# 23
           Ayn Rand Meets Nietzsche and Greenspan

Thursday-1:00 P.M.                                      Winter 2012 (2d 7 Weeks)
Coordinator:  Ellen Lubic                                        Co-Coordinator: Jan Hunt

Course Description

Alisa Rosenbaum, who renamed herself Ayn Rand, is arguably the foremost exemplar of Libertarianism.  Rand believed in the early Nietzschean philosophy of the “superman” who is beyond good and evil.   She was adored by Alan Greenspan who sat at her feet.  Her Objectivist philosophy, which she called “an intellectual movement,” seems to be the core of the theories of today’s Republican activists.  Her contemporary followers, such as Paul Ryan, Grover Norquist and Eric Cantor, cite her in preferring little to no government.  Yet some biographers call her a “5th rate Nietzsche of the mini malls” and others claim that her theories are little more than a cult based on greed. Whatever one concludes about her, we cannot ignore her influence.  This SDG will study Rand’s views were promulgated and how they have influenced, and still influence, the American psyche, politics and economy.

Topics

1.  Who was Ayn Rand and how did she become the philosophical voice of the “independent” individual?  What were the politics and world situation during her life?
2.  Enter Stage Right..Nitezsche and Company.  How did this school of thought work and how did it influence Rand in her books, Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged?  Review Thus Spake Zarathustra and The Slave Revolt, two of Nietzsche’s  most famous works.  (Use Cliff Notes, if books are too cumbersome.)
3.  The role of Alan Greenspan in Rand’s life and Greenspan’s evolution as head of the Federal Reserve.  Did Greenspan’s fascination with the Rand philosophy lead to economic disaster?
4.  From Von Mises to the Chicago School (from Stigler to Friedman).  Compare Rand’s thinking to the Austrian School and the University of Chicago monetarists.
5.  Politics and greed meet philosophy.  Examples from the Great Depression to the current world, including review of derivatives, collateral debt obligations, credit default swaps, housing market, stock market, banking regulations and banks too big to fail.
6.  Compare Rand’s economic perspective with the Keynesians.  Compare what some say is cult-like literature (and films based on her books) to teachings of cults and the fictional Elmer Gantry.  Should Rand be taken seriously or not?
7.  Why does Rand continue to have followers?  Have she lost luster because of her disdain for government, while at the same time accepting social security and medicare?  What do her political fans think of the free market and government regulations today, and why?  Discussion of the views of our current politicians who favor Rand’s principles and how they influence national and world economics.

Bibliography

Ayn Rand
Fountainhead
Atlas Shrugged
Friedrich Nietzsche
Thus Spake Zarathustra
The Slave Revolt
Joseph Stiglitz, Freefall
On-line research