The selection of Paul Ryan as the Republican Veep pick strikes a cord with me due to his infatuation with Ayn Rand. Now, I know there have been a number of posts dissecting Ayn Rand, many of them better than I can hope to do, but rest assured this will not plumb the depths of that dispicable world view.
What strikes me most about Ryan and Rand takes me back to my experiences in college. Follow me below the squiggly.
Back in the days of my college youth, coming from a small town in South Texas, I had not been exposed to much outside of the standard reading curriculum. Once in college, again and again I was exposed to frat boys who loved to opine about John Gault, Atlas Shrugged, and The Fountainhead. Hell, they could even quote it and carried it around like a talisman against evil. Figuring I was missing out on something here, I read both of them. While even at that age I found nothing of worth in either book, I did not hold it against those that were fascinated by it.
Why? Well, even though it gave a very self-serving view of the successful and was the one of the most elitist writings that you can still find available (ironic, considering the Right considers itself so "down to Earth"), I could appreciate what for many young students would be their first major introduction to intellectual thought and a divergent world view. Understand this, because I call it intellectual does not mean I consider it "right" or "intelligent", just for many it was one of the first books these people read that offered a mental exercise in to how we lived our lives collectively, rather than just reading for entertainment. Being in college, talking about a book like this was like exercising new muscles. Fortunately for the world, many of us moved on to more worthy and laudable exercises that what was offered by Rand.
I don't blame the frat boys for their thoughts, as most were your typical kings of the world during their college years. Food and drink were plentiful, single women abounded and were very interested in being asked out, and everyone was dumb, fat and happy living off their parents' coffers, or awaiting to enjoy the fruits of their trust funds. Having a book saying this life, this largesse, wasn't due to luck, circumstance or the efforts of another, but rather some own persnal virtue, struck a cord in many. It is perhaps the most common of human traits to assume any good fortune is solely based upon the merit of the recipient.
What did wear thin on me is that after college, so many of these people continued to think that the tenets of Rand were still applicable and derserved attention and respect. Without exception, those who stayed in this intellectual stasis were ones who never had reality change their world view. Money was still plentiful and available in spite of a lack of having earned it. Jobs were for the asking due to the inner connections and networks available to the affluent. Those of us who had to go out and actually find jobs, some of which were neither intellectually rewarding, granted us an elevated status in society, or garnered that much in regards to monetary gain, would laugh at the idea that we were some sort of societal illuminati.
It reminded me of a book titled, "Call Me Ishmael" in which the author was trying to point out some of the fallacies of ethnocentric thinking. In it, he gave the example of being able to go back in time and interview an amoeba during the process of evolution where it was the most evolved organism and ask it about its standing in the world. The amoeba would detail the past, and how it evolved into its current being, but when asked about the future it would say, "What do you mean? Then there was amoeba!" This exemplifies the thought that we all think we are the end all be all of the process of evolution. For successful Randians, who were born on 3rd base and thought that they hit a homerun (hat tip to former Gov Anne Richards - yes, Texas used to have decent governors) this is their war cry - "Then there was amoeba!" Randians also believe that their life is the intended and validated existence that was in the cards all along. It speaks to an innate virtue that Rand told them they had, by the benefit of being successful. The other side of the page dictates that they believe those who are less successful to be serving some karmic pennance for character flaws of which they are lacking.
I love the posts that state we are winning, as it encourages me and give me hope, but let us always act as if we are down, down, down. Please work to get your Democratic or other worthy candidates elected, as I promise to, because we cannot let men and women who peaked intellectually at 18 run this country into the ground. Republicans have a lesser message, but they are fantastic at taking advantage of those who do not take time to inform themselves of the true issues. They are also working their damndest to make sure they have more money available (Citizens United say hello) and disenfranchise those groups who would vote against them.
Remember, just like D-Day, when it comes to insightful thought, the frat boys of the Republican Party have no grade point average.
Just had to get some things down that were rolling around in my head. Hope at least some of it was enjoyable.