http://lhote.blogspot.com/2010/01/rand-and-what-s…

and thought of this thread. Freddie's analysis is pitch-perfect,in particular:

"And it's this, ultimately, that makes Rand so corrosive, so deadening to the heart of the intellectual project. People far abler than I have prosecuted the case against Rand, and I don't intend to rehash it here. But this tendency of her writings and her philosophy to compel people to slap concrete on the foundation of their own ideas, to build a moat around their intellectual life, to categorize the whole world into the tiny fraction who are worthy and the great horrid mass that are simply not to be listened to in any circumstance… this is the greatest failing of the woman and her teachings. There are a worse things to inspire people towards– genocide, war, ethnic cleansing– but still, a philosopher whose greatest contribution is a vast incuriosity is a dismal thing."