Simple fact is Ayn Rand’s outnumbered. For all the force and topicality of her Atlas Shrugged – Fraser’s recommendation of which I heartily agree with, although I think The Fountainhead is a more effective dose of Rand’s objectivism – the artistic and literary worlds seem to have much more room for works that, on some level, can be used as counterweight to Rand’s philosophy. There’s plenty of literature, cinema and music which almost solely deals in the dangers of enterprise, ambition, industry and the American Dream.
Now, I’m not saying there shouldn’t be – after all, no social or political system’s perfect, and critique is always necessary. Besides, much of this art is excellent. An American Tragedy and The Financier, by the avowed socialist Theodore Dreiser, could easily become standards for the Left now the Debt Bubble’s burst.
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