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RADICALS FOR CAPITALISM 209
scratch” and concentrate on culture rather than practical politics. 48
This was the same conclusion she had reached after the Willkie campaign—that
a popular consensus on the virtues of capitalism had to
be established before electoral success could be achieved. Laissez-faire
capitalism belonged to the uncharted future rather than the past. The
senator himself seemed to accept Rand’s explanation for his defeat,
quoting her in his syndicated column. 49 In The Objectivist Newsletter,
her private forum, Rand openly blamed Goldwater for his loss. She was
appalled that the only voters he had drawn to his banner were southern
whites: “As it stands, the most grotesque, irrational and disgraceful
consequence of the campaign is the fact that the only section of
the country left in the position of an alleged champion of freedom,
capitalism and individual rights is the agrarian, feudal, racist South.” 50
The only glimmer of hope had been Ronald Reagan’s principled and
philosophical speech on behalf of Goldwater, but it had been too little,
too late.
Despite her enthusiasm for Goldwater, Rand was blazing a trail distinct
from the broader conservative movement, as indicated by the title of her
second nonfi ction book, The Virtue of Selfi shness. Whereas traditional
conservatism emphasized duties, responsibilities, and social interconnectedness,
at the core of the right-wing ideology that Rand spearheaded
was a rejection of moral obligation to others. As one reader told
her after finishing Atlas Shrugged, “I accepted the principle that I was
my brother’s keeper, asking only why those who told me this did not
keep their brothers. I felt a moral obligation to renounce wealth, success,
love until the downtrodden masses were cared for. I wondered why I felt
resentment if I gave a bum a quarter and guilt if I didn’t. I was bewildered
at these contradictory emotions and thought, ‘there is something
wrong with me.’ There was something wrong all right, but not with me,
but with my code.” 51 Rand shared with the fusionist conservatives of
National Review a fear of socialism and a suspicion of the state, but her
thought rested on a fundamentally different social basis. Her vision of
society was atomistic, not organic. Rand’s ideal society was made up of
traders, offering value for value, whose relationships spanned only the
length of any given transaction.
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