It seems deliciously ironic that Ayn Rand, the renowned and self-pronounced individualist, egoist and individuator, should also stand accused of being a guru that ran a cult for her young followers, who may have faced commands for their unwavering submission and unquestioning agreement and obedience to her pronouncements, or, by failing to so conform, risk being confronted with browbeating and perhaps expulsion by her self-appointed enforcers.
I have not studied this issue closely or thoroughly, nor will I, but the little I have gleaned from superficial reading about her being a cult leader, indicates that there may be some truth in the accusations against her.
In her defense, as a fellow egoist and fellow traveler promoting the cause of egoism, I suspect that she had to strive so mightily just to get her view out there, that the strain of that exertion—in the face of overwhelming opposition and ridicule from liberal New Yorkers—may have been enough to nudge this chief proponent of the unorthodox Objectivist philosophy to overreact, to be radicalized, demanding total obedience from her devotees.
Whatever was the case, her primary emphasis on individualism, egoism, capitalism, and her strong support for American constitutional republicanism, are enough me to forgive her any of her personal shortcomings, real or actual.
Whether she was a guru and Objectivism was or is a cult, it is a cautionary example of how not to conduct oneself. Any individualist cannot be honesty and consistent if he does not strive mightily to live with a clear conscience, never allowing any follower or young person to worship him or put him on a pedestal.
Nothing corrupts an intellectual faster than being worshiped by credulous followers. Group power of powerlessness corrupts and corrupt one absolutely.
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