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<div class="published" title="2012-08-11T13:14:06">August 11, 2012</div><h3 class="entry-title"><br></h3><h3 class="entry-title">Ayn Rand Joins the Ticket</h3>
<div class="byline">Posted by <cite class="vcard author"><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/bios/jane_mayer/search?contributorName=Jane%20Mayer" title="search site for content by Jane Mayer" rel="author">Jane Mayer</a></cite></div>
<div class="entry-content">
<p><img alt="paul-ryan-light-465.jpg" src="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/paul-ryan-light-465.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" height="310" width="465"></p>
<p>With the choice of Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney adds more to the Republican
ticket than youth, vigor, and the possibility of carrying Wisconsin—he
also adds the ghostly presence of the controversial Russian émigré
philosopher and writer Ayn Rand.</p>
<p>Although she died thirty years ago, Rand’s influence appears on the
rise on the right. As my colleague Ryan Lizza noted in his terrific
biographical <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/08/06/120806fa_fact_lizza">Profile</a>
of Ryan, Rand’s works were an early and important influence on him,
shaping his thinking as far back as high school. Later, as a
Congressman, Ryan not only tried to get all of the interns in his
congressional office to read Rand’s writing, he also gave copies of her
novel “Atlas Shrugged” to his staff as Christmas presents, as he told
the <em>Weekly Standard</em> in 2003.</p>
<div id="entry-more"><p>Two years later, in 2005, Ryan paid fealty to
Rand in a speech he gave to the Atlas Society, the Washington-based
think tank devoted to keeping Rand’s “objectivist” philosophy alive. He
credited her with inspiring his interest in public service, saying,
“[T]he reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had
to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. And the fight
we are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism
versus collectivism.” (One of the trustees of the Atlas Society,
Clifford Asness, the co-founder of AQR Capital Management, a
twenty-billion-dollar hedge fund, is one of the many outspoken Wall
Street financiers who has shifted political sides, denouncing Obama,
whom he supported in 2008, for interfering with capitalism by bailing
out Chrysler, and by imposing tighter financial regulations after the
2008 economic collapse).</p>
<p>Three years ago, as Tim Mak <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79612.html">reports</a>
today at Politico, Ryan described America’s political challenge as
coming straight out of Rand’s work—saying, “what’s unique about what’s
happening today in government, in the world, in America, is that it’s as
if we’re living in an Ayn Rand novel right now. I think Ayn Rand did
the best job of anybody to build a moral case of capitalism, and that
morality of capitalism is under assault.”</p>
<p>More recently, however, Ryan distanced himself from Rand, whose
atheism is something of a philosophical wedge issue on the right,
dividing religious conservatives from free-market libertarians. This
year, with his political profile rising, Ryan stressed not only that he
had differences with Rand’s atheism—a point he had made as far back as
2003—but went so far as to denounce her whole system of beliefs,
describing his early attraction to her writing as little more than a
youthful dalliance. He admitted that he had “enjoyed her novels,” but,
as Mak notes, he stressed that, “I reject her philosophy. It’s an
atheist philosophy. It reduces human interactions down to mere contracts
and it is antithetical to my worldview. If somebody is going to try to
paste a person’s view on epistemology to me, then give me Thomas
Aquinas.”</p>
<p>Ryan’s sidestep from Rand was politically essential. As a Mormon, the
last thing Romney needs is to alienate the Christian Right further by
putting an acolyte of an atheist on the ticket. So it was not surprising
that Romney made a point of stressing Ryan’s Catholicism during his
announcement of Ryan today, introducing him as, “A faithful Catholic”
who “believes in the dignity and worth of every life.”</p>
<p>While Ryan may be distancing himself from Rand now, the Democrats
will surely argue that her views on the virtues of selfishness have left
a more lasting legacy in the policies that he and Romney embrace. In
his début today, Ryan stressed that “We promise equal opportunity—not
equal outcomes”—a philosophy that telegraphed a tough message to those
who are worst off. Ryan also signalled a Rand-like celebration of the
winners, and dismissed complaints from the losers, saying, “We look at
one another’s success with pride, not resentment.” Rand’s language was
tougher still. She used words such as “refuse” and “parasites” to
describe the poor, while celebrating millionaire businessmen as heroes.
