I dropped out of the Ayn Rand movement in about 1970, after having spent five years in reading, re-reading, and discussing all of her available works, and many that were recommended by the Objectivist publications. At that time, there were only a handful of courses or academic projects in the country directed at studying her work, and most of those were critical or hostile. By now, it seems like everything pro or con has probably already been written and discussed, yet her popularity continues to increase almost exponentially. As a former high school teacher, I still recommend her books - particularly The Fountainhead, to young people, but it is a kind of ultimate test of one's intellectual integrity and self-possession. I have heard many different psychological explanations for why people are attracted to "Objectivism," but it often has a pernicious effect both individually and for the larger society. So many trends of the past two decades are directly attributable to Objectivism or misunderstandings of Objectivism that it is certainly desirable to get it out in the open, and hold those people responsible who are doing so many bad things in Ayn Rand's name. We are obviously not becoming a freer and more prosperous, sustainable, humane society from Ayn Rand's influence. Rather, we are becoming a fascist police state ruled by the wealthy, and imperialistic in terms of our relations with the rest of the world. Obviously, Ayn Rand was against all these things, yet those who haven't studied her thoroughly or misinterpreted her ideas are pushing forward, with her opponents condemning her for the errors of others. I've established a principle which helps to explain this. Where Ayn Rand was correct and insightful, she borrowed her ideas from others. Whatever she originated herself was either wrong or very likely to be misinterpreted and misapplied. Like many others, she created her own personality cult, and it has outlived her. In this respect, Objectivism is much like Scientology. Her philosophy has great potential both for good and harm, and needs to be continually re-examined. I just read Isiah Berlin's The Roots of Romanticism. I would strongly recommend this book and other works of his as the almost perfect foil or counterpart to Ayn Rand's views - made especially poignant by the fact that they were near contemporaries with very similar life stories, growing up in St. Petersburg and emigrating at or after the Revolution. Berlin became an academic philosopher and Rand a popular one, but they were both obsessed with freedom and the history of ideas, and both were fervent advocates of Romanticism based on very different understandings of what Romanticism is and does. Thanks for allowing me to contribute to this dialogue.
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