Ayn Rand may be one of the most controversial figures of the free market movement.
Her ideas have inspired and influenced generations of many seeking a freer society.
Some conservatives and even libertarians, however, take issue with her moral philosophy of Objectivism.
At
a time when the expanding role of government and its ill effects on
society have never been more hotly debated, a series of films based on
Rand’s novel Atlas
Shrugged have hit theatres. National
Journalism Center’s Matthew Taylor pulled no punches in his review
of the second movie in the series for American Spectator. 
Ayn Rand answers questions about Atlas Shrugged on the Mike Wallace Show in 1959
Taylor adopts a Buckleyesque tone in finding flaws in both Rand’s philosophy and the film itself.
He opens with:
Atlas
Shrugged Part II: The Strike, the second movie in a trilogy based on
Ayn Rand’s magnum opus, is tolerable as a popcorn film -- that
is, if you like fairytales about evil governments, objectivist CEOs, and
cursory allusions to metal bondage.
On the same lines as Taylor’s review this week, William Buckley’s National
Review five decades ago published Whittaker Chambers’ scathing review of the original novel.
Buckley
later wrote of Objectivism that it revolved around a “hard, schematic,
implacable, unyielding dogmatism that is in itself intrinsically
objectionable.”
Taylor
builds on this critique by observing that “Rand’s characters lack the
greatness of soul that goes along with a consciousness of tragedy, the
failure of hope, and
the death of good things.”
Taylor also wonders if Rand herself would appreciate the spirit in which the film was made.
She
said of the Libertarian Party that “they’re a group of publicity
seekers who rush into politics prematurely, because they allegedly want
to educate people through a
political campaign, which can’t be done.” Taylor points out that Atlas
Shrugged II tries to do precisely that, with its timely release.
On
a larger note, Taylor speculates that when the producers of the movie
spent more making the film, they indulged in altruistic self-sacrifice,
a serious no-no in Rand’s moral philosophy.
In the year 2012, the country does face many of the evils described in Atlas
Shrugged. As
conservatives and libertarians propose solutions to the
problems of big government, cronyism, and their corrupting nature, they
have to weigh whether she who prophesied the problems also holds the
solutions.
Taylor’s review of Atlas Shrugged II
and of Rand herself, much like the writings of Chambers and Buckley,
contributes to the conversation of how to apply ideals of ideology and
philosophy to our desperately real problems.
