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One of the most popular quotes attributed to Ayn Rand is: “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” Many people are inspired by the self-confident attitude these words imply. “I don’t need anyone’s permission to live my life,” the words suggest. “All I need is an unobstructed road. As long as nobody stops me, I’ll prove myself.”
Robert Reich attributes a long list of current social ills to Rand’s influence over Donald Trump, political conservatives, and the culture at large. But his argument depends on distorting Rand’s actual views and exaggerating her cultural influence.
“The roots of my article ‘Publishing Atlas Shrugged’ — and similar articles in Robert Mayhew’s collections about the other Ayn Rand novels — are in my work supporting the promotion and marketing of books by Ayn Rand, first as a consulting advisor and more recently as publishing manager at the Ayn Rand Institute,” says Richard Ralston.
“In my chapter title, ‘Discovering Atlantis’ refers to a scene where Hank Rearden says he feels like he’s discovering a new continent, and there are some allusions that connect this to the Atlantis image that’s present elsewhere in the novel,” says Gregory Salmieri, talking about his essay “Discovering Atlantis: Atlas Shrugged’s Demonstration of a New Moral Philosophy.”
“Ayn Rand described the theme of her novel Atlas Shrugged as the role of the mind in human existence,” says Gregory Salmieri, “and I thought it would be good to have a piece summarizing what the novel had to say about that topic.”
“The most surprising thing I learned from working with Yaron Brook on this book was just how cool finance is,” says Don Watkins, co-author of In Pursuit of Wealth: The Moral Case for Finance.
All this year we’ve been showcasing authors who contributed chapters to Essays on Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged.” Now it’s time to speak with the volume's editor: Robert Mayhew.
Tara Smith, professor of philosophy at the University of Texas – Austin, recently addressed an audience of approximately two hundred and fifty members of the intelligence community, imparting an Objectivist perspective on the nature and value of objectivity as a safeguard against politicized or biased military intelligence.
“In Equal Is Unfair, we champion the political equality supported by the Founding Fathers, and show how the fight against economic inequality threatens it,” said Don Watkins. “In this article, we are able to go much more deeply into the evolution of the concept of political equality, why it was such a profound achievement, and why it is at risk today.”
“For some readers of Atlas Shrugged, Francisco d’Anconia becomes and remains their top favorite character,” said Shoshana Milgram. “He is irresistible. He is relished for his wit, for his swagger, for his courage, for his elegance. From the standpoint of pure literary pleasure, why wouldn’t I wish to write about Francisco, first and foremost?”
