Critics of Social Security and Medicare have long based their convictions on the objectivist movement's philosophy as conjured by novelist Ayn Rand, which embraces "individualism", and abhors all social safetynet programs. But it has now surfaced that Rand herself collected Social Security, and may also have received Medicare benefits. It was revealed in the recent "Oral History of Ayn Rand" by Scott McConnell (founder of the media department at the Ayn Rand Institute) that a social worker helped Rand and her husband, Frank O’Connor, sign up for Social Security and Medicare in 1974.
In an interview, Evva Pryror, the social worker and consultant to Miss Rand's law firm of Ernst, Cane, Gitlin and Winick, verified that she secured Rand's Social Security and Medicare payments on Miss Rand's behalf, under her married name, Ann O'Connor. Federal records obtained through a Freedom of Information act request confirm the Social Security benefits. Ironically, the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights has an article on its website right now titled, "Social Security is Immoral."
Rand, a heavy smoker who failed to have the intuition, and refused to recognize the science that smoking causes cancer, died in 1982, eight years after undergoing surgery for lung cancer and securing the Social Security payments. She, who inspired millions to "trust their minds" and never "fake reality", instead put her trust in a 30-year use of amphetamines, beginning with Benzedrine in 1942 to help speed the completion of her novel "The Fountainhead", then continuing with Dexedrine and Dexamyl into the 1970s. Her drug habit has been widely excused as simply an aid for weight control.
Currently one of Ayn Rand’s most powerful disciples in government, and leading proponent of privatizing Social Security, teabagger economics genius Paul Ryan (R-WI) was also a beneficiary of the dreaded social program, which put him through college. Ryan's father, Paul Ryan, Sr., died of a heart attack at age 55, leaving the Janesville Craig High School 10th grader, his three older brothers and sisters and his mother without income. Young Paul collected Social Security benefits until age 18, which he put away for college while his mother returned to school to help make family ends meet.
Ryan also cared for his grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer's. Though he credits that care for giving him first-hand experience as to how social service programs work, Ryan, like his heroine Rand, now wants to deny to others what he and his family benefited from.
Another Rand disciple from Wisconsin is the new Senator, businessman Ron Johnson. In his second debate with Russ Feingold, Johnson seemed delighted to field a question about his fascination with the not-so-subtle message of Rand's illusionary piece, "Atlas Shrugged", a 1957 novel popular among conservatives who embrace the scripture of limited government, sparking the most spirited discussion of the evening. Johnson says that he admires Rand's book, which describes a dystopian America where the leading innovators leave society out of frustration with rules and regulations, and has embraced it as a driving force in his political philosophy.
In the debate, Johnson said "Atlas" represents the "producers" (the Rand-inspired term for business owners) of the world, while "Shrugged" represents how overburdened the producers are with rules, regulations and taxes. "It's a warning of what could happen to America. We have more people who are net beneficiaries of government than are actually paying into the system. That's a very serious thing to think about." Johnson apparently wasn't serious enough to think about the two-thirds of U.S. corporations which paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005 as having been not "actually paying into the system".
"I give you credit for being consistent with Atlas Shrugged", said Feingold. "You believe the "producers" are a very special group of people. I guess they're better than the rest of us." "I know people in Wisconsin. They want to work. These policies that you support make it impossible for these hard-working Wisconsinites to make a decent living. And I assume, that makes them shrugged as well."
Sadly, Feingold is now one among the "shrugged" Wisconsinites he long stood up for, while the anti-social philosophy of a delusional, drug-addled, hypocritical, science-denying fiction writer continues it's cancer on American governance. While Hunter Thompson's works are deeply entertaining compared to Rand's dreary fantasies, I'd still be horrified to find him the apostolic inspiration of free-market capitalism.