Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
His essays on topics besides economics are well worth reading. Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of right, the materialist conception of history (and his deconstruction of the french revolution, for example), his views on journalism, on the British Empire and its (then) colony of India, the Habsburg monarchy and on the free city of Trieste for instance, the Jewish question...not to mention, his doctoral thesis on the difference between Democritus and Epicurus view of nature isn't too shabby either (although seems slightly rushed.) Hours and hours of reading (and re-reading probably) would ensue. And then you begin to wonder...slightly discredited in the 21st century - maybe, but he did get it right quite often.
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It is really interesting. The thing which is difficult is that any political literature has its good and bad points, when applied to the world as a whole, or even a country as a whole. Ayn Rand's Virtue of Selfishness actually brought up interesting points, but it was before capitalism got to the point it's reached that it was published. I don't think that Ayn Rand would have been anti-oil companies at all; I think she'd have thought it their right and a noteworthy enterprise, but on a smaller scale...it actually made a lot of sense.
Then again, I highly doubt she intended it on a smaller scale.
Reaganomics boosted Ayn Rand's philosophies in ways I feel she never could even have dreamed. As a loather of Ronald Reagan, I've no doubt THAT'd have pissed her off.
I suppose, also, she never intended Objectivism as a political ideal, but as a personal moral code. Her major lacking was not acknowledging that moral codes will affect political affiliation and political beliefs significantly.