Rand's later success allowed her to get a revised version published in 1946, which has sold more than 3.5 million copies.[35]
The Fountainhead and political activism
See also: The Fountainhead and The Fountainhead (film)
During the 1940s, Rand became politically active. Both she and her husband worked full time in volunteer positions for the 1940 presidential campaign of Republican Wendell Willkie. This work led to Rand's first public speaking experiences, including fielding the sometimes hostile questions from New York City audiences who had just viewed pro-Willkie newsreels, an experience she greatly enjoyed.[36] This activity also brought her into contact with other intellectuals sympathetic to free-market capitalism. She became friends with journalist Henry Hazlitt and his wife, and Hazlitt introduced her to the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises. Despite her philosophical differences with them, Rand strongly endorsed the writings of both men throughout her career, and both of them expressed admiration for her. Once Mises referred to Rand as "the most courageous man in America", a compliment that particularly pleased her because he said "man" instead of "woman".[37] Rand also developed a friendship with libertarian writer Isabel Paterson. Rand questioned the well-informed Paterson about American history and politics long into the night during their numerous meetings and gave Paterson ideas for her only nonfiction book, The God of the Machine.[38]
Rand's first major success as a writer came with The Fountainhead in 1943, a romantic and philosophical novel that she wrote over a period of seven years.[39] The novel centers on an uncompromising young architect named Howard Roark and his struggle against what Rand described as "second-handers"—those who attempt to live through others, placing others above self. It was rejected by twelve publishers before finally being accepted by the Bobbs-Merrill Company on the insistence of editor Archibald Ogden, who threatened to quit if his employer did not publish it.[40] While completing the novel, Rand was prescribed the amphetamine Benzedrine to fight fatigue.[41] The drug helped her to work long hours to meet her deadline for delivering the finished novel, but when the book was done, she was so exhausted that her doctor ordered two weeks' rest.[42] Her continued use of the drug for approximately three decades may have contributed to what some of her later associates described as volatile mood swings.[43]
The Fountainhead eventually became a worldwide success, bringing Rand fame and financial security.[44] In 1943, Rand sold the rights for a film version to Warner Bros., and she returned to Hollywood to write the screenplay. Finishing her work on that screenplay, she was hired by producer Hal Wallis as a screenwriter and script-doctor. Her work for Wallis included the screenplays for the Oscar-nominated Love Letters and You Came Along.[45] This role gave Rand time to work on other projects, including a planned nonfiction treatment of her philosophy to be called The Moral Basis of Individualism. Although the planned book was never completed, a condensed version was published as an essay titled "The Only Path to Tomorrow", in the January 1944 edition of Reader's Digest magazine.[46]
Ayn Rand's testimony before the House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities
While working in Hollywood, Rand extended her involvement with free-market and anti-communist activism. She became involved with the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a Hollywood anti-Communist group, and wrote articles on the group's behalf. She also joined the anti-Communist American Writers Association.[47] A visit by Isabel Paterson to meet with Rand's California associates led to a final falling out between the two when Paterson made comments that Rand saw as rude to valued political allies.[48] In 1947, during the Second Red Scare, Rand testified as a "friendly witness" before the United States House Un-American Activities Committee. Her testimony described the disparity between her personal experiences in the Soviet Union and the portrayal of it in the 1944 film Song of Russia.[49] Rand argued that the film grossly misrepresented conditions in the Soviet Union, portraying life there as being much better and happier than it actually was.[50] When asked about her feelings on the effectiveness of the investigations after the hearings, Rand described the process as "futile".[51]
After several delays, the film version of The Fountainhead was released in 1949. Although it used Rand's screenplay with minimal alterations, she "disliked the movie from beginning to end", complaining about its editing, acting, and other elements.[52]
Atlas Shrugged and Objectivism
See also: Atlas Shrugged, Objectivism (Ayn Rand), and Objectivist movement
After the publication of The Fountainhead, Rand received numerous letters from readers, some of whom it had profoundly influenced. In 1951 Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City, where she gathered a group of these admirers around her. This group (jokingly designated "The Collective") included future Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, a young psychology student named Nathan Blumenthal (later Nathaniel Branden) and his wife Barbara, and Barbara's cousin Leonard Peikoff. At first the group was an informal gathering of friends who met with Rand on weekends at her apartment to discuss philosophy. Later she began allowing them to read the drafts of her new novel, Atlas Shrugged, as the manuscript pages were written. In 1954 Rand's close relationship with the much younger Nathaniel Branden turned into a romantic affair, with the consent of their spouses.[53]
Atlas Shrugged, published in 1957, was Rand's magnum opus.[54] Rand described the theme of the novel as "the role of the mind in man's existence—and, as a corollary, the demonstration of a new moral philosophy: the morality of rational self-interest."[55] It advocates the core tenets of Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and expresses her concept of human achievement. The plot involves a dystopian United States in which the most creative industrialists, scientists and artists go on strike and retreat to a mountainous hideaway where they build an independent free economy. The novel's hero and leader of the strike, John Galt, describes the strike as "stopping the motor of the world" by withdrawing the minds of the individuals most contributing to the nation's wealth and achievement. With this fictional strike, Rand intended to illustrate that without the efforts of the rational and productive, the economy would collapse and society would fall apart. The novel includes elements of romance,[56][57][58] mystery, and science fiction,[59] and it contains Rand's most extensive statement of Objectivism in any of her works of fiction, a lengthy monologue delivered by Galt.