She abhorred government social programs, such as Social Security, at
least until she reached the age of eligibility, and reportedly signed on
for both its benefits and those of Medicare.</p>
<p>Ryan won’t be the first Rand fan to grace the Vice-Presidential
ticket. Jack Kemp, who was Ryan’s mentor in politics, also described
himself as influenced by her writing. In some ways, the Romney-Ryan
ticket resembles the Dole-Kemp one, in pairing a Presidential candidate
short on charisma and conservative credentials with a younger, more
ideologically fiery sidekick. Kemp, however, was famously optimistic in
his outlook. Ryan has a sterner countenance. Either way, though, while
the G.O.P. may be behind when it comes to attracting female voters, in
picking Ryan, who like Kemp was deeply influenced by Rand, it has added
at least the imprint of an extra woman to the ticket.</p>
<p><i>For more on Romney, Ryan, and the rest of the campaign, bookmark <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/politics">The Political Scene</a>, our hub for coverage of the 2012 election. </i></p>
<p><em>Photograph by Brendan Hoffman/Getty</em></p><p><br><em></em></p><p><em>______________________________________________</em></p><p><br><em></em></p><p><em><br></em></p></div>
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<h1>Is Paul Ryan for or against Ayn Rand?</h1>
<div class="cnn_stryathrtmp">
<div class="cnnByline">By <strong>Gary Weiss</strong>, Special to CNN</div>
<div class="cnn_strytmstmp">updated 11:43 AM EDT, Tue August 14, 2012</div>
</div>
<div class="cnn_stryimg640captioned"><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120813080009-weiss-ryan-rand-story-top.jpg" alt="Rep. Paul Ryan calls reports of his adherence to Ayn Rand's views an " border="0" height="360" width="640"></div>
<div class="cnn_stryimg640caption"><div class="cnn_strycaptiontxt">Rep. Paul Ryan calls reports of his adherence to Ayn Rand's views an "urban legend." But that's not what he said in 2005.<br><br></div>
</div>
<a name="em0"></a><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> Gary Weiss's most recent book is <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/aynrandnation/GaryWeiss" target="_blank">"Ayn Rand Nation: The Hidden Struggle for America's Soul,"</a> published by St. Martin's Press. Follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/gary_weiss" target="_blank">@gary_weiss</a>.</em>
<p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- People don't generally care what politicians read. But Rep. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/11/politics/paul-ryan-profile/index.html" target="_blank">Paul Ryan</a>
is different. His fascination with the Russian-born novelist Ayn Rand
could spell trouble for the GOP's new vice-presidential candidate. It
could put him at odds with the Christian right and the Roman Catholic
Church.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">It all depends how much you believe that he is in the thrall of Ayn Rand.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">Rand (1905-1982) is controversial because of the extremism of her views. In researching<a href="http://us.macmillan.com/aynrandnation/GaryWeiss" target="_blank"> my recent book</a>,
I found that Rand's influence on the Republican Party, which dates back
as far as her endorsement of Wendell Willkie in 1940, has been sharply
growing, largely due to her vise-like hold on the imagination of the tea
party and people like Ryan.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">Rand was the author of
two best-selling novels, "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged." These
books, along with her other novels and essays, set forth an ideology
which she called objectivism. Her books have sold in the millions and
appeal to people ranging from Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to the rock
band Rush. (Rush's lyricist and drummer, Neil Peart, only this year <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/q-a-neil-peart-on-rushs-new-lp-and-being-a-bleeding-heart-libertarian-20120612" target="_blank">renounced his interest in Rand</a>, three decades after writing the songs her work inspired.)</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">College students
notoriously go through an "Ayn Rand phase" because her books emphasize
self-reliance and breaking away from one's parents. For most people,
it's a kind of literary infatuation. But for a few, Rand becomes a
lifelong passion.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/13/opinion/bennett-paul-ryan/index.html?hpt=op_t1" target="_blank">Bennett: Why Paul Ryan?</a></p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">What made her books
controversial is not violence or sex, though both "Fountainhead" and
"Atlas" have their share of bodice-ripping, but an extremist vision of
America that celebrated greed and selfishness, rejected altruism as
"evil" and opposed the fundamental tenets of Judeo-Christian morality.
