A Familiar Playbook

In preparing for a potential new opinion piece, I've been re-reading several of Ayn Rand's essays. Of course her ideas are timeless and deep, so it's always worthwhile reading or re-reading her material. But I was also struck by a few short passages for their similarity to, or bearing on, more concrete issues. I think some of these might be of general interest, so I'll be posting them over the next little while. Here's the first, does it remind you of any recent campaigns?

Now let us consider the ideology of the rebels, from such indications as were given in the press reports. The general tone of the reports was best expressed by a headline in The New York Times (March 15, 1965): "The New Student Left: Movement Represents Serious Activists in Drive for Changes."

What kind of changes? No specific answer was given in the almost full-page story. Just "changes."

Some of these activists "who liken their movement to a "revolution", want to be called radicals. Most of them, however, prefer to be called 'organizers.'

Organizers—of what? Of "deprived people." For what? No answer. Just "organizers."

From The Cashing-In: The Student "Rebellion" (Available in both the anthology Capitalism the Unknown Ideal and The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution)

PS I've also added a quote of hers to the sidebar of the blog. It's from the cover page of the New Left anthology.