Despite many negative reviews, Atlas Shrugged became an international bestseller, and in an interview with Mike Wallace, Rand declared herself "the most creative thinker alive".[60] After completing the novel, Rand fell into a severe depression.[61] Atlas Shrugged was Rand's last completed work of fiction; a turning point in her life, it marked the end of Rand's career as a novelist and the beginning of her role as a popular philosopher.[62]
In 1958 Nathaniel Branden established Nathaniel Branden Lectures, later incorporated as the Nathaniel Branden Institute (NBI), to promote Rand's philosophy. Collective members gave lectures for NBI and wrote articles for Objectivist periodicals that she edited. Rand later published some of these articles in book form. Critics, including some former NBI students and Branden himself, have described the culture of NBI as one of intellectual conformity and excessive reverence for Rand, with some describing NBI or the Objectivist movement itself as a cult or religion.[63] Rand expressed opinions on a wide range of topics, from literature and music to sexuality and facial hair, and some of her followers mimicked her preferences, wearing clothes to match characters from her novels and buying furniture like hers.[64] Rand was unimpressed with many of the NBI students[65] and held them to strict standards, sometimes reacting coldly or angrily to those who disagreed with her.[66] However, some former NBI students believe the extent of these behaviors has been exaggerated, with the problem being concentrated among Rand's closest followers in New York.[67]
Later years
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rand developed and promoted her Objectivist philosophy through her nonfiction works and by giving talks to students at institutions such as Yale, Princeton, Columbia,[68] Harvard, and MIT.[69] She received an honorary doctorate from Lewis & Clark College in 1963.[70] She also began delivering annual lectures at the Ford Hall Forum, responding afterward to questions from the audience.[71] During these speeches and Q&A sessions, she often took controversial stances on political and social issues of the day. These included supporting abortion rights,[72] opposing the Vietnam War and the military draft (but condemning many draft dodgers as "bums"),[73] supporting Israel in the Arab-Israeli War of 1973 as "civilized men fighting savages",[74] saying European colonists had the right to take land from American Indians,[75] and calling homosexuality "immoral" and "disgusting", while also advocating the repeal of all laws against it.[76] She also endorsed several Republican candidates for President of the United States, most strongly Barry Goldwater in 1964, whose candidacy she promoted in several articles for The Objectivist Newsletter.[77]
In 1964 Nathaniel Branden began an affair with the young actress Patrecia Scott, whom he later married. Nathaniel and Barbara Branden kept the affair hidden from Rand. When she learned of it in 1968, though her romantic relationship with Branden had already ended,[78] Rand terminated her relationship with both Brandens, which led to the closure of NBI.[79] Rand published an article in The Objectivist repudiating Nathaniel Branden for dishonesty and other "irrational behavior in his private life".[80] Branden later apologized in an interview to "every student of Objectivism" for "perpetuating the Ayn Rand mystique" and for "contributing to that dreadful atmosphere of intellectual repressiveness that pervades the Objectivist movement."[81] In subsequent years, Rand and several more of her closest associates parted company.[82]
Rand underwent surgery for lung cancer in 1974 after decades of heavy smoking.[83] In 1976 she retired from writing her newsletter and, despite her initial objections, reluctantly allowed Evva Pryor, a consultant from her attorney's office, to sign her up for Social Security and Medicare.[84] During the late 1970s her activities within the Objectivist movement declined, especially after the death of her husband on November 9, 1979.[85] One of her final projects was work on a never-completed television adaptation of Atlas Shrugged.[86]
Rand died of heart failure on March 6, 1982, at her home in New York City,[87] and was interred in the Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York.[88] Rand's funeral was attended by some of her prominent followers, including Alan Greenspan. A six-foot floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign was placed near her casket.[89] In her will, Rand named Leonard Peikoff the heir to her estate.[90]
Philosophy Objectivist movement Main article: Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
Rand called her philosophy "Objectivism", describing its essence as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."[91] She considered Objectivism a systematic philosophy and laid out positions on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy and esthetics.[92]
In metaphysics, Rand supported philosophical realism, and opposed anything she regarded as mysticism or supernaturalism, including all forms of religion.[93] In epistemology, she considered all knowledge to be based on sense perception, the validity of which she considered axiomatic,[94] and reason, which she described as "the faculty that identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses".[95] She rejected all claims of non-perceptual or a priori knowledge, including "'instinct,' 'intuition,' 'revelation,' or any form of 'just knowing.'"[96] In her Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, Rand presented a theory of concept formation and endorsed the rejection of the analytic–synthetic dichotomy.[97]
In ethics, Rand argued for rational egoism (rational self-interest), as the guiding moral principle. She said the individual should "exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself".[98] She referred to egoism as "the virtue of selfishness" in her book of that title,[99] in which she presented her solution to the is-ought problem by describing a meta-ethical theory that based morality in the needs of "man's survival qua man".[100] She condemned ethical altruism as incompatible with the requirements of human life and happiness,[101] and held that the initiation of force was evil and irrational, writing in Atlas Shrugged that "Force and mind are opposites".[102]
Rand's political philosophy emphasized individual rights (including property rights),[103] and she considered laissez-faire capitalism the only moral social system because in her view it was the only system based on the protection of those rights.[104] She opposed statism, which she understood to include theocracy, absolute monarchy, Nazism, fascism, communism, democratic socialism, and dictatorship.[105] Rand believed that rights should be enforced by a constitutionally limited government.[106] Although her political views are often classified as conservative or libertarian, she preferred the term "radical for capitalism". She worked with conservatives on political projects, but disagreed with them over issues such as religion and ethics.[107] She denounced libertarianism, which she associated with anarchism.[108] She rejected anarchism as a naïve theory based in subjectivism that could only lead to collectivism in practice.[109]
Rand's esthetics defined art as a "selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments". According to Rand, art allows philosophical concepts to be presented in a concrete form that can be easily grasped, thereby fulfilling a need of human consciousness.[110] As a writer, the art form Rand focused on most closely was literature, where she considered Romanticism to be the approach that most accurately reflected the existence of human free will.[111] She described her own approach to literature as "romantic realism".[112]
Rand acknowledged Aristotle as her greatest influence[113] and remarked that in the history of philosophy she could only recommend "three A's"—Aristotle, Aquinas, and Ayn Rand.[114] She also found early inspiration in Friedrich Nietzsche,[115] and scholars have found indications of his influence in early notes from Rand's journals,[116] in passages from the first edition of We the Living (which Rand later revised),[117] and in her overall writing style.[118] However, by the time she wrote The Fountainhead, Rand had turned against Nietzsche's ideas,[119] and the extent of his influence on her even during her early years is disputed.[120] Among the philosophers Rand held in particular disdain was Immanuel Kant, whom she referred to as a "monster",[121] although philosophers George Walsh[122] and Fred Seddon[123] have argued that she misinterpreted Kant and exaggerated their differences.
