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What haven't I said about Ayn Rand that you would like to say?

Have you read her books, considered her ideas, and developed some ideas of your own starting with her views?

From the lens Ayn Rand - your invitation to independent thought.


If so, please share what Ayn Rand has meant to you.

  • debate76ster May 15, 2012 @ 3:20 pm | delete
    I love your insight. The national debate topic is on a governments obligation to shrink the rich poor gap. I would live you interpretation on the topic.
  • BFuniv.com May 15, 2012 @ 3:58 pm | delete
    To be rich in a just country is an honour. To be wealthy in an unjust country a foul stench. How does your government smell?

    Frank Zappa of the Grateful Dead said something like "America is a land of laws; poorly written and randomly enforced." Has it changed or only added more poorly written laws and more enforcement agencies?

    To the degree that law favours the politically well connected, one class, or bureaucracies (government, unions, corporations, etc) over individuals there is cause for concern.

    My family moved to America in the 1680s. I've moved to Uruguay, a first world country with a large and stable middle class, and fear-filled memories of last century's military government. They value their children, their rights, and their future. I suspect they will get worse slower than the rest of the world, and recover faster.

    Human rights are more important than unjust law.
  • LeslieMirror Apr 12, 2012 @ 6:50 am | delete
    Now I want to read at least one of her books. Thanks for great lens!
  • NumbaOne-1 Feb 18, 2012 @ 4:39 am | delete
    Are you an Og Mandino fan? You'd like his writing.
  • BFuniv.com Feb 18, 2012 @ 9:53 am | delete
    I would have thought Og would not be an obvious compliment to Ayn Rand. I wrote another Squidoo lens about Og, his work does offer many interesting insights. http://www.squidoo.com/greatestsalesman
  • NumbaOne-1 Feb 18, 2012 @ 4:37 am | delete
    Brilliant. She's the best.
  • SilmarwenLinwelin Oct 4, 2011 @ 4:50 am | delete
    I've never heard of Ayn Rand before, but I'd like to red the book. The ideas seem interesting.
  • jc91583 Aug 21, 2011 @ 2:20 pm | delete
    I am new to Ayn Rand. I love what you say about being open-minded. That is one life lesson I have learned over the last few years and am really trying to take it to heart. Since opening my mind I have learned so much. Ayn Rand sounds like an interesting read and I will certainly check her out. Thanks so much.
  • GoldandSilverProfits Jul 19, 2011 @ 1:31 pm | delete
    Yes, Rand had some good ideas. If I remember correctly, she believed that patent / copyright laws were OK - I have to disagree on that one... but I'll sue anyone who re-posts this comment ;-)
  • BFuniv.com Jul 19, 2011 @ 1:53 pm | delete
    Bwa-ha-ha-ha web 2.0 and double takes.

    However, there is no DRM (digital rights management) on anything I write, including my eBooks. I can understand patent/copyright for six months to a year -- maybe. After that, if you've not established a lead, let the creative hoards have at it to improve it. Most people will honor the inventor/creator/author -- the others will expand ideas to everyone's benefit.

