Chris writes: "So much remains unexplored in the affinities between Rand and the counterculture from which progressive rock was born, affinities that challenge the very distinctions between left and right. It is my hope that this forum will have contributed toward the advancement of this long-overdue exploration."
This is so true. A large minority of Hippies way-back-when were natural allies which were ripe for the plucking. And their free-thinking, fun-loving, optimistic, idealistic, rather joyous attitude could have done the dowdy, dour, sour, grim Objectividst Movement a world of good. It would have been a win-win scenario. How did Rand and Branden in the 1960s ever miss this?
This argues strongly that there was something diseased about the Objectivist Movement from the start. On the surface, the early Objectivists were against irrationality, faith, obedience to authority, "second-hander" conformism, etc. But deep down those early Objectivsts were mostly CULTISTS who took Rand and Objectivism on faith, embraced Rand's "collective," followed mindlessly in her train, and enslaved their minds and souls in a way ~most~ unacceptable to the light, gay, free Hippies.
by Andre Zantonavitch on February 1, 2005 at 2:47 PM