Rand said her most important contributions to philosophy were her "theory of concepts, [her] ethics, and [her] discovery in politics that evil—the violation of rights—consists of the initiation of force".[124] She believed epistemology was a foundational branch of philosophy and considered the advocacy of reason to be the single most significant aspect of her philosophy,[125] stating, "I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows."[126]
Reception and legacy
Review
During Rand's lifetime, her work evoked both extreme praise and condemnation. Rand's first novel, We the Living, was admired by the literary critic H.L. Mencken,[127] her Broadway play Night of January 16th was both a critical and popular success,[128] and The Fountainhead was hailed by a reviewer in The New York Times as "masterful".[129] Rand's novels were derided by some critics when they were first published as being long and melodramatic.[3] However, they became bestsellers largely through word of mouth.[130]
The first reviews Rand received were for Night of January 16th. Reviews of the production were largely positive, but Rand considered even positive reviews to be embarrassing because of significant changes made to her script by the producer.[128] Rand believed that her first novel, We the Living, was not widely reviewed, but Rand scholar Michael S. Berliner says "it was the most reviewed of any of her works", with approximately 125 different reviews being published in more than 200 publications. Overall these reviews were more positive than the reviews she received for her later work.[131] Her 1938 novella Anthem received little attention from reviewers, both for its first publication in England and for subsequent re-issues.[132]
Rand's first bestseller, The Fountainhead, received far fewer reviews than We the Living, and reviewers' opinions were mixed.[133] There was a positive review in The New York Times that Rand greatly appreciated.[134] The reviewer called Rand "a writer of great power" who wrote "brilliantly, beautifully and bitterly", and stated that "you will not be able to read this masterful book without thinking through some of the basic concepts of our time".[129] There were other positive reviews, but Rand dismissed most of them as either not understanding her message or as being from unimportant publications.[133] Some negative reviews focused on the length of the novel,[3] such as one that called it "a whale of a book" and another that said "anyone who is taken in by it deserves a stern lecture on paper-rationing". Other negative reviews called the characters unsympathetic and Rand's style "offensively pedestrian".[133]
Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged was widely reviewed, and many of the reviews were strongly negative.[3][135] In the National Review, conservative author Whittaker Chambers called the book "sophomoric" and "remarkably silly". He described the tone of the book as "shrillness without reprieve" and accused Rand of supporting a Godless system (which he related to that of the Soviets), claiming "From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard, from painful necessity, commanding: 'To a gas chamber—go!'"[136] Atlas Shrugged received positive reviews from a few publications, including praise from the noted book reviewer John Chamberlain,[135] but Rand scholar Mimi Reisel Gladstein later wrote that "reviewers seemed to vie with each other in a contest to devise the cleverest put-downs", calling it "execrable claptrap" and "a nightmare"; they said it was "written out of hate" and showed "remorseless hectoring and prolixity".[3] Author Flannery O'Connor wrote in a letter to a friend that "The fiction of Ayn Rand is as low as you can get re fiction. I hope you picked it up off the floor of the subway and threw it in the nearest garbage pail."[137]
Rand's nonfiction received far fewer reviews than her novels had. The tenor of the criticism for her first nonfiction book, For the New Intellectual, was similar to that for Atlas Shrugged,[138][139] with philosopher Sidney Hook likening her certainty to "the way philosophy is written in the Soviet Union",[140] and author Gore Vidal calling her viewpoint "nearly perfect in its immorality".[141] Her subsequent books got progressively less attention from reviewers.[138]
On the 100th anniversary of Rand's birth in 2005, Edward Rothstein, writing for The New York Times, referred to her fictional writing as quaint utopian "retro fantasy" and programmatic neo-Romanticism of the misunderstood artist, while criticizing her characters' "isolated rejection of democratic society".[142] In 2007, book critic Leslie Clark described her fiction as "romance novels with a patina of pseudo-philosophy".[143] In 2009, GQ's critic columnist Tom Carson described her books as "capitalism's version of middlebrow religious novels" such as Ben-Hur and the Left Behind series.[144]
Popular interest
A quote from Rand's book The Fountainhead, on the wall directly across from the entrance to The American Adventure rotunda at Walt Disney World's Epcot
In 1991, a survey conducted for the Library of Congress and the Book-of-the-Month Club asked club members what the most influential book in the respondent's life was. Rand's Atlas Shrugged was the second most popular choice, after the Bible.[145] Rand's books continue to be widely sold and read, with 25 million copies sold as of 2007[146] and another 500,000 sold and 300,000 donated by the Ayn Rand Institute in 2008.[147] Although Rand's influence has been greatest in the United States, there has been international interest in her work.[148] Rand's work continues to be among the top sellers among books in India.[149]
