Who's next? Gordon Gekko?
As the economy crumbles, the usual cultural indicators of panic are on the rise--gun sales, survivalist talk and, of course, interest in the last century's loony goddess of selfishness.
"Ayn Rand," the Wall Street Journal reports, "died more than a quarter of a century ago, yet her name appears regularly in discussions of our current economic turmoil. Pundits including Rush Limbaugh and Rick Santelli urge listeners to read her books, and her magnum opus, 'Atlas Shrugged,' is selling at a faster rate today than at any time during its 51-year history."
The message of that turgid 1200-page opus, that money is the root of all good, has inspired those who need justification for extreme selfishness and for looking down at the rest of humanity as “looters” and “moochers.”
When it was first published, "Atlas Shrugged" was derided by both the right and left, but over the years, a few acolytes like Alan Greenspan and Ron Paul (who named his son Rand) have risen to prominence.
Now that Greenspan has helped devastate the economy, the president of the Rand Institute is proposing that only more of the same will save it:
"Why do we accept the budget-busting costs of a welfare state? Because it implements the moral ideal of self-sacrifice to the needy. Why do so few protest the endless regulatory burdens placed on businessmen? Because businessmen are pursuing their self-interest, which we have been taught is dangerous and immoral...
"The message is always the same: 'Selfishness is evil; sacrifice for the needs of others is good.' But Rand said this message is wrong--selfishness, rather than being evil, is a virtue."
For those who can tolerate such stuff, reading "Atlas Shrugged" is punishment enough. At least Gordon Gekko with his message of "Greed is good" in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" was an entertaining son-of-a-bitch who did not offer himself as an exemplar of a higher morality.
Showing posts with label Ayn Rand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ayn Rand. Show all posts
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Friday, October 24, 2008
Greenspan, Greed and the Blame Game
Congressmen who used to hang on every word and kiss his ring got rough with the former Fed chairman today, as Henry Waxman bullied him to admit his fault for the subprime mortgage crisis ("Were you wrong?") and got a qualified mea culpa ("Partially").
The Greenspan grilling is at the respectable end of the national rage over the collapsing economy, bracketed on the far side of sanity by letters with white powder mailed to banks and regulatory agencies promising "payback time" for stealing people's money.
The rhetoric is different, but the impulse is the same: If the crops fail, find the witches who made it happen and burn them. But that didn't work in colonial times, and it certainly is not the answer to today's far more complex mess.
Greenspan, with his Ayn Randish faith in market greed, is far from innocent in the growth of the monstrous housing bubble, but he had plenty of help from fast-buck financial operators, politicians who resisted regulation and overreaching homeowners who thought prices would never fall.
Even his severest critic, Paul Krugman, has a kind word for him today, "At least he’s admitting that he got something wrong. That’s actually rare these days, especially among the people Greenspan associates with," quoting a memorable line, "For a man who was once remarkably hard to decipher, Alan Greenspan is now as clear as an empty Lehman Brothers office."
The rage will go on, certainly through Election Day, but after it runs its course, the new President and new Congress will have to settle down to making the hard choices that will get the country out of the ditch and persuade the public that doing that is more important than arguing over who drove us into it.
In an editorial today endorsing Barack Obama, the New York Times points the way:
"Mr. McCain offers more of the Republican every-man-for-himself ideology, now lying in shards on Wall Street and in Americans’ bank accounts. Mr. Obama has another vision of government’s role and responsibilities...
"Since the financial crisis, he has correctly identified the abject failure of government regulation that has brought the markets to the brink of collapse.
"The American financial system is the victim of decades of Republican deregulatory and anti-tax policies. Those ideas have been proved wrong at an unfathomable price, but Mr. McCain--a self-proclaimed 'foot soldier in the Reagan revolution'--is still a believer.
"Mr. Obama sees that far-reaching reforms will be needed to protect Americans and American business."
The Greenspan grilling is at the respectable end of the national rage over the collapsing economy, bracketed on the far side of sanity by letters with white powder mailed to banks and regulatory agencies promising "payback time" for stealing people's money.
The rhetoric is different, but the impulse is the same: If the crops fail, find the witches who made it happen and burn them. But that didn't work in colonial times, and it certainly is not the answer to today's far more complex mess.
Greenspan, with his Ayn Randish faith in market greed, is far from innocent in the growth of the monstrous housing bubble, but he had plenty of help from fast-buck financial operators, politicians who resisted regulation and overreaching homeowners who thought prices would never fall.
Even his severest critic, Paul Krugman, has a kind word for him today, "At least he’s admitting that he got something wrong. That’s actually rare these days, especially among the people Greenspan associates with," quoting a memorable line, "For a man who was once remarkably hard to decipher, Alan Greenspan is now as clear as an empty Lehman Brothers office."
