The Greatest Heroes of Randian Philosophy

Writer Fred Smith is an faithful acolyte of Ayn Rand. Like many such people, including Rand herself, he doesn't actually produce anything, he lives off the gullibility of others. All he has ever done is write and talk. He preaches that greed is godly, generosity a venal sin, and heartlessness is the ultimate achievement of mankind. Yet he would starve if it weren't for the heartfelt generosity of people who donate to the Competitive Enterprise Institute because they share its philosophy of heartless greed.

In all of literature their greatest hero Ebenezer Scrooge. Rather than being vilified, Smith believes Scrooge should be celebrated. He contends that Scrooge displays the ultimate is wealth generation and betrays society when he abandons his greed to help the crippled Tiny Tim.

What surprises me is that Randians never refer to the most unrepentant Scrooge in American history, Hetty Green. Green inherited a small fortune ($7 million) and turned it into a large fortune (over $100 million) through shrewd investment and miserly conduct. She tried by forgery to steal her aunt's money when she found out her aunt had willed it to charity. When her son broke his leg she tried to have him treated at a free clinic and, when she was recognized, treated his leg at home. Her son eventually lost the leg. She should be a hero of the Ayn Rand movement and I don't understand why they shun her.