Reich wrong on Rand

Robert Reich’s column printed in the Sun- Times Thursday is intellectually dishonest. Reich describes Ayn Rand as an intellectual enemy of the “common good.” Rand wrote that the source of much that is evil is the belief that people have a duty to sacrifice their freedom and welfare to something greater than themselves, to a higher cause. This belief underlies the Cultural Revolution in China, the collectivization of agriculture under Stalin, the killing fields of Cambodia and the Holocaust in Europe, not to mention wars and other atrocities done in the name of a long list of religions.

Rand never posited that we do not have common interests. In fact, it is just the opposite: she championed free trade between and among persons. For Rand, the common good was the good that was freely chosen by people, not the “good” imposed on them by an authority, whether political or religious.

It is absurd to link Donald Trump to Ayn Rand regardless of Trump’s identification with a character Rand created in one of her books. Trump’s imposition of tariffs and punitive actions toward individuals who come to this country seeking freedom for the pursuit of happiness show how far Trump is ideologically from Rand.

Reich also fails to acknowledge the difference between Reich’s view of “selfishness” and Rand’s view. Rand said that people’s interests do not conflict; that my happiness does not stand in the way of yours. The actions that Reich attributes to “selfishness” are, seen from Rand’s perspective, acts that are self- destructive, not selfish.

Bert Rice, Hyde Park

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