Sense of Life Objectivists

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The Maestro As Manipulator?
Posted by Jonathan Rick on 11/03, 9:55pm

In this week's Time magazine, Dan Kadlec quotes Nathaniel Branden (not "Brandon") as saying that Ayn Rand considered Alan Greenspan a "social climber."

As SOLOists well know, although Branden and Greenspan were part of Rand's inner circle, they eventually drifted away from Objectivism, though I believe both still profess to subscribe to its core values.

In any event, what interests me, as a former Objectivist, is whether Branden's recollection is accurate?

For answers, I turned to Chris Sciabarra, who had this to say:

I have no idea if Branden's recollection is accurate, but I can give you chapter and verse of the comment. In his book, My Years with Ayn Rand, Branden writes:

"If Alan Greenspan mentioned a social event he had attended, Ayn would speculate about his fundamental seriousness or lack of it: 'Do you think Alan might basically be a social climber?'"

Actually, I found another comment in Branden's book to be hilarious. Branden describes how, when he and Ayn Rand first met Greenspan, Greenspan was not philosophically sure that he existed. He was a logical positivist, says Branden.

"'He looks like an undertaker,' Ayn commented. ... 'Has he decided he exists yet?'"

When Greenspan was finally convinced that he existed, and after he had been persuaded by Rand's arguments about the morality of capitalism, Rand "compared him to a 'sleeping giant' who was slowly waking up. She grew progressively fonder of him. In fact, he became a particular favorite. 'You were right,' she said to [Nathaniel Branden]. 'He has a first-rate mind'."

I'm awaiting an answer from Barbara Branden...

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