Fwd: Paul Ryan and Atlas Shrugged

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From: The Ayn Rand Institute
Date: Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Subject: Paul Ryan and Atlas Shrugged
To: majors.bruce@gmail.com


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Paul Ryan and Atlas Shrugged

We are pleased to share with you the following message to ARI contributors from Yaron Brook.

Dear Contributor:

The selection of Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as the likely Republican nominee for vice president has elevated yet again the visibility of Ayn Rand in the culture.

Ryan is by his own admission not an Objectivist. On the other hand, he is, again by his own admission, an unabashed admirer of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

The very idea that a major party candidate for the nation's second highest elective office would have read and publicly admired Ayn Rand and at least some of her ideas is something that would have been unimaginable a generation ago.

Let me be clear: as a 501(c)(3) organization we cannot and will not endorse or oppose any political candidate.

But we can—and will—do all that we can to seize the opportunity that this development offers us to promote Ayn Rand and her philosophy.

This is where you come in.

Congressman Ryan's well-publicized ties to Atlas Shrugged have created an eruption in the media at a critical period in the November 2012 election cycle.

The Left have predictably pounced on what they perceive as a "fatal flaw" in the Ryan selection: his admiration for Rand and her views which one recent op-ed parodied as a "dystopic screed against big government." 

At the same time, many on the mainstream Right appear to be backpedaling on the Ryan-Rand linkage, caving in to the Leftists.

Our aim is not to take sides in that particular debate, because we cannot. Instead we seek to use this publicity and greater attention given to Rand, as a result of this news, to explain her ideas to the public as only we can—doing so at a time when we are more likely to be heard than ever before.

We are already, in fact, experiencing a sharp increase in requests for information and media interviews.

We believe that this heightened attention to Ayn Rand can be leveraged to promote critical ARC programs and upcoming initiatives—particularly the publication of Don Watkins's and my book, Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand's Ideas Can End Big Government.

In support of Free Market Revolution, Don and I will be crisscrossing the country in the months ahead—with the aim of giving at least 100 public talks, appearing at Tea Party events, book signings, and the like. We will maintain, expand and constantly update our blog site, Laissez-Faire: The Uncompromised Case for Capitalism. We are promoting the book, and, more important, the ideas behind it, through every possible means: print media, radio and TV, FaceBook, Twitter and other social media.

Independent of the outcome of the November election, crucial work remains ahead of us in promoting Ayn Rand and the moral case for capitalism. The public's interest in the election itself appears to be shaping up as a matchless opportunity to amplify our efforts still further.

With your support we believe we can seize this opportunity.

In the Ryan selection we see yet again evidence of the continued rise of Ayn Rand's name and ideas in the culture. It has provoked vitriol among the Left, and trepidation among some on the Right.

It is our responsibility to see that we do all we can to capitalize on the media attention which is once again being focused upon Rand and her ideas. With your assistance I believe we can do just that.

Many thanks for your consideration and support!

Sincerely,

Yaron Brook
President and Executive Director

PS: We will hold our fourth annual Atlas Shrugged Revolution dinner in New York City on September 20. It promises to be a great evening; I hope you will consider attending!

» Contribute now

 

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