Atlas May Shrug at Film Designed for Tea Party

link here to article

Reviews on early showings of the film have been so bad that the producer has enlisted help from Tea Party advocates to go to church and celebrate Ayn Rand's gospel of laissez-faire capitalism.

If those in the Tea Party, who can read books with long words, take a close look at Ayn Rand's literature they might stay away in droves. My comments on her work follow: Ayn Rand was a vigorous exponent of secular humanism. There was no place for God in her books. Man was his own God and the system that enabled his ascendency was capitalism. Her work was largely in response to her family's experience in the USSR. They lost their property during the revolution and she migrated to the US. She had a fantasy of free market capitalism that did not really exist. For example, she took aim at those who exploited relationships and connections to succeed in business rather harshly. Her hero in The Fountainhead, Howard Roark, was a brilliant architect whose work was his own reward. He was contrasted with Peter Keating, a mediocre architect who became successful by giving the market what it wanted. That is, mediocre products. They both needed each other. Keating was awarded a huge contract that he was unable to complete. He sought Roark's help. Roark agreed to do the project since the market for his creations was very small. Only enlightened consumers appreciated his genius. The book ends with Roark blowing up the project that he designed after Keating was forced to alter Roark's design to satisfy his client. Roark had only agreed to design the building for Keating under the condition that it not be changed. He felt that the building belonged to him, and his genius, and not to the clients who paid the bill. If one thinks carefully about this, it is certainly a rejection of some basic tenets of capitalism. Those who paid for the building are the real owners and not the architect. Morover, capitalism based upon the notion that consumers are the best judge of their own needs is violated. Only enlightened consumers recognized and purchased the products of a genius. Since Roark's motivation for doing creative work was his intrinsic reward for doing the work, it also raises questions about a view of capitalism in which profit is the only motivation.