Rand vs. LOTR

April 19, 2011 at 11:02 am · Filed under Philosophical Musings, Quick Thoughts, Spirituality and tagged: Ayn, christianity, congress, Isaiah, politics, Rand, Wikipedia

I saw this in a comment thread for an article on TIME:

From Wikipedia,

Paul Krugman alluded to an oft-quoted quip in his blog: “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

Doubtless, it is amusing, but as someone who has never read Ayn Rand I feel like I am unsuited to actually comment well on this issue of the “Randization” of congress. However, we should compare the elements of Rand’s philosophy – especially those concerning the supporting of the upper classes (the “producers”) and marginalization of the lower (the “looters”) – to scripture:

Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.

-Isaiah 10:1-2

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;

-Isaiah 58:6-8

Humorous quotes from Wikipedia aside, Rand’s philosophies now being espoused in part by congress don’t seem to mirror the idea of scripture. What are we supposed to do with that?

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