Ayn Rand on the Dole…no,literally.

Posted on February 3, 2011 at 1.05 pm

Q. What are your thoughts on this?    I never much agreed with her philosophy myself but she’s a good writer and interesting character. — Erik, from the internet.

A. Ayn Rand is certainly interesting, and I’ve enjoyed several of her books (though she really should have hired a good editor to uh..tighten things up a bit).  I have mixed feelings on her philosophy, but generally agree with her the way she would limit government — albeit perhaps not for exactly the same reasons.

At any rate, if this is true, I can’t quite decide if I’m surprised or not.  It’s not uncommon, of course, to hear of hypocrisy from people as well-known as Rand, but…I don’t know.  It’s hard for me to imagine how someone so virulently obsessed with egoism and supreme individuality could stand to accept government assistance.  Were she true to the philosophy she espoused, Rand would have let herself die before having tax dollars pay her medical bills.

UPDATE:  It seems Reason Magazine posted a response…and used basically the same title I’d planned.  Oh well.

The response notes that Rand “actually defended the collecting of benefits as a way to get your own money back from The Man.”  That’s tapping into a larger libertarian debate:  If you can’t avoid paying taxes without the threat of fines, jail, or worse, should you take advantage of government services (in addition, that is, to the “unavoidable” ones like public roads) so you at least get some of your money’s worth?

It’s a complicated question and I frankly don’t have an answer at this point.  Assuming you don’t take more services than you paid for in taxes, I see good arguments on both sides of the issue.