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Published on 03-12-2011 01:43 AM
In no other era in human history would it be possible to understand Ayn Rand. Ours is a conflicted time. Both science and popular consciousness have come to increasingly understand the interconnection of all things, both great and small. It is a time in which it is nearly impossible to talk of the “Atomic Ant”, let alone an “Atomic Aardvark”. Yet, at the same time as this rising consciousness, there is a simultaneous upsurge in human alienation, isolation, and degradation, a direct reflection of the social relations underlying that consciousness. It’s a lucky thing, then, that Ayn Rand arrived in the nick of time to remind us that the rich are alienated too… or so she would have reminded us if she had had any interest in lecturing anyone but the rich. Luckily, for them, the possibility of becoming the “Atomic Man” is all too real provided that they embrace the traits previously despised by all as evidence of soullessness and self-aggrandizement.
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