jbgotmar

More oxford books @ www.OxfordeBook.com
IT USUALLY BEGINS WITH AYN RAND 275
suffered, rationality was still her only guide and source of wisdom, individualism
her favored theme. “Well, I told you so,” she sighed. “I have
been telling you so since We the Living, which was published in 1936.” 70
Rand had one last word of warning to issue. Referring to the upcoming
Republican primaries she wrote, “I urge you, as emphatically as
I can, not to support the candidacy of Ronald Reagan.” Reagan was a
conservative in “the worst sense of the word,” she told her readers. 71 Not
only did he support a mixed economy, a compromise between laissezfaire
and government controls, but his opposition to abortion demonstrated
a dangerous disregard for individual rights. Reagan represented
the triumph of all the political trends on the right Rand had fought
throughout her long career. He blended libertarianism with religion,
submerging a rational defense of capitalism under altruistic ethics. His
position on abortion was the clearest indicator that he did not understand
the free society he claimed to defend. Like Willkie and Eisenhower
before him, Reagan was a false friend, a conservative who would destroy
the very principles he claimed to uphold.
Although Rand would never appreciate their efforts, her political
beliefs were shared by the Libertarian Party, who worked vigorously
to provide an alternative to the majority party stars Reagan, Ford, and
Carter. But like Rand, the Libertarian Party was subject to sudden political
enthusiasms and dashed hopes. Party activists vacillated between a
genuine belief that they could create immediate political change and
a more realistic understanding that their campaigns were little more
than public relations events. After a disappointing showing in the 1976
election several Party leaders swung back to the Randian position that
education must precede action. In partnership with the Koch brothers,
wealthy libertarians who had bankrolled most of the campaign, Party
Chair Ed Crane started the Cato Institute, dedicated to spreading libertarian
ideas. Born from the early libertarian ethos of education, Cato
nonetheless became deeply involved in policy and politics. From the
start it strove for respectability among the intellectual elite, publishing
Inquiry, a magazine that offered serious, well-researched, and quietly
libertarian articles for an educated readership. As the years passed Cato
would develop into a true player within the beltway think-tank world.
Along with Reason magazine, Cato injected a consistent libertarian voice
into national political debates. The institute relocated to Washington,
Fore more urdu books visit www.4Urdu.com