    As to DRM: it is expensive, it doesn't work, and it punishes honest readers and users - my friends. I also want copies of my books to be pirated and shared; those are my friends also.
  • aleskotnik Jul 17, 2011 @ 9:08 am | delete
    Great Post! I ma soure you'll like the I Am the Strange Loop from Douglas Hofstadter too.
  • janeaustengirl May 30, 2011 @ 2:02 am | delete
    I teach Rand in my Classical Homeschool. The Ayn Rand Institute provides free books to teachers (even homeschool teachers!)
  • JimDuke May 21, 2011 @ 6:38 am | delete
    I saw "Atlas Shrugged" part one recently-good flick, follows the spirit of the book well I believe-and the socialist-progs hate it!
  • TopMovieSoundtracks Feb 23, 2011 @ 1:30 am | delete
    Looking forward to seeing the movie about Atlas Shrugged.
  • AndyPo Feb 18, 2011 @ 4:49 pm | delete
    Another excellent thought provoking lens. Thanks.
  • rasilka Feb 16, 2011 @ 12:33 am | delete
    Great lens, great topic!
    I appreciate the way you make us all think about education.
  • mariatjader Feb 8, 2011 @ 10:02 am | delete
    Wonderful lens, keep up the good work!
  • wordstock Dec 27, 2010 @ 2:52 pm | delete
    Angel blessed. Great lens, great topic!
  • kimmanleyort Nov 6, 2010 @ 9:25 pm | delete
    Just saw "Waiting for Superman" and read both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged in the past. While my nature doesn't resonate with much of her philosophy, she certainly does make you think. And with anyone, there are always things you can agree on if you are open to discovering what they are. I appreciate the way you make us all think about education. ** Blessed **
  • Margo_Arrowsmith Nov 4, 2010 @ 5:06 am | delete
    Hmmm... not a fan and I understand that she lived her life differently from her teachings.
  • mukunda22 Oct 20, 2010 @ 6:46 pm | delete
    I am glad you created this lens. More people need to receive the writings and the life of Ayn Rand.
  • WeirdStuff Sep 23, 2010 @ 4:08 pm | delete
    I prefer more 'conservative' libertarians like Hayek, but Ayn had done for popularization of libertarianism more than all other combined, and she has my big acknowledgement!
  • Spook Sep 11, 2010 @ 1:49 am | delete
    Just dropping by again Alan. Blessed by an Angel.
  • Mark Aug 10, 2010 @ 11:12 am | delete
    Yes, Ayn Rand would have deplored the Neocons. What may confuse some people is that the "official" Objectivists -- the alleged Objectivists at the Ayn Rand Institute -- are themselves Neocons or their first cousins. See
    Birds of a Feather.
  • JollyvilleChick Jul 3, 2010 @ 12:28 pm | delete
    I read The Fountainhead while I was in architecture school. It was tough to get through but as a future architect, it was de riguer. I would like to read her books now that I'm older.
  • Kari_G Jan 1, 2010 @ 5:37 pm | delete
    Great lens! I love how you begin with "Of course you disagree with some of what Ayn Rand wrote or spoke....". Reading Rand has truly transformed my thinking, but as I continue to grow and learn there are things that I do disagree with. Thanks for writing!
  • Spook Sep 19, 2009 @ 11:35 am | delete
    I have been here before Allan and was and still am a big fan on what she wrote about. I must say I always preferred Atlas Shrugged to some of her others. What she wrote about is here and getting worse. Essentially her one bastion which was hope in great minds and America seems to be crumblong at an astonishing rate.
  • MeganCasey Jul 1, 2009 @ 6:45 pm | delete
    The Fountainhead is so dear to me that I am barely able to describe my experience with it to others. It's the one book that I don't talk about, by design, and instead wrap myself up in when I sometimes wonder "who's going to let me" instead of "who's going to stop me." Thanks, Allan, for a thoughtful lens.
  • GhostWalker Jun 27, 2009 @ 9:01 am | delete
    Loved Anthem by Ayn Rand....Rated your lens a 5
  • daria369 May 7, 2009 @ 1:35 pm | delete
    Intriguing lens, thought provoking and well researched as all your lenses.

    Thank you for joining one of my groups! See more and add your lenses to link plexos at: http://www.squidoo.com/all-inclusive
  • Treasures-By-Brenda Apr 8, 2009 @ 8:05 am | delete
    I love the quotes on your page; something to think about. Well done and worthy of a new SquidAngel's blessing.

    Brenda
  • TTGCreations Feb 1, 2009 @ 12:29 pm | in reply to midas | delete
    Re: the smoking thing -- that's a symbolic thing that gets explained in Atlas Shrugged, actually... she likes the idea of a primitive force like fire being tamed at a man's fingertips. Plus, the book was written in the fifties... probably long before they figured out that smoking causes cancer.
  • TTGCreations Feb 1, 2009 @ 12:25 pm | delete
    Great lens -- 5 stars and marked as a favourite! I first read Atals Shrugged when I was in the 8th grade, and remember thinking that this was something that was fundamentally "right". I'm older now and find that a lot of the stuff is a little simplistic... she's too dogmatic about "A is A" for instance, when so many things in life seem to be shades of grey rather than clearly black or white. But I still find the ideas fascinating, and strongly believe in many of them.
  • bgamall Jan 19, 2009 @ 8:34 pm | delete
    First of all, she believed in free will rather than predestination. Second she was too individualistic. Third, her namesake, the Rand Corp is filled with empire building neocons who want to provke Russia, theaten world peace and steal Iraq oil for the West's oil companies. The latter has been completed. Now I do not hold the neocon behavior against her, except to say that individualism leads to godlessness, and Leo Strauss, the guru of the neocons and PNAC was an atheist. He believed that you lie to the masses if you are the elite, and thus exert control in a democracy. The neocons lied about WMD and Saddam/Al Qaida, in order to steal oil.

