There could not be a more less than accurate thing to say about Ms. Rand and this comes from someone whom has spent several articles pointing out my disagreements with her. Did she at times have a very flawed character? Yes, she does. Did she overreact to disagreements and did she build a sort of cult of personality around herself at various times of her life? Yes, she did and I would not argue she did not do so. Did she keep a tight ship of her inner circle? Absolutely, but, she was nothing like the level of evil that it takes to be an SS officer or the equivalent of one.
She had control freak tendencies, but, she was not evil. I would never call Ms. Rand evil in anyway. She was a human just like I am and just like you reading this is. We all have our Angels of our better nature and our darker nature that is what makes up the totality of human nature. Nor was what Nathaniel Brandon did to her right or just in anyway. Cheating on someone whom looks up to you as literally an intellectual heir is not correct, just, right and not moral. It is the evil and the more vile thing to do. Does it excuse the way Ayn controlled people's lives? No, but, it is the more vile and truly evil act in the melodrama of Rand's life. Rand had moments of vile that lasted temporarily, but, the evil in Brandon's actions cannot be downplayed.
Yet, because it was Ayn Rand this co-worker did not care about the actions of cheating as long as it hurt her. Anyone that hurt Ayn was good he said in literally those words. Well, that is horrible and vile in itself. To think that morals are so subjective that just because you do not agree with the way someone else lived their life you wish for them to be hurt is malevolent beyond compare. I bet he has done somethings in his life that people look at from the outside might think was not handled correctly. I bet he has sometimes had moments of listening to his darker side. Should he be hurt because he has done things others would disagree with? Or maybe not always treated everyone like gold?
Ayn was a walking 5th ape just like you and just like me. She was no goddess and never was meant to be one. She would never have wanted anyone to think she was anything, but, human. Ms. Rand was not perfect, but, no one is perfect. We are all animals and capable of great good or great vile or even the evil likes of cheating that Brandon did. We are animals walking around on a Little Blue Spot and we are not above our animalistic possibilities even as we do our best to live according to our higher cognitive features and not our instincts. I bet that there is a corner that someone could back my co worker into that would make him lash out like a maniac. That is part of being human, part of being an evolved animal and just nature.
This was once again a showing of how blind the cultural hatred for Objectivism and Ms. Rand is. So much hate that it does not matter what happened to her it was OK because it was her. Again, she had some big character flaws and I have talked about them myself. I do not agree with the cult like atmosphere of her inner circle as a result of things like the Brandon affair. However, to argue that she should be intentionally hurt or even unintentionally hurt and that is good is just pure unbridled negativity for the sake of hating an abstraction. It is the Two-Minutes Hate of our culture and it is despicable.
If Ms. Rand were alive I would not worship her like a goddess nor would I loath her like she was garbage under my feet. I would express my disagreements with her and also give her thanks for finding Objectivism. I would tell her where I stood on her whole Cult inner circle from her past, but, also offer my hand in friendship. I would tell her she was wrong when she was and tell her she was right when she was as well. I would live in the present and not the past. I would accept she like I am just a highly evolved 5th ape and we all make mistakes. I would forgive her hoping she learned from her past, but, be ever vigilant for signs of cultish behavior beginning again.
In other words I would show the benevolence and empathy for my fellow human that her own haters claim her very philosophy preaches against. To err as they say is human and I am sorry if you are so steeped in hate you forget to notice that is exactly what she was.. human just like you.
