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A review by oall_reads
The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis by Darryl Cunningham
3.0
The first 2/3 were interesting and informative, The final third was so unbearably biased that it was hard to read.
I really enjoyed the bits with Ayn Rand‘s biography and the explanation of the recession of 2008. He covers her childhood and later life in such a way that you get a really good context for her philosophical development. The storytelling was compelling and he did a decent job of breaking down complicated financial concepts that most people are not familiar with (including myself). I feel like I learned something and I appreciate that
But it kind of falls apart in the last third. The obvious left leaning bias made it hard to take his conclusion seriously. All liberals as altruistic, empathetic, and reasonable creatures while all conservatives are stupid, hate-mongering, paranoid maniacs. Also, only conservatives ever experience confirmation bias. Allllrighty then.
It also felt like he tried to tie in other issues, like immigration, a bit haphazardly and that made the final thrust of his argument a little less tidy.
I think people in general are good, and most of us would help someone in need. I think the key difference between how conservative vs. liberal altruism is executed is this: liberals tend to be more comfortable with the government being their middle man, and conservatives rather do it for themselves. Conservatives tend not to trust the government to take their money and do something good with it, they would rather donate directly to charity or do the good themselves. That doesn’t make conservatives Randian monsters; it just makes them wary of the government’s ability to do things well. That’s a pragmatic judgment, and not a “selfish philosophy” as Cunningham puts it
I really enjoyed the bits with Ayn Rand‘s biography and the explanation of the recession of 2008. He covers her childhood and later life in such a way that you get a really good context for her philosophical development. The storytelling was compelling and he did a decent job of breaking down complicated financial concepts that most people are not familiar with (including myself). I feel like I learned something and I appreciate that
But it kind of falls apart in the last third. The obvious left leaning bias made it hard to take his conclusion seriously. All liberals as altruistic, empathetic, and reasonable creatures while all conservatives are stupid, hate-mongering, paranoid maniacs. Also, only conservatives ever experience confirmation bias. Allllrighty then.
It also felt like he tried to tie in other issues, like immigration, a bit haphazardly and that made the final thrust of his argument a little less tidy.
I think people in general are good, and most of us would help someone in need. I think the key difference between how conservative vs. liberal altruism is executed is this: liberals tend to be more comfortable with the government being their middle man, and conservatives rather do it for themselves. Conservatives tend not to trust the government to take their money and do something good with it, they would rather donate directly to charity or do the good themselves. That doesn’t make conservatives Randian monsters; it just makes them wary of the government’s ability to do things well. That’s a pragmatic judgment, and not a “selfish philosophy” as Cunningham puts it