Sep 4th, 2009

Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand

Rand would have us believe that altruism and compassion do not really exist--that strength and intelligence are never applied honestly to improving the well-being of others. A person is either intelligent and driven, in which case their highest goal is their own personal fulfillment, or they must be a lecher who "clutters up the world" and pretends to care about the poor only in order to steal from those who work hard. This is an important foundation of fear-based conservative politics.