Ayn Rand on "Monument Builders"

[Alfonso Jones]

I think the following is appropriate, from Rand's "Monument Builders," found in The Objectivist Newsletter, Volume 1, Number 12, December 1962:

Fifty years ago, there might have been some excuse (though not justification) for the widespread belief that socialism is a political theory motivated by benevolence and aimed at the achievement of men's well-being. Today, that belief can no longer be regarded as an innocent error. Socialism has been tried on every continent of the globe. In the light of its results, it is time to question the motives of socialism's advocates.

The essential characteristic of socialism is the denial of individual property rights; under socialism, the right to property (which is the right of use and disposal) is vested in "society as a whole," i.e., in the collective, with production and distribution controlled by the state, i.e., by the government.

Well put, and very timely.

Bill P