Rand's contemporary admirers included fellow novelists, such as Ira Levin, Kay Nolte Smith and L. Neil Smith, and later writers such as Erika Holzer and Terry Goodkind have been influenced by her.[150] Other artists who have cited Rand as an important influence on their lives and thought include comic book artist Steve Ditko[151] and musician Neil Peart of Rush.[152] Rand provided a positive view of business, and in response business executives and entrepreneurs have admired and promoted her work.[153] John Allison of BB&T and Ed Snider of Comcast Spectacor have funded the promotion of Rand's ideas,[154] while Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and John P. Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, among others, have said they consider Rand crucial to their success.[155]
Rand and her works have been referred to in a variety of media: on television shows including animated sitcoms, live-action comedies, dramas, and game shows,[156] as well as in movies and video games.[157] She, or characters based on her, figure prominently (in positive and negative lights) in literary and science fiction novels by prominent American authors.[158] Nick Gillespie, editor in chief of Reason, has remarked that "Rand's is a tortured immortality, one in which she's as likely to be a punch line as a protagonist..." and that "jibes at Rand as cold and inhuman, run through the popular culture".[159] Two movies have been made about Rand's life. A 1997 documentary film, Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, was nominated for the Academy Award for Documentary Feature.[160] The Passion of Ayn Rand, a 1999 television adaptation of the book of the same name, won several awards.[146] Rand's image also appears on a U.S. postage stamp designed by artist Nick Gaetano.[161]
Political influence
A protester at an April 2009 Tea Party rally carries a sign referring to John Galt, the hero of Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged
See also: Libertarianism and Objectivism
Although she rejected the labels "conservative" and "libertarian",[162] Rand has had continuing influence on right-wing politics and libertarianism.[5] Jim Powell, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, considers Rand one of the three most important women (along with Rose Wilder Lane and Isabel Paterson) of modern American libertarianism,[163] and David Nolan, one of the founders of the Libertarian Party, stated that "without Ayn Rand, the libertarian movement would not exist".[164] In his history of the libertarian movement, journalist Brian Doherty described her as "the most influential libertarian of the twentieth century to the public at large",[145] and biographer Jennifer Burns referred to her as "the ultimate gateway drug to life on the right".[165]
She faced intense opposition from William F. Buckley, Jr. and other contributors for the National Review magazine. They published numerous attacks in the 1950s and 1960s by Whittaker Chambers, Garry Wills, and M. Stanton Evans. Nevertheless, her influence among conservatives forced Buckley and other National Review contributors to reconsider how traditional notions of virtue and Christianity could be integrated with support for capitalism.[166]
The political figures who cite Rand as an influence are most often members of the United States Republican Party[167] despite Rand being a pro-choice atheist.[168] A 1987 article in The New York Times referred to her as the Reagan administration's "novelist laureate".[169] Republican Congressmen and conservative pundits have acknowledged her influence on their lives and recommended her novels.[170]
The late-2000s financial crisis spurred renewed interest in her works, especially Atlas Shrugged, which some saw as foreshadowing the crisis,[171] and opinion articles compared real-world events with the plot of the novel.[172] During this time, signs mentioning Rand and her fictional hero John Galt appeared at Tea Party protests.[173] There was also increased criticism of her ideas, especially from the political left, with critics blaming the economic crisis on her support of selfishness and free markets, particularly through her influence on Alan Greenspan.[174] For example, Mother Jones remarked that "Rand's particular genius has always been her ability to turn upside down traditional hierarchies and recast the wealthy, the talented, and the powerful as the oppressed",[168] while The Nation alleged similarities between the "moral syntax of Randianism" and fascism.[175]
[edit]
Academic reaction
During Rand's lifetime her work received little attention from academic scholars.[4] When the first academic book about Rand's philosophy appeared in 1971, its author declared writing about Rand "a treacherous undertaking" that could lead to "guilt by association" for taking her seriously.[176] A few articles about Rand's ideas appeared in academic journals before her death in 1982, many of them in The Personalist.[177] One of these was "On the Randian Argument" by libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick, who argued that her meta-ethical argument is unsound and fails to solve the is–ought problem posed by David Hume.[178] Some responses to Nozick by other academic philosophers were also published in The Personalist arguing that Nozick misstated Rand's case.[177] Academic consideration of Rand as a literary figure during her life was even more limited. Gladstein was unable to find any scholarly articles about Rand's novels when she began researching her in 1973, and only three such articles appeared during the rest of the 1970s.[179]
Since Rand's death, interest in her work has gradually increased.[180] Historian Jennifer Burns has identified "three overlapping waves" of scholarly interest in Rand, the most recent of which is "an explosion of scholarship" since the year 2000.[181] However, few universities currently include Rand or Objectivism as a philosophical specialty or research area, with many literature and philosophy departments dismissing her as a pop culture phenomenon rather than a subject for serious study.[182]