(She was also a militant atheist who favored abortion.)</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">Paul Ryan says that he read her books as a youth but was not influenced by her. In April, <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/297023/ryan-shrugged-robert-costa" target="_blank">he gave an interview </a>to
National Review in which he repudiated Rand entirely. In the interview,
he called reports of his adherence to Rand's views an "urban legend"
and said that he was more deeply influenced by his Roman Catholic faith
and by Thomas Aquinas.</p><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">But that's not the way he was talking in 2005, when<a href="http://www.atlassociety.org/ele/blog/2012/04/30/paul-ryan-and-ayn-rands-ideas-hot-seat-again" target="_blank"> he gave a speech</a> to the Atlas Society, a group dedicated to promoting Rand's beliefs.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">In that speech, Ryan
said, "I grew up reading Ayn Rand and it taught me quite a bit about who
I am and what my value systems are and what my beliefs are. It's
inspired me so much that it's required reading in my office for all my
interns and my staff."</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">He went on to say that
"the reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to
credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. And the fight we
are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism
versus collectivism."</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/11/opinion/avlon-ryan-shift/index.html" target="_blank">Avlon: Paul Ryan will shift the campaign dynamic</a></p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">Ryan very succinctly
summed up the Randian worldview in those remarks. Rand painted the world
in stark terms, as a struggle between the individual and the
collective.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">In "The Fountainhead,"
which was published in 1943, her hero was an architect, Howard Roark,
who pursued his vision despite opposition from the media and the
architectural establishment. He dislikes money and status and is solely
focused on seeing his vision expressed through his work. He even allows
another architect to take the credit for a public housing project that
he designed. But when the project is not built according to his wishes,
he blows it up.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">The book was widely
denounced as amoral when it came out, but it had enough wide appeal that
it was adapted into a 1949 movie with Gary Cooper as Roark and Patricia
Neal as his love interest. But the stir that it caused when it came out
was nothing like the explosion of fury that greeted "Atlas Shrugged"
when it was published in 1957. That book advanced her belief that
laissez-faire capitalism, unsullied by government interference or
regulation, was the only moral social system.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">Unlike the sometimes
impoverished architect in "Fountainhead," the heroes of "Atlas Shrugged"
were millionaires and industrialists, depicted as a degraded class who
had to strike to throw off the yoke of oppression. The heroes of that
book included a noble railroad heiress, Dagny Taggart, and a struggling
steel tycoon, Hank Rearden, but they are overshadowed by a character who
emerges toward the end, John Galt, an inventor who leads the
downtrodden 1% on a strike.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/11/opinion/castellanos-romney-choice/index.html" target="_blank">Castellanos: Paul Ryan and Gen X GOP</a></p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">Rand further expounded
on her beliefs in essays that were published in her newsletters, and in
anthologies with titles like "The Virtue of Selfishness" and
"Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal." The latter, first published in 1966,
contained three essays by Alan Greenspan, one of which argued forcefully
against all forms of regulation, even building codes. These essays were
published by Rand and reflected her thinking. His strident essays for
that book, which he has never repudiated or withdrawn from publication,
were echoed by his actions in the 1990s as a principal supporter of
financial deregulation in his capacity as chairman of the Federal
Reserve.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19">In a<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/business/economy/24panel.html?_r=1" target="_blank"> famous appearance</a>
before a congressional committee in 2008, Rep. Henry Waxman,
D-California, asked Greenspan, "Do you feel that your ideology pushed
you to make decisions that you wish you had not made?" Greenspan
conceded that there was a "flaw" in his belief system, which was <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/potus-notes/2008/Oct/24/he-found-flaw/" target="_blank">widely cited</a> as a repudiation of Rand, who was his friend for 30 years.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20">In April 2010, appearing
before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, he denied that he had
ever repudiated his ideology. "The <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/greenspan-denies-his-handsoff-policy-caused-credit-meltdown-1938659.html" target="_blank">flaw in the system</a>
that I acknowledged was an inability to fully understand the state and
extent of potential risks that were as yet untested," he said.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/14/opinion/granderson-romney-likeability/index.html" target="_blank">Granderson: Why America doesn't like Mitt Romney</a></p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22">Greenspan didn't mention
Rand by name, but in an interview that same month he was asked if the
financial crisis was "an indictment of Ayn Rand and the view that
laissez-faire capitalism can be expected to function properly, that
markets can be trusted to police themselves?" His response: <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2010/04/greenspan-financial-crisis-doesnt-indict-ayn-rand-theories/" target="_blank">"Not at all."</a></p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">Ryan's effort to put
daylight between himself and Rand also reeks of history-rewriting.
Certainly the speech he gave before the Atlas Society in 2005, in which
he toed the Randian line, was no "urban legend." Ryan is no atheist, but
atheism was at the core of her philosophy, because the teachings of the
Bible simply do not jibe with her belief that selfishness is moral,
greed is good and altruism is evil. It's not surprising that Ryan's
budget plan, which cuts programs for the poor and middle class while
imposing no new taxes on the rich, has been <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/13/paul-ryan-s-catholic-problem.html" target="_blank">criticized by some</a> in the Roman Catholic Church.</p>
<p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24">Paul Ryan can either be
an objectivist or a Christian. He can't have it both ways. He faces a
serious problem among Christians, moderate Republicans and others who
dislike Rand's views if his expressions of support for Rand are
believed, rather than his denials.</p><br>-- <br>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<br><a href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com" target="_blank">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</a><br><br><img src="http://users.moscow.com/waf/WP%20Fox%2001.jpg"><br>
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