Paul Ryan is no Ayn Randian

[_bcspace]

But that tells only part of the story. For conservatives of my generation (I’m one year older than Paul Ryan) Rand often represented an exit ramp from economic liberalism. Then as now our educational system — both public and private — was steeped in collectivism and deeply critical of capitalism. Reading a Rand character’s epic rants (her novels are full of “monologuing”) was like getting splashed with cold water. When I read Rand’s novels, I was put off by her atheism and painfully bored by her plots but also exhilarated by her dissent from socialism. Sure, Hayek would have been a better first read, but for better or worse (mostly worse) Atlas Shrugged was passed around much more than Road to Serfdom, and for many conservatives reading Rand was part of the rite of passage out of liberalism.

So when Paul Ryan said this:

[T]he reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. And the fight we are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism versus collectivism.

I knew exactly what he meant. But understanding Rand as a critic of collectivism does not mean embracing Rand as a model for policy or morality. In fact, by virtually every objective measure that matters, Ryan is no Randian.

Most importantly, Paul Ryan is a faithful Catholic, counting Thomas Aquinas as a key influence. By contrast, here’s Rand speaking about religion in an interview:

Playboy: Has no religion, in your estimation, ever offered anything of constructive value to human life?

Ayn Rand: Qua religion, no – in the sense of blind belief, belief unsupported by, or contrary to, the facts of reality and the conclusions of reason. Faith, as such, is extremely detrimental to human life: it is the negation of reason.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frenchrevolution/2012/08/13/paul-ryan-is-no-randian/

[_moksha]

So a smidgen of belief added cancels out his praise for Ayn Rand and her justification of greed philosophy?

[_MeDotOrg]

Let me ask you, bcpasce:

What if Barack Obama:

1. Gave copies of 'Das Kapital' to all his interns when he was in the Senate.

2. Said in a speech before the Karl Marx Society:

"I just want to speak to you a little bit about Karl Marx and what he meant to me in my life and [in] the fight we're engaged here in Congress. I grew up reading Karl Marx and it taught me quite a bit about who I am and what my value systems are, and what my beliefs are. It’s inspired me so much that he's required reading in my office for all my interns and my staff.

3. Later said he wasn't a Marxist because Marx was an atheist.

4. And someone made a post on this board saying 'Barack Obama isn't a Marxist':

bcspace, would YOU let that slide?