Academics Mimi Gladstein, Chris Sciabarra, Allan Gotthelf, Edwin A. Locke and Tara Smith have taught her work in academic institutions. Sciabarra co-edits the Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, a nonpartisan peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the study of Rand's philosophical and literary work.[183] In 1987 Gotthelf helped found the Ayn Rand Society, and has been active in sponsoring seminars about Rand and her ideas.[184] Smith has written several academic books and papers on Rand's ideas, including Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist, a volume on Rand's ethical theory published by Cambridge University Press. Rand's ideas have also been made subjects of study at Clemson and Duke universities.[185] Scholars of English and American literature have largely ignored her work,[186] although attention to her literary work has increased since the 1990s.[187]
Some academic philosophers have criticized Rand for what they consider her lack of rigor and limited understanding of philosophical subject matter.[4][99] The Philosophical Lexicon, a satirical web site maintained by philosophers Daniel Dennett and Asbjørn Steglich-Petersen, defines a 'rand' as: "An angry tirade occasioned by mistaking philosophical disagreement for a personal attack and/or evidence of unspeakable moral corruption."[188] Chris Matthew Sciabarra has called into question the motives of some of Rand's critics because of the unusual hostility of their criticisms.[189] Sciabarra writes, "The left was infuriated by her anti-communist, pro-capitalist politics, whereas the right was disgusted with her atheism and civil libertarianism."[4]
Rand scholars Douglas Den Uyl and Douglas B. Rasmussen, while stressing the importance and originality of her thought, describe her style as "literary, hyperbolic and emotional".[190] Philosopher Jack Wheeler says that despite "the incessant bombast and continuous venting of Randian rage", Rand's ethics are "a most immense achievement, the study of which is vastly more fruitful than any other in contemporary thought."[191] In the Literary Encyclopedia entry for Rand written in 2001, John Lewis declared that "Rand wrote the most intellectually challenging fiction of her generation".[192] In a 1999 interview in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Rand scholar Chris Matthew Sciabarra commented, "I know they laugh at Rand", while forecasting a growth of interest in her work in the academic community.[193]
Philosopher Michael Huemer has argued that very few people find Rand's ideas convincing, especially her ethics,[194] which he believes is difficult to interpret and may lack logical coherence.[195] He attributes the attention she receives to her being a "compelling writer", especially as a novelist. Thus, Atlas Shrugged outsells not only the works of other philosophers of classical liberalism as Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, or Frederic Bastiat, but also Rand's own non-fiction works.[194]
Philosopher Robert H. Bass has argued that her central ethical ideas are inconsistent and contradictory to her central political ideas.[196]
Objectivist movement
Main article: Objectivist movement
In 1985, Rand's heir Leonard Peikoff established the Ayn Rand Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading Rand's ideas and promoting her works. In 1990, philosopher David Kelley founded the Institute for Objectivist Studies, now known as The Atlas Society.[197] In 2001 historian John McCaskey organized the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship, which provides grants for scholarly work on Objectivism in academia.[198] The charitable foundation of BB&T Corporation has also given grants for teaching Rand's ideas or works. The University of Texas at Austin, the University of Pittsburgh, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are among the schools that have received grants. In some cases these grants have been controversial due to their requiring research or teaching related to Rand.[199]
Selected work
Wikisource has original works written by or about:
Ayn Rand
Main article: Bibliography for Ayn Rand and Objectivism
Novels
1936 We the Living
1943 The Fountainhead
1957 Atlas Shrugged
Other fiction
1934 Night of January 16th
1938 Anthem
Non-fiction
1961 For the New Intellectual
1964 The Virtue of Selfishness
1966 Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal
1969 The Romantic Manifesto
1971 The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution
1979 Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology
1982 Philosophy: Who Needs It
References
^ Branden 1986, p. 71; Gladstein 1999, p. 9
^ Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, p. x; Sciabarra 1995, pp. 1–2; Kukathas 1998, p. 55; Badhwar & Long 2010.
^ a b c d e Gladstein 1999, pp. 117–119
^ a b c d Sciabarra 1995, pp. 1–2
^ a b Burns 2009, p. 4; Gladstein 2009, pp. 107–108, 124
^ Heller 2009, pp. 3–5; Britting 2004, pp. 2–3; Burns 2009, pp. 9
^ Branden 1986, pp. 35–39
^ Britting 2004, pp. 14–20
^ Burns 2009, p. 15
^ Sciabarra 1995, p. 77
^ Sciabarra 1999, pp. 5–8
^ Heller 2009, p. 41; Peikoff 1991, pp. 451–460
^ Britting 2004, pp. 17–18, 22–24
^ Britting 2004, pp. 17, 22
^ Heller 2009, p. 47; Britting 2004, p. 24
^ Sciabarra 1999, p. 1
^ a b Heller 2009, pp. 49–50
^ Britting 2004, p. 33
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 7; Heller 2009, p. 55
^ Rand said the origin of Ayn was Finnish (Rand 1995, p. 40), but some biographical sources question this, suggesting it may come from a Hebrew nickname. Heller 2009, pp. 55–57 provides a detailed discussion.
