Ayn Rand relevant today, speaker says

In an interview prior to a speech at University of Charleston, President and Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute, Yaron Brook, said that while the economy was doing well, "everybody seemed happy, everybody was buying a bigger home. But there's a percentage of the population that is skeptical about that. They want to know what the real answer is. For those people, Rand is very relevant," reports George Hohmann in the Daily Mail Business Editor.

Like when he says, "I'd like to abolish Social Security. Talk about a pyramid scheme! The only difference between Social Security and Bernie Madoff is, you're forced to participate in this pyramid scheme.

"I talk about Social Security in moral terms," Brook said. "If you didn't have Social Security, you would have responsible, rational people who would save and earn much more than they do with Social Security. And you would have an irresponsible group that wouldn't save. Social Security is a welfare program for irresponsible people, and that's what it should be called."

Brook is president and executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, an organization that promotes the philosophy of the late novelist. Rand developed a philosophical system known as Objectivism. She stressed individual rights and unfettered capitalism.

Two books written by Rand - "The Fountainhead" (1943) and "Atlas Shrugged" (1957) continue to sell well today, Brook said.

Brook spoke Thursday about the morality of capitalism, Rand, and her enduring popularity at a meeting of the West Virginia Chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization. The event was held at the University of Charleston.

In an interview prior to his speech, Brook said that while the economy was doing well, "everybody seemed happy, everybody was buying a bigger home. It was like, 'Who cares - things are too good to care.' But with the financial crisis, a certain percentage of the population has turned to the government for solutions. But there's a percentage of the population that is skeptical about that. They're asking questions. They want to know what the real answer is. For those people, Rand is very relevant. A lot of people who read her work in college are re-reading it. Some people who said they knew they should read her work are picking it up.

"I think she (Rand) is the only one who can explain what happened and why it happened in basic, fundamental terms," Brook said. "This has to do with ideas that are much more fundamental than economics.

"If you look at the government policies that brought us to where we are today - a financial crisis caused by government - Rand would say it is because of the commonly held sense of what good vs. evil is. She said in the 1950s that if you continue to believe in altruism, which she called 'another -ism' - placing others above yourself, you are your brother's keeper - this would happen. Those are ideas she thought are opposite of capitalism, that would continuously eat away at capitalism."

Rand's work made news here in 2007 when Phyllis Arnold, BB&T Corp.'s West Virginia president, announced that BB&T would give the University of Charleston's Herbert Jones Division of Business a $350,000 grant over seven years to "create a program on the moral and ethical foundations of capitalism." Arnold said the program would be based on Rand's philosophy and her book "Atlas Shrugged."

John Allison, BB&T's former chief executive officer, "is a big Ayn Rand fan," Brook said. "He's been involved with the institute for many years."

In addition to the program at the University of Charleston, BB&T has funded programs at Marshall University, West Virginia University, Wheeling Jesuit University and about 55 other colleges and universities around the country. "Every major university in the southeast has a BB&T program now," Brook said.

The professors who teach "morality of capitalism with some 'Atlas Shrugged' woven into it" do so because they want to, Brook said.

"Kids love it. It is a provocative book. It gets people thinking. You can agree or disagree but you can't ignore it."

Asked if Rand was an atheist, Brook said, "Yes, she was - and I have been since the age of 6, before I read Ayn Rand. But more than anti-religion, she was for reason. She spends time on the positive. She believed the way to evaluate things in life and reality is through reason, rational thought. That's what we try to emphasize."

Contact writer George Hohmann at busin...@dailymail.com or 304-348-4836.
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