CycleResponsible7328 t1_j21f6wf wrote
Rand came to the USA as a refugee from Russia, where her father’s business was seized by the communists and she watched it all as a little girl. It is little wonder she had such a fixation on paternalistic men and worshipped capitalism.
MaoFeipang t1_j22765c wrote
It wasnt her family -- just herself at the age of 21.
Edited to add: I don't think anybody knows what became of her family back in Russia, to this day.
CycleResponsible7328 t1_j2475k1 wrote
Thanks, I edited.
gothiclg OP t1_j21g84v wrote
That explains a lot about how this book is written. It also explains why she seemed to have a tinfoil hat level of “I hate communism” through so much of the book.
philamon t1_j21lnoc wrote
It was written in the era of McCarthyism. Shouting at commies was the default stance for being considered a normal American back then. If you came from Russia then you're bound to over-compensate.
gothiclg OP t1_j21mwt0 wrote
Overcompensation based on upbringing I could understand. Living under that must have been terrible. We’ve seen completely unregulated secularism like her book go very wrong as well. I’m sure she was taught enough history to learn that even the most greedy country will eventually fall if ambition goes unregulated.
jaymickef t1_j220ckw wrote
She was a friendly witness in the HUAC trials and claimed “It’s a Wonderful Life” was communist propaganda. She also wrote a guide for screenwriters to follow that has things like, “Don’t smear wealth,” and “Don’t deify the common man.” No middle ground, no nuance. Like a teenager.
philamon t1_j21o5g8 wrote
She was an authoritarian. Her attack on "hippies" in the 60s proved that. She literally played into the hands of the most stoned-out, anti-capitalists of the time. She never met anyone halfway and yet ended up on benefits poor and destitute, most likely as a result of her own dogma.
WorryAccomplished139 t1_j21n4co wrote
Yeah absolutely- too many people have no idea just how horrific life in the USSR was. You know it's bad when the actual lived experiences of survivors sound like "tinfoil hat" crazy-talk.
gothiclg OP t1_j21nhg8 wrote
I feel like this was way too tinfoil hat for even communism though. I can sit down and listen to a survivor of the German Holocaust and that doesn’t sound tinfoil hat to me, it sounds insane that happened but not tinfoil hat. The book had strong “anything and everything done for the public good is 100% wrong”
BardicSense t1_j24yqwp wrote
Too many people in the capitalist countries have no idea how life was in the USSR at all, good or bad or neutral, due to a dedicated stream propaganda from the Cold War. Most Americans know so little about the history rest of the world that they'd do well to not comment on any of it.
lions2831 t1_j225wm1 wrote
The west loves to discredit anyone who has lived under communism as someone who was just a whiny wealthy person. "To those in Russia communism is a dead dog. To those in the west it is a living lion"
lions2831 t1_j223ui0 wrote
Ahhh the ole only people who fled communism were bad corporate men trope
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