itscandidlycara:

I would also like to point out that in The Fountainhead there is a rape scene, which most objectionists (people who buy into Ayn Rand’s school of thought) label as “welcomed rape.” The entire passage is laden with complete submission and was NOT consensual. Rand reportedly had this to say about…

I can understand that while you disagree with her philosophy and the stories she wrote, she did leave some amazing ideas that gave us a springboard for conversations on those philosophies. I tried to read “The Fountainhead” and still haven’t finished it. I have however read “Anthem” which is a novella that was published in Britain, during the early years of WW2. This is the reason I am replying to your blog(s).

“Anthem” is a resounding opposition to the communism Rand grew up with in Russia. In  this novella, Rand tells for a dystopian future where people are separated by gender, assigned a job, and given a designation, not a name. This story ends with the successful escape of the hero and his beloved, and rediscovering the word “I” and the profound effect it has on the worldview that the hero had before escaping. 

Now, I am not trying to argue which philosophy is more correct. Nor am I saying that I prescribe to those beliefs. What I am suggesting, is that taken in light of the world around Rand when she was writing, and the fact that we can concede that one extreme is no better than another, both “The Communist Manifesto” by Marx and anything by Ayn Rand have valid points when deciding your own personal values, ideals, and setting your compass.

That having been said, I’d like to change gears for a moment and say that I too have been taking a slew of ethics classes. What gets me through all of the slimy, icky, soul-numbing monstrousness of it all, is my dream and goal of one day being a business person who shakes thinks up and works to change the status quo. I might not succeed, but the Dr Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, and made a change. So I can dream too.