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BIG SISTER IS WATCHING YOU 183
therapy. As a condition of his therapy Rothbard was required to take the
Principles of Objectivism course. He and his wife, Joey, began socializing
on a regular basis with Rand and the Collective.
Before long Rothbard tired of the Randian routine. He was annoyed
when others questioned him after he skipped an occasional Objectivist
gathering. He began to doubt Nathan’s effectiveness as a therapist, especially
after Nathan criticized his marriage to Joey, a Christian. A union
of two people who held confl icting premises was inherently unstable,
Nathan lectured Rothbard. He should seek a partner who held rational
premises instead. Still hoping that his travel phobia could be overcome,
Rothbard stayed in therapy even as he wondered whether Nathan
could really help him. Nathan promised the two of them would venture
outside city limits together, but the trip never materialized. Meanwhile
Rothbard signed up to deliver an academic paper in Georgia, believing
he would be cured by the time of the conference.
Instead, the academic conference became the grounds for a bitter
fi nal breakup between Rothbard and the Rand circle. Tensions had
been building over Rothbard’s stubborn allegiance to anarchism. After
almost six months of regular contact Rand and the Collective expected
Rothbard to be convinced that anarchism was unworkable. In July 1958
a special Saturday night session was scheduled for Rothbard and Rand
to debate. By then Rothbard had realized, “I hated the guts of [Nathan]
and Ayn and the rest of the gang.” After a stormy appointment with
Nathan he decided to terminate therapy and all relations with Rand’s
group. The next day Nathan called to summon him to another meeting,
this time with Rand alone. At issue was the paper Rothbard had written
for his upcoming conference, which Nathan accused him of plagiarizing
from both Rand and Barbara Branden. Outraged, Rothbard hung
up the phone “on that tin Jesus.” 29 That evening’s mail brought a special
delivery letter from Rand’s lawyer, outlining in detail the accusation
of plagiarism and threatening a lawsuit against both Rothbard and the
conference organizer, the German sociologist Helmut Schoeck.
The confrontation soon spilled out into open warfare between the
Collective and the Circle Bastiat. George Reisman and Robert Hessen,
formerly Rothbard loyalists, took Rand’s side in the plagiarism dispute.
After a tense showdown Rothbard kicked Reisman out of his apartment.
Angry phone calls fl ew back and forth between Rand, Nathan,
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