Randians (objectivists) are angry people. They hate the world because it doesn't conform to their idealistic notions. Ayn Rand, in the book Atlas Shrugged, states many times, "Who is John Galt?" What does this statement mean?

Who Is John Galt?

This statement is symbolically referring to the frustrating experiences of dealing with other incompetent people. Rather than merely encouraging people to use their mind to the fullest extent, Randians go a step further to condemn those that are incompetent or lazy. It's as if they think every human should have a desk job sitting in front of a computer or drawing board.

It is important to note that objectivist principles do not render these angry conclusions, but it is common amongst Randians. For one reason, Ayn comes to some of the same conclusions in her books.

In Atlas Shrugged, all the "smart" people go off to their own secret society where everything is suddenly wonderful. It's like dying and going to heaven. Now that society has rid itself of all the incompetent people the truly "smart" and "moral" people prevail.

Society

In Atlas Shrugged, towards the end of the book, Ayn leaves society to fend for itself. Without all the smart people, society could symbolically only stand as lamp posts to hold a light for the train. Why? They could not think for themselves to do anything productive. The "smart people" had now gone to their secret society while the incompetents were left to wither and die on their own.

Choices

The important choice for each of us is what we choose to do with the objectivist principles. You can become educated, be productive, learn to reason, and make good judgments. This is the good part of objectivism. Most philosophers, however, find that objectivism has moral problems that can't be rectified by its own merits.

The Good Objectivist: Moral Problems with Objectivism

1- Good objectivists are atheistic 2- Are never altruistic 3- Don't help others 4- Withhold intellectual support from "weaker humans" and 5- To be a truly stellar objectivist you need a certain amount of pompous attitude. Randians refer to this as pride. If you are superior, you should act accordingly and let people know. Sounds crazy, but Randians really feel this way.

There are societal problems with objectivism. For example, taxation may be immoral on grounds of initiation of force, but you can't find any Randians with solutions. Why? There isn't a good solution other than obliterating all the bad people from the earth. Many of the theories, in application, work only in a fairy tale world.

Alan Greenspan

He helped write the book Atlas Shrugged, but later decided against objectivism. His conversion both to and away from objectivism makes a profound statement. The philosophy has some obvious good, but also some obvious bad to go with it.