Ayn Rand for Liberals
Onkar was published in the Huffington Post earlier this week. Here's his opening:
It's no secret that the right is awash in Ayn Rand. Tea Partiers carry signs like "Who is John Galt?" and, astonishing for a novel published 55 years ago, sales of Atlas Shrugged topped 445,000 last year.
All of this has prompted researchers like Yale historian Beverly Gage to wonder, "Why is there no liberal Ayn Rand?" Good question. Liberals today, Gage observes, have no long-term goals or vision, no big ideas, no canon.
posted by Amit Ghate at 9:15 AM
3 Comments:
I suppose the liberal canon is the same as everyone else's: history. We all stand on the same historic ground. What differentiates a people, a political party, what have you, is what they plan to do moving on from history. To prop a tome or document up as ideal or perfect is to to be stuck in the past. As you wrote in your recent Forbes article, society and culture evolve; we can not stop that. We must continually strive toward a more perfect union, as the founders intended. The Constitution was meant to be a living, changing document with a solid foundation. People who think it perfect as written ignore the original intent. I don't label myself as a liberal or progressive or Libertarian (although definitely not a true conservative.) But the idea of progressivism often sits well with me. We must continue to make changes and progress as our culture and society change. The fundamental concept of conservatism - resistance to change - is incompatible with reality. History shows that those who fail to adapt ultimately lose out. Darwin did not say only the strong survive. He said only those who adapt survive.
Maybe liberals/progressives lack a canon because fundamentally it is not in their nature to live by one.
Previous comment was from me.
Thank you foor writing this
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