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More oxford books @ www.OxfordeBook.comFore more urdu books visit www.4Urdu.comIT USUALLY BEGINS WITH AYN RAND 253Rather than seeing these debates as a sign of intellectual health andfertility, a testimony to the excitement and energy her ideas engendered,Rand was violently opposed to any unapproved usage of her work. Evenas she laid down an official party line, she insisted, “Objectivism is not anorganized movement and is not to be regarded as such by anyone.” Butsuch stern warnings did little to stop her readers from calling themselvesObjectivists and creating lectures, parties, social clubs, and newslettersdevoted to her thought. Rand’s principled opposition to the draft hadendeared her to politically aware students who sought a rational justificationfor their opposition to the war. Beyond that, Atlas Shrugged hadindelibly etched the idea of a stateless capitalist utopia onto the rightwingpsyche. Anarchists were right to recognize that Rand’s ideas hadfirst opened them to the possibility of radical antistatism. By denying themorality of both conscription and taxation, Objectivism de- legitimizedtwo fundamental functions of any state. At the same time Rand’s fictionsuggested that an alternative world was within reach. Once imagined,Galt’s Gulch could never be forgotten.Rand’s ideas became a powerful current in the fast-running tides ofthe student right, referenced by a popular new symbol, the black flagof anarchy modified with a gold dollar sign. A broad reference to radicallibertarianism, the flag had multiple meanings. The dollar sign, thetotem of John Galt and Atlas Shrugged, was a clear allusion to Rand.Its juxtaposition on the flag of anarchy, however, indicated allegiancesbeyond Rand, usually to anarchism. Whatever its exact meaning, theblack flag looked menacing to conventional conservatives as it spreadbeyond the Objectivist subculture into the wider conservative movement.Reporting on a southern California Young Americans forFreedom conference held in conjunction with Robert LeFevre’s radicallylibertarian Rampart College, Gary North, a writer for the conservativenewsletter Chalcedon Report, was dismayed by what he found.Instead of studious conservatives affirming faith in God and country,the conference was filled with eccentrics waving the black dollar-signflag. Enthusiastic libertarians debated proposals to create offshore taxhavens and argued over the finer points of Objectivist doctrine. “Whenthe talk drifted into a debate over whether or not Rearden was the truehero of Atlas Shrugged, given the world in which we live, I left,” Northreported. He concluded, “I think it is safe to say that YAF is drifting.” 17