Ayn Rand’s Contributions
22nd October 2009
First, and as is most evident in Atlas Shrugged, Rand turns Marxism on its head. While Marxists argue that “capitalists” make their profits on the backs of the working class, Rand illustrates that the working class, as such, makes almost no contribution to wealth, but relies on the efforts, risks, sacrifices, and most of all the genius of the entrepreneurial class. Consider, as a thought experiment, what living standards would be like if every person in the world had an IQ around the median of 103, and otherwise had average talents and ambition. Does anyone seriously doubt that “workers,” and everyone else, would be a lot poorer than they are today, and indeed would likely be living as poorly as our hunting and gathering ancestors?
October 27th, 2009 at 23:26
To the contrary, imagine if we were all entrepreneurs with huge throbbing brains and stove-in chests. Do you imagine that any of their ingenious concepts would ever get off the drawing board and built?
October 28th, 2009 at 03:25
Well, it’s not as if we’ve ever had a chance to find out, now, is it?