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The Ayn Rand Phenomenon

    On August 16, a Los Angeles Times Magazine article noted the significant position held by novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand, reporting that "[s]ixteen years after her death the poetess/philosopher of freedom, capitalism and the individual, is still inspiring millions of Americans".

    A 1991 survey conducted jointly by the Library of Congress and the Book-of-the-Month Club, Ayn Rand's epic philosophical novel, Atlas Shrugged, was named second only to the Bible as the most influential book in Americans lives. And a recent Modern Library Association-Random House readers survey named Atlas Shrugged as the best English language novel of the twentieth century.

    Since 1936, readers have bought 20 million copies of Ayn Rand's books, and they continue to buy them at the rate of 300,000 copies every year. Despite antagonism from the intellectual establishment, an admiring public has long recognized Ayn Rand as one of this country's most influential and inspiring thinkers.

    This growing audience has found an ally in the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), an educational organization established in 1985 to advance knowledge of Objectivism, the philosophy originated by Ayn Rand. "Our goal has been to reach those people who are open to her ideas, specifically to the basic tenets of Objectivism: reason, rational egoism and laissez-faire capitalism," says Michael Berliner, the Institute's executive director. Through its activities, ARI has been helping to create an even wider audience for Ayn Rand's ideas:

    Movie audiences throughout the country are now seeing Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, a film documentary of Ayn Rand, which was nominated for a 1997 Academy Award for best feature-length documentary. Writer-director Michael Paxton created this film with the assistance of the Institute's Ayn Rand Archives.

    Ever since Bill Clinton and Colin Powell demanded that Americans embrace "volunteerism" as a moral duty, ARI's "Campaign against Servitude" has been challenging their program. As a result of editorials, media mentions and interviews, audiences have learned that Objectivism is the only principled, moral opponent of volunteerism. ARI has answered mandatory school service with its own "Volunteers against Volunteerism" program, which gives high school students the opportunity to complete class "service" requirements by working to promote its abolition.

    Radio listeners have a new source of information in the country's only philosophical radio talk show. On the weekly ARI-sponsored "Philosophy: Who Needs It", Dr. Leonard Peikoff, the foremost exponent of Objectivism, comments on current cultural, political and philosophic trends, and answers callers' questions.

    Since 1985, more than 61,000 high school students have entered the Institute's annual high school essay contest on Ayn Rand's bestseller The Fountainhead and novelette Anthem. This year, high school debaters nationwide will be using Objectivist materials in their debates, and this fall an Atlas Shrugged essay contest will be introduced to business students at both the graduate and undergraduate level.

    ARI's Objectivist Graduate Center, the only institute in the country training Objectivists to be active, professional intellectuals, is entering its fifth academic year.

    Commentators, now aware of the influence of Ayn Rand, are themselves acknowledging her importance.

    Hollywood producers are turning Ayn Rand novels into theatrical films. Her first novel, We the Living, has been optioned to be produced as a major motion picture, and both Anthem and Atlas Shrugged are in development.

    During the last year, ARI op-eds have been published in more than 100 newspapers (the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and San Francisco Chronicle among them) with a total circulation of 25.6 million. Dozens of radio/TV producers have booked Objectivist professionals and professors drawn from ARI's speakers bureau.

    Ayn Rand's ideas are also being heard on an increasing number of college campuses throughout the U.S. and Canada. College-level textbooks discussing Ayn Rand's philosophic ideas are being published. And at more than 65 colleges, students have formed clubs in order to study Objectivism.

    Newsweek magazine has recognized this Ayn Rand phenomenon. Citing evidence of what it described as a "virtual Ayn Rand Fest," the magazine concluded that Ayn Rand ". . . she's everywhere" (9/11/95).

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