I think the big sell with Ayn Rand is that she promises freedom from the persistent guilt that many have been raised with through religion, family pressures, tr

I think the big sell with Ayn Rand is that she promises freedom from the persistent guilt that many have been raised with through religion, family pressures, traditions, etc. People are encouraged to conflate their personal emotional freedom with a freedom from all social responsibility and, as the article says, interdependence. The disastrous nature of this mindset is illustrated by the plot of the Fountainhead, though she somehow paints it as an act of a hero: he rapes his future lover and blows up a building. He confuses ownership of the plans to a building with ownership of the building itself, and thinks it's fine to destroy a huge expensive project that was not paid for with his money just because he was the originator of the design. I can see why this sells so well to egomaniacs like Trump... Edit: The only thing I like by Rand any more is the Romantic manifesto. She says some pretty interesting things about the act of writing and the meaning of art to her. A pity that the actual application of this philosophy led where it did for her. I blame the trauma she experienced under communism and scarcity. Edit2: I don't know if meta-commentary is prohibited on here, but would like to note that this was the first substantive comment on this thread and was immediately downvoted without comment. Try defending your philosophy if you're a real fan of her...