Brian E

Thank you for everyone's kind reply. I'm a junior at this time Adam so I'm getting ready for the workplace haha. That will mean depending on the economy, business or law (not criminal law though unless I'm the prosecutor). So if I am correct Ayn Rand did not actually have any image of an Objectivist government? From what I'm getting it seems as if Objectivists due to the fact they neither wish to impose on others nor be imposed on by others simply have a very, in colloquial terms "leave me alone" attitude. A.k.a the Federalist system of government is appropriately objectivist due to the fact people have the right to run to whichever area they feel fits their philosophy (of course I recognize this is overly simplistic due to the fact you really only have two philosophies operating at this time and so can't run to Atlantis even if you really want to). Now in terms of analyzing Atlantis according to Mr. Hardin this seems to be the world that Objectivists wish to live in but whether it could be actually achieved is uncertain. Out of curiosity were there and/or are there any current Objectivist political movements that are trying to take concrete steps to bring this into fruition. Objectivism by its very nature seems ill-suited for mass politics so were there any specific actions undertaken by Objectivists besides the usual writing and speaking technique. Also in terms of thinking about whether an Objectivist society would be exactly like the one portrayed in Atlas Shrugged, Atlantis. If I understand Atlantis properly, it did not seem to have a government system but instead was more a society bound together by common beliefs and symbiotic need for one another. At the same time however when I analyze it I can't help but feel this system demands a sort of Platonian philosopher king due to the fact when it comes down to it John Galt seemed to be single-handedly providing electricity as well as the invisibility shield to the outside world without being paid by the others. Of course granted these were individuals who neither asked for his help nor felt entitled to it. It could be said that John Galt did it out of self interest because otherwise he would not be able to live in a society he believed in. Nonetheless does the image of an Objectivist future demand these sort of larger than life figures who willingly provide essential services out of self interest or is limited government acceptable in an Objectivist society?

Hello everyone, I'm actually new on this forum as you might be able to tell since this is my first post. I am currently a college student of History and Economics at Columbia University about to write a very long (hopefully not too dry) paper on Objectivism in terms of it's vision for the future. Unfortunately I haven't actually been able to find a lot of information of what Ayn Rand saw as the future which makes this a rather difficult task to accomplish. What Ayn Rand believed and what she hoped the future would look like (an embrace of her philosophy) are rather clear but there doesn't really seem to be much information on what she thought the world would actually look like. Did she for example believe (and not just hope) that people would genuinely embrace her ideas in her lifetime or within the future? Did she predict that, like in Atlas Shrugged, the USA and governments around the world would become increasingly controlling until a collapse occurred which would culminate in an objectivist society? Did she even have a prediction on what the future would look at all or was she completely rooted on the present? If anyone on this forum has any ideas and can cite specific literary evidence please do, it would be really helpful!