The GOP Grapples With Ayn Rand's Atheism

Not Ayn Rand's cup of tea

My latest post in the FrumForum describes how Ayn Rand's atheism is infecting the far right, the Tea Party movement and, through Ron Paul especially, Republican politics in general.

It's kind of a sneak preview of one of the themes that I explore in AYN RAND NATION: The Hidden Struggle for America's Soul, which will be published by St. Martin's Press on Feb. 28.

Given how fashionable Rand is in the GOP nowadays, her atheism is going to raise some thorny issues for the Republican Party. She repudiated not just belief in God but cherished Judeo-Christian moral tenets, including the desirability of altruism and help for the needy. Rand's Objectivism celebrates selfishness and promotes the belief that the poor need to rise up without relying on help from anyone.

Rand's celebration of individuality certainly has its place, but her influence on national politics is corrosive -- if, that is, you believe that government plays an important role in society.

Read more about it on the FrumForum, and feel free to plunge into the lively discussion taking place there.

© 2011 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.
------------------------------
AYN RAND NATION: The Hidden Struggle for America's Soul, will be published by St. Martin's Press on Feb. 28, 2012. Click here to pre-order the book from Amazon.com, and here to pre-order from Barnes & Noble.

The Republican Debate: Is it Time for Despair?

I watched (most of) the Republican debate last night from an appropriate spot, which was the treadmill at my gym. Actually it was these guys who seemed to be on a treadmill, mouthing the usual platitudes and saying absolutely nothing new, interesting or original. Anyone who feels despair about the '08 elections would be pushed over the edge by last night's lifeless exercise.

Lower taxes, lower spending, Reagan was a God, etc. etc.

The media focused on the exchange between Mitt Romney and Rudi Giuliani on the line-item veto, but I was struck by the equally fatuous remarks that the media did not pick up.

Thus we had Tom Tancredo hammering away at illegal immigration, even though his own grandparents would have been barred under the take-no-prisoners policies he advocates. Tancredo seems to feel that if all illegal immigrants vanished, the economy would get a lift. This nativist pap is not only hypocritical but brain-dead, since illegal immigrants pick up jobs too dreary for Americans.


Mitt Romney appeared to be auditioning for CEO of the pro-business, anti-public U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as he advocated waiving Section 404 of Sarbanes Oxley for "small business." Penny stock outfits and CEOs of cruddy microcap companies would have a happy life under a President Romney, I suspect. The rest of 'em too, I also suspect.

I must confess that I do have a bit of a soft spot for Giuliani, lingering over from Sept. 11. Too bad he was as fatuous (the word is worth repeating) in pushing to the right as the rest of them.

© 2007 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.



-----------

Wall Street Versus America was published by Penguin USA on April 6.
Click here for its Amazon.com listing and here for more information on the book, from my web site, gary-weiss.com.