^ Heller 2009, p. 53
^ Heller 2009, pp. 57–60
^ Britting 2004, pp. 34–36
^ Britting 2004, pp. 35–40; Paxton 1998, pp. 74, 81, 84
^ Heller 2009, pp. 96–98; Britting 2004, pp. 43–44, 52
^ Britting 2004, pp. 40, 42
^ Heller 2009, pp. 76, 92
^ Heller 2009, pp. 78; Gladstein 2009, p. 87
^ Rand, Ayn (1995) [1936]. "Foreword". We the Living (60th Anniversary ed.). New York: Dutton. p. xviii. ISBN 0-525-94054-5. OCLC 32780458.
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 13
^ Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing We the Living". In Mayhew 2004, p. 141
^ Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing We the Living". In Mayhew 2004, p. 143
^ Paxton 1998, p. 104
^ Burns 2009, p. 50; Heller 2009, p. 102
^ Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing Anthem". In Mayhew 2005a, pp. 24–27
^ Britting 2004, p. 57
^ Burns 2009, p. 114; Heller 2009, p. 249; Branden 1986, pp. 188–189
^ Burns 2009, pp. 75–78
^ Britting 2004, pp. 61–78
^ Britting 2004, pp. 58–61
^ Burns 2009, p. 85
^ Burns 2009, p. 89
^ Burns 2009, p. 178; Heller 2009, pp. 304–305
^ Doherty 2007, p. 149; Branden 1986, pp. 180–181
^ Britting 2004, pp. 68–80; Branden 1986, pp. 183–198
^ Sciabarra 1995, p. 112; Heller 2009, p. 171
^ Burns 2009, pp. 100–101, 123
^ Burns 2009, pp. 130–131; Heller 2009, pp. 214–215
^ Mayhew 2005b, pp. 91–93
^ Mayhew 2005b, pp. 188–189
^ Mayhew 2005b, p. 83
^ Britting 2004, p. 71
^ Branden 1986, pp. 256–264, 331–343
^ Sciabarra 1995, p. 113; Mayhew 2005b, p. 78
^ Salmieri, Gregory. "Atlas Shrugged on the Role of the Mind in Man's Existence". In Mayhew 2009, p. 248
^ Dowd, Maureen (April 17, 2011). "Atlas Without Angelina". New York Times. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
^ McConnell 2010, pp. Al Ruddy section
^ Interview Transcript (1999). "The Making Of The Atlas Shrugged TV MiniSeries Albert Ruddy, Susan Black, Bill Collins". Prodos Institute Inc.. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
^ Gladstein 1999, p. 42
^ Burns 2009, p. 2
^ Burns 2009, p. 178; Heller 2009, pp. 303–306
^ Younkins 2007, p. 1
^ Gladstein 2009, pp. 105–106; Burns 2009, pp. 232–233
^ Burns 2009, pp. 236–237
^ Heller 2009, p. 303
^ Doherty 2007, pp. 237–238; Heller 2009, p. 329; Burns 2009, p. 235
^ Doherty 2007, p. 235; Burns 2009, p. 235
^ Branden 1986, pp. 315–316
^ Gladstein 1999, p. 14
^ Branden 1986, p. 318
^ Gladstein 1999, p. 16
^ Heller 2009, pp. 320–321
^ Burns 2009, pp. 228–229, 265; Heller 2009, p. 352
^ Rand 2005, p. 96; Burns 2009, p. 266
^ Burns 2009, p. 266; Heller 2009, p. 391
^ Heller 2009, pp. 362, 519
^ Burns 2009, pp. 204–206; Heller 2009, pp. 322–323
^ Britting 2004, p. 101
^ Branden 1986, pp. 344–358
^ Heller 2009, pp. 378–379
^ Heller 2009, p. 411
^ Branden 1986, pp. 386–389
^ Heller 2009, pp. 391–393
^ McConnell 2010, pp. 520–521
^ Branden 1986, pp. 392–395
^ Heller 2009, p. 406
^ Heller 2009, p. 410
^ Heller 2009, pp. 405, 410
^ Branden 1986, p. 403
^ Heller 2009, p. 400
^ Rand 1992, pp. 1170–1171
^ Peikoff 1991, pp. 2–3; Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, p. 224; Gladstein & Sciabarra 1999, p. 2
^ Den Uyl, Douglas J. & Rasmussen, Douglas B. "Ayn Rand's Realism". In Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, pp. 3–20
^ Peikoff 1991, pp. 38–39; Gotthelf 2000, p. 54
^ Rand 1964, p. 22
^ Rand 1982, pp. 62–63
^ Salmieri & Gotthelf 2005, p. 1997; Gladstein 1999, pp. 85–86
^ Rand 1989, p. 3
^ a b Kukathas 1998, p. 55
^ Rand 1964, p. 25; Badhwar & Long 2010; Peikoff 1991, pp. 207, 219
^ Badhwar & Long 2010
^ Rand 1992, p. 1023; Peikoff 1991, pp. 313–320
^ Peikoff 1991, pp. 350–352
^ Gotthelf 2000, pp. 91–92; Peikoff 1991, pp. 379–380
^ Peikoff 1991, pp. 369
^ Peikoff 1991, p. 367
^ Burns 2009, pp. 174–177, 209, 230–231; Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, pp. 225–226; Doherty 2007, pp. 189–190; Branden 1986, p. 252
^ Sciabarra 1995, pp. 266–267; Burns 2009, pp. 268–269
^ Sciabarra 1995, pp. 280–281; Peikoff 1991, pp. 371–372; Merrill 1991, p. 139
^ Sciabarra 1995, pp. 204–205
^ Peikoff 1991, p. 428
^ Sciabarra 1995, p. 207; Peikoff 1991, p. 437
^ Rand 1992, p. 1171
^ Sciabarra 1995, p. 12
^ Heller 2009, p. 42; Burns 2009, pp. 16, 22; Sciabarra 1995, pp. 100–106
^ Rand 1997, pp. 21; Burns 2009, pp. 24–25; Sciabarra 1998, pp. 136, 138–139
^ Merrill 1991, pp. 38–39; Sciabarra 1998, p. 135; Loiret-Prunet, Valerie. "Ayn Rand and Feminist Synthesis: Rereading We the Living". In Gladstein & Sciabarra 1999, p. 97
^ Badhwar & Long 2010; Sheaffer, Robert. "Rereading Rand on Gender in the Light of Paglia". In Gladstein & Sciabarra 1999, p. 313.