    Would Ayn Rand have approved? She was so Darwinian that I believe she would have. And that is just plain wrong.
  • BigJim Jan 9, 2009 @ 2:16 pm | delete
    I'm happy to be able to come back and give this lens and Angel Blessing.
  • CaptainAmerica Dec 31, 2008 @ 4:57 pm | delete
    Great lens on a great woman! She will be remembered throughout the ages as a great visonary by many and a scoundrel by those who see her as thier only impediment to irrational thought and life.I give her a big thumbs up! Please check out my lens called Freedom and the American Way at squidoo.com/america1776 and leave a comment,agree or disagree but only g rated comments will post.
  • Portable_eBay Oct 3, 2008 @ 1:53 pm | delete
    I tried doing a Howard Roarke once on a class... and WOW!!! I almost flunked the course. Very dangerous. Compromises are indeed necessary.
  • SemperFidelis Sep 4, 2008 @ 9:36 pm | delete
    Ayn Rand is certainly a super hero! Your lens is well put together, btw. Very informative.
    Blessed, 5-starred, and favorited by a Squid Angel today! :)
    Colleen ~ www.squidoo.com/squid-angel
  • Evelyn_Saenz Aug 18, 2008 @ 10:24 am | delete
    Congratulations on Lens of the Day. I have been meaning to read a book by Ayn Rand. You have just given me the push I need.
  • WritingforYourWealth Aug 15, 2008 @ 4:34 am | delete
    Interesting. I'll have to pick up Ayn Rand again now that I'm an adult. I remember reading the Fountainhead in high school and finding it torturous, heh. And this from someone who always liked to read. ;)
  • moneyman17 Aug 10, 2008 @ 8:53 am | delete
    Very cool lens ! i am fan of your lens ! submit your articles to
    Article Directory
  • Margo_Arrowsmith Aug 1, 2008 @ 6:14 am | delete
    I am not a fan of hers, but I am of yours. I love that from the beginning you make it clear that having some disagreements with her is what you are supposed to do! Good for you. You can admire her and her philosophy, but disagree.

    Great lens also, btw
  • BigJim Jul 28, 2008 @ 8:33 am | delete
    Excellent lens. Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead are on my (very) short list of fiction. I've lensrolled you to my Who Is John Galt? lens.
  • fireheart Jul 23, 2008 @ 6:09 pm | delete
    Oh the memories. 35 years ago I put Rand's "The Virtue of Selfishness" on a list of summer reading recommendations for incoming high school seniors. In Christain dominated Nebraska, selfishness was clearly not seen as virtuous and I nearly got my head handed to me by school admin, school board, parents, and ministers. My only supporter was a school board member who unlike all of the others, had actually read the book! Super Lens and congrats on the LOTD recognition.
  • chemrat Jul 20, 2008 @ 1:08 pm | delete
    Great lens. I've given you 5 stars and mrakred as a favorite, and lensrolled you at my fiction lens, http://www.squidoo.com/nearlynothingbutnovels . My fiction blog may also be of interest: http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/

    Best wishes, Jim
  • Keaka77 Jul 17, 2008 @ 2:40 pm | delete
    Congrats on the lens of the day last week. Very well put together with an appealing intro.