The rage will go on, certainly through Election Day, but after it runs its course, the new President and new Congress will have to settle down to making the hard choices that will get the country out of the ditch and persuade the public that doing that is more important than arguing over who drove us into it.
In an editorial today endorsing Barack Obama, the New York Times points the way:
"Mr. McCain offers more of the Republican every-man-for-himself ideology, now lying in shards on Wall Street and in Americans’ bank accounts. Mr. Obama has another vision of government’s role and responsibilities...
"Since the financial crisis, he has correctly identified the abject failure of government regulation that has brought the markets to the brink of collapse.
"The American financial system is the victim of decades of Republican deregulatory and anti-tax policies. Those ideas have been proved wrong at an unfathomable price, but Mr. McCain--a self-proclaimed 'foot soldier in the Reagan revolution'--is still a believer.
"Mr. Obama sees that far-reaching reforms will be needed to protect Americans and American business."
Friday, October 17, 2008
N-O to W.
Oliver Stone came back from Vietnam, he has said, "very mixed up, very alienated, very paranoid," and, for a quarter of a century, has been creating movies to make us all that way.
As George W. Bush ends his eight-year effort to do the same, the last thing we need is a Stone biopic to "explain" how and why he did it. Thanks, but no thanks.
With his "JFK," Stone managed to muddle the truth about Kennedy's assassination for several generations of Americans. Now, judging from reviews, he is wedging Bush into his one-size-fits-all autobiographical theme of a wastrel son with a hard-hearted father.
It will take a long time to recover from what George W. Bush did to the American psyche, but the worst place to start understanding it all is with an Oliver Stone hyped-up Dr. Phil's-eye view of it all.
Stone is reportedly working on a remake of the worst movie ever made, Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead," a project that seems much more suited to his talents.
As George W. Bush ends his eight-year effort to do the same, the last thing we need is a Stone biopic to "explain" how and why he did it. Thanks, but no thanks.
With his "JFK," Stone managed to muddle the truth about Kennedy's assassination for several generations of Americans. Now, judging from reviews, he is wedging Bush into his one-size-fits-all autobiographical theme of a wastrel son with a hard-hearted father.
It will take a long time to recover from what George W. Bush did to the American psyche, but the worst place to start understanding it all is with an Oliver Stone hyped-up Dr. Phil's-eye view of it all.
Stone is reportedly working on a remake of the worst movie ever made, Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead," a project that seems much more suited to his talents.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Worst Movie Ever
In 1949, I was almost thrown out of a theater for fits of laughter while watching the drama of an incorruptible architect who blows up a housing project because someone added gingerbread to his design.
The movie was “The Fountainhead,” based on an Ayn Rand novel with a script by the author, that set new records for pretentious dialogue and pompous self-assertion.
This comes to mind because Alan Greenspan, whose memoirs emerge tomorrow, was once a disciple of Rand’s Objectivism, prompting a New York Times article yesterday under the heading, “Ayn Rand’s Literature of Capitalism.”
Over half a century, the philosophy that was heartily derided by both the left and right has become an inspiration for those who need justification for extreme selfishness and looking down at the rest of humanity as “looters” and “moochers.” Money, according to the Rand scripture in the turgid 1200-page novel, “Atlas Shrugged,” is the root of all good.
Among Rand’s moneyed admirers are Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who have been threatening for years to make a movie of “Atlas Shrugged.”
If they ever do, it could wrest the crown for awfulness from “The Fountainhead,” which can still be seen, usually in the dead of night, on Turner Classic Movies. Those who doubt that it deserves the title can judge for themselves this Wednesday at 1:45 AM.
The movie was “The Fountainhead,” based on an Ayn Rand novel with a script by the author, that set new records for pretentious dialogue and pompous self-assertion.
This comes to mind because Alan Greenspan, whose memoirs emerge tomorrow, was once a disciple of Rand’s Objectivism, prompting a New York Times article yesterday under the heading, “Ayn Rand’s Literature of Capitalism.”
Over half a century, the philosophy that was heartily derided by both the left and right has become an inspiration for those who need justification for extreme selfishness and looking down at the rest of humanity as “looters” and “moochers.” Money, according to the Rand scripture in the turgid 1200-page novel, “Atlas Shrugged,” is the root of all good.
Among Rand’s moneyed admirers are Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who have been threatening for years to make a movie of “Atlas Shrugged.”
If they ever do, it could wrest the crown for awfulness from “The Fountainhead,” which can still be seen, usually in the dead of night, on Turner Classic Movies. Those who doubt that it deserves the title can judge for themselves this Wednesday at 1:45 AM.
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