^ Burns 2009, pp. 41, 68; Heller 2009, p. 42; Merrill 1991, pp. 47–49
^ Burns 2009, pp. 303–304; Sciabarra 1998, pp. 135, 137–138; Mayhew, Robert. "We the Living '36 and '59". In Mayhew 2004, p. 205.
^ Rand 1971, p. 4
^ Walsh 2000
^ Seddon 2003, pp. 63–81
^ Rand 2005, p. 166
^ Rand, Ayn (1999). "The Left: Old and New". Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution. Edited by Peter Schwartz. New York: Meridian. p. 62. ISBN 0-452-01184-1. OCLC 39281836.
^ Rand 1971, p. 1
^ Rand 1995, pp. 10, 13–14
^ a b Branden 1986, pp. 122–124
^ a b Pruette, Lorine (May 16, 1943). "Battle Against Evil". The New York Times: p. BR7. Archived from the original on May 11 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011. Reprinted in McGrath, Charles, ed. (1998). Books of the Century. New York: Times Books. pp. 135–136. ISBN 0-8129-2965-9. OCLC 38439024.
^ Paxton 1998, p. 120; Britting 2004, p. 87
^ Berliner, Michael S. "Reviews of We the Living". In Mayhew 2004, pp. 147–151
^ Berliner, Michael S. "Reviews of Anthem". In Mayhew 2005a, pp. 55–60
^ a b c Berliner, Michael S. "The Fountainhead Reviews". In Mayhew 2006, pp. 77–82
^ Rand 1995, p. 74
^ a b Berliner, Michael S. "The Atlas Shrugged Reviews". In Mayhew 2009, pp. 133–137
^ Chambers, Whittaker (December 8, 1957). "Big Sister is Watching You". National Review: 594–596. Archived from the original on May 11 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ O'Connor, Flannery (1979). Fitzgerald, Sally. ed. The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. p. 398. ISBN 0-374-52104-2. OCLC 18175642.
^ a b Gladstein 1999, p. 119
^ Burns 2009, pp. 193–194
^ Hook, Sidney (April 9, 1961). "Each Man for Himself". The New York Times Book Review: p. 28. Archived from the original on May 11 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Vidal, Gore (1962). "Two Immoralists: Orville Prescott and Ayn Rand". Rocking the Boat. Boston: Little, Brown. p. 234. OCLC 291123. Reprinted from Esquire, July 1961.
^ Rothstein, Edward (February 2, 2005). "Considering the Last Romantic, Ayn Rand, at 100". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 12 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Clark, Leslie (February 17, 2007). "The philosophical art of looking out number one". The Herald. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
^ Corsello, Andrew (October 27, 2009). "The Bitch is Back". GQ (Condé Nast Publications). Archived from the original on May 14 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
^ a b Doherty 2007, p. 11
^ a b Gladstein 2009, p. 122
^ Burns 2009, pp. 2, 299n.3
^ Gladstein 2003, pp. 384–386; Delbroy, Bibek (2006). "Ayn Rand—The Indian Connection". In Machan, Tibor R. Ayn Rand at 100. New Delhi, India: Pragun Publications. pp. 2–4. ISBN 81-89645-57-9. OCLC 76829742.; Cohen, David (December 7, 2001). "A growing concern". The Guardian (London). Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Agence France-Presse/Jiji Press, "In India, Ayn Rand never out of style", Japan Times, 2 June 2012, p.4
^ Riggenbach, Jeff (Fall 2004). "Ayn Rand's Influence on American Popular Fiction". The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 6 (1): 91–144. Archived from the original on May 14 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
^ Sciabarra 2004, pp. 8–11
^ Sciabarra, Chris Matthew (Fall 2002). "Rand, Rush, and Rock". The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 4 (1): 161–185. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
^ Burns 2009, pp. 168–171
^ Burns 2009, p. 298; Branden 1986, p. 419
^ Rubin, Harriet (September 15, 2007). "Ayn Rand's Literature of Capitalism". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 12 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Sciabarra 2004, pp. 4–5
^ Burns 2009, p. 282
^ Sciabarra 2004, p. 3
^ Alex Chadwick (host), Nick Gillespie (contributor) (February 2, 2005). "Book Bag: Marking the Ayn Rand Centennial". Day to Day. National Public Radio.
^ Gladstein 1999, p. 128
^ Wozniak, Maurice D., ed. (2001). Krause-Minkus Standard Catalog of U.S. Stamps (5th ed.). Krause Publications. p. 380. ISBN 0-87349-321-4. OCLC 48663542.