    childrens furniture
  • Starving_Artist Jul 15, 2008 @ 6:52 pm | delete
    a wonderful thought provoking lens
  • LaraineRose Jul 12, 2008 @ 5:54 pm | delete
    I have read all of Ayn's books. Good idea to write about her! 5 stars and counting.
  • Robert Taylor Jul 10, 2008 @ 8:52 am | delete
    Ayn is/was heroic. She stood up against the ubiquitious collective that surrounds us today. "Atlas Shrugged" was once, maybe still is, the 2nd most-read book in America (maybe the world), only 2nd to that other work of fiction, the Bible. She succeeded in convincing me of the total evil of mysticism and pointed me totally in the direction of rational self-interest with reason as my guide.
  • Frankster Jul 9, 2008 @ 12:44 pm | delete
    Wonderful lens. I loved Atlas Shrugged. Her ideas really pushed the envelop. 5 stars, favorite and I'm a FAN! Congrats on lens of the day and being a superhero contest winner. Bear hugs, Frankster
  • ronnidkm Jul 9, 2008 @ 12:00 pm | delete
    Wonderful lens about a great author and philosopher. Congrats on LOTD....well deserved!
  • DebMartin Jul 9, 2008 @ 8:11 am | delete
    Thanks for an interesting lens. I have added to my summer reading list! Interesting so many of us consider Ann Rand as a superhero and yet, she'd probably scoff at the title. ;-)
  • midas Jul 9, 2008 @ 6:16 am | delete
    I 'discovered' Ayn Rand's works over 20 yrs ago.
    Didn't need a story to understand where she was 'coming from' in fact never could get through Atlas Shrugged. Loved 'Capitalism The Unknown Ideal' and 'The New Left The Anti-Industrial Revolution'
    CONGRATS to Allan for Lens of the Day
    The only thing I didn't understand was her heavy SMOKING habit
  • William Baranowski Jul 9, 2008 @ 2:49 am | delete
    So many regards! I thought I was the only one salting Ayn Rand refernces on the web; thanks for going one better!
  • eccles1 Jul 9, 2008 @ 12:36 am | delete
    Congratulations!!Wonderful Lens
  • WesJefferson Jul 9, 2008 @ 12:32 am | delete
    Greatest.Of.All.Time. Atlas shrugged, though complex and at times a little clunky, contains some of the most original thoughts of the 20th century. For sure, Ayn's refusal to follow the socialist trend makes her a hero to me.
  • Ener-G Jul 8, 2008 @ 11:59 pm | delete
    I read Ayn Rand's books in my late teens. She voiced so many feelings and thoughts I couldn't voice for myself because I didn't even know they existed in me. Thanks for inspiring me to reread her books. And Congrats on LOTD. What a rush!
  • LindaJM Jul 8, 2008 @ 11:21 pm | delete
    I've been here before - and enjoyed your lens then. I'm back to congratulate you on having this lens be the lens of the day.
  • chloecavanaugh Jul 8, 2008 @ 8:40 pm | delete
    Bravo!
    Congrats on this wonderful LOTD!
    *****
    ~Chloe
  • chefkeem Jul 8, 2008 @ 7:34 pm | delete
    Did I mention that I'm a fan of your lenses? Congratulations to your highly-deserved LotD honors.
  • mulberry Jul 8, 2008 @ 7:33 pm | delete
    An exceptional writer for sure. Congrats on Lens of the Day!
  • poddys Jul 8, 2008 @ 7:21 pm | delete
    Congratulations on LOTD. I had never heard of her before, might have to toddle off to Amazon and see details of her books.
  • alienflower Jul 8, 2008 @ 7:19 pm | delete
    Who is John Galt?

    I spent my entire junior and senior years in high school writing this on chalkboards. Not because I agree with the sentiment behind the question, but because I am silly.

    Anyway, I discovered Ayn Rand early in my junior year when I sat at the edge of my Advanced English class, ignoring the teacher and devouring the book Anthem.

    My point? I love your lens :)
  • DebiSmith Jul 8, 2008 @ 6:50 pm | delete
    Thanks for the interesting lens. I was not familiar with her work. It sounds very interesting so my plans include reading some of her books!
  • MelissaLim Jul 8, 2008 @ 5:53 pm | delete
    Allan,

    Congrats on lens of the day. Very put together lens with appealing intro, well thought poll, debate and links. Thanks.

    "The world you desire can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours" - my favourtie Ayn Rand quote. She has powerful quotes that keeps me going when I'm lost and weak.
  • GreenRevolution Jul 8, 2008 @ 4:52 pm | delete
    Nice lens! Very interesting and thought-provoking. I loved many of the quotes from Ayn. Well done! 5*****!
  • KimGiancaterino Jul 8, 2008 @ 3:52 pm | delete
    I'm glad you were recognized for this lens. I love your intro graphic. I still have some of those stamps! Squid Angel Blessed.
  • Joan4 Jul 8, 2008 @ 3:34 pm | delete
    Congratulations on LOTD. Thought provoking lens! Thank you.
  • jon2_9 Jul 8, 2008 @ 2:41 pm | delete
    When I used to work for a company, this was my favorite quote by Ayn Rand -
    "I'm trying to improve my methods. For every hour I save, is an hour I save to my life."

    Great lens. 5 stars!
  • JaguarJulie Jul 8, 2008 @ 2:15 pm | delete
    Allan, congratulations on a well-deserved lens of the day!
  • The_Homeopath Jul 3, 2008 @ 2:34 am | delete
    Atlas Shrugged is one of those books which I find myself picking up at least once a year. Wonderful tribute to a gifted author.
  • streak_tlu Jun 26, 2008 @ 1:46 am | delete
    Allan,

    You could definitely add a module about the Ayn Rand institute found here: http://www.aynrand.org/

    Interesting lens, looking forward to additional content!

by

BFuniv.com

Allan R. Wallace Trains Visionaries

"I just might be wrong; but if you view change as a problem rather than an opportunity you'll always be too late.... more »

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