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WHO IS JOHN GALT? 1957–1968
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The Collective bore the brunt of Objectivism’s shadow side. Saturday
nights at Rand’s apartment often came with a price. One night Robert
Hessen and his wife arrived fresh from a movie they had both enjoyed,
Topaz. Rand’s brow darkened when she heard them describe a scene in
which a Russian defector is confronted with the bounty and splendor of
Western goods: “[She became] literally furious, and started screaming
at us how stupid we were.” The room fell silent as Rand spoke. Didn’t
they realize this was propaganda, intended to make all defectors seem
like materialistic opportunists rather than people motivated by a desire
for freedom? To focus on this scene without understanding its meaning
meant the Hessens were immature, superfi cial, naïve. The evening was
ruined, the Hessens feeling “beaten and battered, humiliated.” 57
Members of Rand’s inner circle saw her outbursts as a danger they
would willingly brook in exchange for what she offered. Henry Holzer,
Rand’s lawyer, remembered that nights at her apartment involved a
trade-off of sorts: “Ayn would hold court mostly, and every word, every
sentence was magic. It was a revelation. . . . But, on the other hand, I think
it’s fair to say that most people were walking on egg shells.” He described
Rand’s reaction if one of her friends said something she did not like:
“She’d look at you with those laser eyes and tell you that you have a
lousy sense of life, or what you said was really immoral, or you didn’t
see the implications, or it was anti-life.” 58 Such tongue-lashings did little
to deter Rand insiders. She offered them a “round universe” and a comprehensive
philosophy that seemed to clear an easy path through life’s
confusions. Once they made a psychic investment in Rand, it was nearly
impossible to pull away.
Many victims accepted that they had done something wrong, even as
they were cast out of Rand’s world. The worst offenders were publicly
rebuked in group discussions and analyses that resembled trials. It mattered
little if the accused was also a patient of Branden’s who had exposed
personal information as part of treatment and expected confi dentiality
or support. This offi cial rejection by friends, therapist, and intellectual
idol was crushing. The journalist Edith Efron, excommunicated when
her sharp wit displeased Rand, wrote an ingratiating letter after her trial,
thanking Rand for the gift of Atlas Shrugged and her other work: “I fully
and profoundly agree with the moral judgment you have made of me,
and with the action you have taken to end social relations. . . . I have
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