Ayn Rand
Russian-American novelist and philosopher of Objectivism · 1905–1982
Ayn Rand was a Russian-born American novelist and philosopher who wrote The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Her philosophy, Objectivism, championed reason, individual rights and laissez-faire capitalism and rejected altruism and religion.
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Estimated from their documented words and actions. A simplification, not a verdict.
No strong recorded view.
Supported a constitutional republic protecting individual rights, not unlimited majority rule.
Argued the state's only role is to protect individual rights from force.
Opposed the United Nations and supported national sovereignty.
Supported defensive military strength, while opposing the draft and the Vietnam War.
An immigrant herself, she generally supported freedom of immigration.
Defended private property and capitalism as moral ideals.
Advocated laissez-faire capitalism with no economic regulation.
Supported free trade.
An atheist who opposed religion's influence on morality and law.
Supported abortion rights but opposed the 1960s counterculture.
Celebrated industry and technology and criticised environmentalism.