Yes, conservatives really do worship Ayn Rand

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Many conservatives, including those at Dick Armey's FreedomWorks. Here's TNR's Jon Chait, following up on his excellent book review (of two new books on Rand) from a couple of weeks ago (about which I posted here):

It's certainly true that Rand did not intend her ideas as a blanket defense of the rich in all their forms.

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The problem is that, even in Rand's time, her ideas were largely taken by the rich as a blanket defense of wealth and privilege.

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My review focused on the real-world impact Rand's ideas have had. There is a large and influential strand of thought on the right which holds wealth to be a sign of virtue and redistribution from rich to poor the most evil thing a government can do. It may not be a precise translation of Rand's ideology, but it's a pretty decent facsimile. The actual influence Rand exerts on the world comes in the form of people like Dick Armey working to protect the interests of the actual rich, not just those rich who meet the ideal of the imaginary Randian hero.

Conservatives can pretend they're not Randian all they want, and Randians can try to distance themselves from conservatism as much as they please, but the reality of the (intimate) relationship is pretty clear.