ITWeb discovers Ayn Rand and Business

It's always exciting to find a book you've written getting attention in the press. In this case, it's Ayn Rand and Business and the press is Mandy de Waal, a columnist on South Africa's ITWeb. Here's what she wrote:

Born 105 years ago, Ayn Rand...is experiencing a major revival. The Washington Post declared Randoids 'in' for 2010; Hollywood is remaking her movies; and Rand book sales are brisk. Yaron Brook, president of the Ayn Rand Institute, says sales of Atlas Shrugged are “going through the roof”. Rand's magnum opus made it into Amazon.com's top 50, selling more than 500,000 copies in 2009.

“The explosion in sales of Atlas Shrugged more than a half century after its initial publication is truly remarkable,” says Brook. “People are discovering the prescience of Ayn Rand's writing. They're seeing the policies of Atlas Shrugged villains Wesley Mouch and Cuffy Meigs acted out by our government officials today. They're looking for answers on how to stop government intrusion in our lives. Atlas Shrugged provides those answers, and many more.”

Rand's thoughts have never been more relevant given the global market collapse, followed by government rescue plans and other attempts at controlling markets. Laissez-faire capitalism was always Rand's ideal political-economic system. “It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit,” said Rand. “It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man's rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.”

Rand's personal journey was nothing short of astonishing, and saw her transform from a shopkeeper's daughter in communist Russia to one of the world's leading proponents of laissez-faire capitalism. In their book Ayn Rand and Business, Donna Greiner and Theodore Kinni interpret the fiction and philosophy of this staunch and radical champion for capitalism. Not only do Greiner and Kinni clearly explain the fundamentals of Objectivism, they describe how business leaders can integrate these philosophies into their personal lives and industry. Written in the spirit of Rand's own perspective, this business book is anchored in practicality, well organised and goal-oriented...read the rest here