^ Burns 2009, p. 258; Rand 2005, p. 73
^ Powell, Jim (May 1996). "Rose Wilder Lane, Isabel Paterson, and Ayn Rand: Three Women Who Inspired the Modern Libertarian Movement". The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty 46 (5): 322. Archived from the original on May 11 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Branden 1986, p. 414
^ Burns 2009, p. 4
^ Burns 2004
^ Doherty 2009, pp. 54
^ a b Benfer, Amy (July/August 2009). "And the Rand Played On". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on May 03 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Burns 2009, p. 279
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 124; Heller 2009, p. xi; Doherty 2009, p. 51; Burns 2009, p. 283
^ Burns 2009, pp. 283–284; Doherty 2009, pp. 51–52; Gladstein 2009, p. 125
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 125; Doherty 2009, pp. 54
^ Doherty 2009, pp. 51–52
^ Burns 2009, p. 283
^ Robin, Corey (June 7, 2010). "Garbage and Gravitas". The Nation. Archived from the original on May 14 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ O'Neill 1977, p. 3
^ a b Gladstein 1999, p. 115
^ Nozick, Robert (Spring 1971). "On the Randian Argument". The Personalist 52: 282–304.
^ Gladstein 2003, pp. 373–374, 379–381
^ Gladstein 2009, pp. 114–122; Salmieri & Gotthelf 2005, p. 1995; McLemee, Scott (September 1999). "The Heirs Of Ayn Rand: Has Objectivism Gone Subjective?". Lingua Franca 9 (6): 45–55. Archived from the original on May 15 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ Burns 2009, pp. 295–296
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 116
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 118
^ Gotthelf 2000, pp. 2, 25
^ Harvey, Benjamin (May 15, 2005). "Ayn Rand at 100: An 'ism' struts its stuff". Rutland Herald. Columbia News Service. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
^ Gladstein 2003, p. 375
^ Gladstein 2003, pp. 384–391
^ Dennett, Daniel; Steglich-Petersen, Asbjørn (2008). "The Philosophical Lexicon: R". Retrieved August 2, 2009.
^ Sciabarra 1995, pp. 9–14
^ Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1978, p. 203
^ Wheeler, Jack. "Rand and Aristotle". In Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, p. 96
^ Lewis, John David (October 20, 2001). "Ayn Rand". The Literary Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
^ Sharlet, Jeff (April 9, 1999). "Ayn Rand Has Finally Caught the Attention of Scholars". The Chronicle of Higher Education 45 (31): A17–A18. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ a b Huemer, Michael (January 22, 2010). "Why Ayn Rand? Some Alternate Answers". Cato Unbound. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
^ Humer, Michael (Spring 2002). "Is Benevolent Egoism Coherent?". The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 3 (2): 259–288.
^ Bass, Robert H. (Spring 2006). "Egoism versus Right". The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 7 (2): 329–349.
^ Burns 2009, pp. 280–281; Gladstein 2009, pp. 19, 114
^ Gladstein 2009, p. 117
^ Gladstein 2009, pp. 116–117; Burns 2009, p. 297
Works cited
Badhwar, Neera; Long, Roderick T. (June 8, 2010). "Ayn Rand". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
Branden, Barbara (1986). The Passion of Ayn Rand. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company. ISBN 0-385-19171-5. OCLC 12614728.
Britting, Jeff (2004). Ayn Rand. Overlook Illustrated Lives series. New York: Overlook Duckworth. ISBN 1-58567-406-0. OCLC 56413971.
Burns, Jennifer (November 2004). "Godless Capitalism: Ayn Rand and the Conservative Movement". Modern Intellectual History 1 (3): 359–385. doi:10.1017/S1479244304000216.
Burns, Jennifer (2009). Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-532487-7. OCLC 313665028.
Den Uyl, Douglas & Rasmussen, Douglas (April 1978). "Nozick On the Randian Argument". The Personalist 59: 184–205.
Den Uyl, Douglas & Rasmussen, Douglas, eds. (1986) [1984]. The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand (paperback ed.). Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-01407-3. OCLC 15669115.
Doherty, Brian (2007). Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement. New York: Public Affairs. ISBN 1-58648-350-1. OCLC 76141517.
Doherty, Brian (December 2009). "She's Back!". Reason 41 (7): 51–58. Archived from the original on May 11 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
Gladstein, Mimi Reisel (1999). The New Ayn Rand Companion. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30321-5. OCLC 40359365.
Gladstein, Mimi Reisel (Spring 2003). "Ayn Rand Literary Criticism". The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 4 (2): 373–394. Archived from the original on May 14 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
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Ayn Rand Biographical FAQ from the Objectivism Reference Center
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What's Living and Dead in Ayn Rand's Moral and Political Thought by the Cato Institute
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Ayn Rand entry by Neera K. Badhwar and Roderick T. Long in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, October 4, 2010
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Ayn Rand
Bibliography
Novels
We the Living (1936) Anthem (1938) The Fountainhead (1943) Atlas Shrugged (1957)
Non-fiction books
For the New Intellectual (1961) Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology (1979) The Art of Fiction (2000)
Screenplays
Red Pawn (1932) Love Letters (1945) You Came Along (1945) The Fountainhead (1949)
Essay collections
The Virtue of Selfishness (1964) Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (1966) The Romantic Manifesto (1969) The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (1971) Philosophy: Who Needs It (1982) The Voice of Reason (1989)
Other
Night of January 16th (1934) The Early Ayn Rand (1984) Letters of Ayn Rand (1995) Journals of Ayn Rand (1997) Objectivist periodicals
Philosophy
Objectivism Objectivist movement Libertarianism and Objectivism Objectivism and homosexuality Romantic realism Randian hero
Biographical depictions
