A sidelight about Ms. Rand. Her first book, which launched her career, was “Anthem,” about a regimented society. This book was forced on me by an enthusiastic friend, so being amiable about such things (what’s another book to read?) I read it. Surprise. It was an out-and-out plagiarism of a book I had already read.
“We,” a futuristic novel by a Russian named Evgeny Zamyatin, was written in the 1920’s as a cautionary story about where Communist society was heading and what it would do to the individual. Zamyatin was an extremely influential writer, so Stalin y’sh couldn’t just have him shot or sent to Siberia. Zamyatin was “permitted” to leave the Soviet Union and go to Paris, where he died in exile, a martyr to his courage in defying Stalin.
So Rand’s philosophy also included “get ahead however you can,” including stealing from a courageous man who was dead and could no longer defend his authorship.
Considering that this was the person from whom Greenspan got his inspiration, it’s no wonder he didn’t think there was anything wrong with legalized theft.
You doubt it? Get both books and read them side by side. You’ll also notice that Zamyatin was by far the better writer, and his novel is well worth reading. It’s also the grandfather of all the anti-utopian novels since, like “Brave New World” and “1984.” You can probably find it in your local library.