The Randian Fault That Could Shake Conservatism
Frederick Clarkson and Frank Cocozzelli printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Mon May 02, 2011 at 03:32:26 PM EST
   The spectacular failure of the film version of Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged has drawn fresh attention to one of modern conservatism's most influential and controversial figures. Movement conservatism usually presents itself as the stalwart guardian of traditional faith. But conservatism may experience a profound identity crisis due to the increasing popularity Rand's philosophy of Objectivism -- which celebrates selfishness as a virtue; declares religious faith to be incompatible with reason; and altruism -- including self-sacrifice - is a vice. Objectivism says there are only two kinds of people in this world, creators and parasites.  Suffice to say, such a view is very far from the vision of most conservative Christians.

    All this suggests a deep fault line just below the normal fractiousness of the active factions of conservatism.  If the exposure of the Randian Fault is a quake waiting to happen among movement conservatives, it could very well be The Big One.
    Indeed, we may be starting to see some shaking in the debate about the Republican budget proposals. Recently I (Frank) contributed an essay on the economic philosophy of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) to the web site of New Deal 2.0.  Oddly, Ryan claims that Rand's selfishness is all about morality.

   

In a Facebook video posted in 2009, the Wisconsin pol was gushing about the wisdom to be found in "Atlas Shrugged."  He boldly declared, "And a lot of people would observe that we are right now living in an Ayn Rand novel -- and metaphorically speaking." He elaborated, "But more to the point is this:  The issue that is under assault, the attack on democratic capitalism, on individualism and freedom in America is an attack on the moral foundation of America."

    Returning to Rand, Ryan proceeded to frame his moral vision within the context of laissez-faire capitalism:

   

And Ayn Rand, more than anyone else, did a fantastic job of explaining the morality of capitalism, the morality of individualism. And this to me is what matters the most:  It is not enough to say that President Obama's taxes are too big or that the health care plan does not work, or this or that policy reason. It is the morality of what is occurring right now; and how it offends the morality of individuals working for their own free will, to produce, to achieve, to succeed that is under attack.

    In other words, altruism deters excellence. Only selfishness breeds true success.

    Rand's Objectivism is devoid of a higher form of love --  in which individuals are willing to sacrifice for other members of society; an essential element for any functioning democracy.  Because this is so, a dilemma may be dawning for conservatism:  Do they need to force a rift with the overt Randians?  Unfortunately for conservatism, if they fail to address the Randian heresy of selfishness-as-virtue, the result may be he same -- as liberals are starting to catch-on.

    Self-sacrifice and love of others has been long part of the dominant forms of conservatism. It is at the heart of Neo-conservatism's call to lay down one's life for a Pax Americana. Although cynically and corruptly, that particular political philosophy views religious orthodoxy as but one leg of a three-legged stool for society (the other two legs being nationalism and laissez-faire economics). Conservative icon Russell Kirk defined Christian morality and self-sacrifice as essential to a conservative vision.

    Indeed, there have always been conservative leaders who recognize the shallowness and recklessness of Rand's beliefs. The late William F. Buckley, for example, unsurprisingly dismissed Atlas Shrugged as "ideological fabulism."  But former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson's recent critique of Objectivsm is so devastating that liberals of all stripes should sit-up and take notice.

    Gerson recognizes that Objectivism is a profound betrayal of conservative Christianity and the general direction and tone of movement conservatism:

   

None of the characters expresses a hint of sympathetic human emotion - which is precisely the point. Rand's novels are vehicles for a system of thought known as Objectivism. Rand developed this philosophy at the length of Tolstoy, with the intellectual pretensions of Hegel, but it can be summarized on a napkin. Reason is everything. Religion is a fraud. Selfishness is a virtue. Altruism is a crime against human excellence. Self-sacr