I think Atlas Shrugged should be required reading for every man woman and child…But I put a few books into the category. Few fictional books even come close. But I think if we teach Marx we must teach Rand. If we teach Aquinas we must teach Rand. If we teach Rousseau and Locke we must teach Rand. She was a few hundred years to late and wrote books that did not satisfy intelligentsia; this kept her from the philosophical cannon, but her Ideas are no less important and flawed than all the rest. Only a simple minded fool takes another’s idea or theory and applies it to every aspect of their lives. We should not evaluate an idea (philosophy) on where it breaks down, but rather where it rings true.
We feel totally comfortable taking about the state of nature from Aquinas or Rousseau or Lock, and find values in their conflicting ideas. We find truths in the Republic even though Plato is advocating for a vilest of tyrannical police states.
Are they true? Would you want to apply Plato’s view of people to your personal life, or worse Frued?
Of course not. But her (Rand’s) values are wholly unrepresented in common political thought and academic lectures.
So for this simple reason, every man woman and child should read her book. There are countless do gooder accounts of philanthropy already existing in the world to combat her selfish theories, but no one advocates for self reliance and responsibility quite like Rand.
