Sam Allen – 3/18/09

This page was last updated on March 18, 2009.

Paying for writer’s negative influence; Sam Allen; Beaver County Times; March 18, 2009.

Mr. Allen’s most recent previous letters claimed “You can’t back war and be pro-life” and “Conservatives keep dishing out excuses.”

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“The other night at a book store, I saw a display that neatly summed up the current problem we in the west are facing.

“On a large table by the front door was displayed every book ever written by Ayn Rand. Rand, whose motto was ‘Greed is good,’ and who elevated predatory capitalism to the level of religion, which is arguably the main source of the current meltdown.”

[RWC] In the interest of full disclosure, I played the role of court clerk in my junior class production of Ayn Rand’s Night of January 16^th.

As for “Greed is good,” Mr. Allen appears to be confusing Ms. Rand with the character Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street.

What is “predatory capitalism?”

“Yet there she was, looking like Bill Buckley in drag, every one of her voluminous works arrayed in a circle, all bright and shiny.”

[RWC] Assuming Mr. Allen is referring to William F. Buckley, I wonder if Mr. Allen knows Mr. Buckley was a critic of Ms. Rand.

Note Mr. Allen couldn’t be content with attacking Ms. Rand’s beliefs/works; he had to launch a personal attack on her looks. That’s not something a confident person does.

“Thanks to her books, we may be able to indoctrinate yet another generation with Rand’s pathological hatred of all government and her overwhelming love of materialism. What a country.”

[RWC] Other than the play mentioned above, the only Rand book I read was The Fountainhead. I guess I need to reread it because I didn’t notice “Rand’s pathological hatred of all government and her overwhelming love of materialism.”

Would Mr. Allen have been as upset with displays of the writings of Lenin, Mao, Marx, Stalin, et cetera?

Finally, I can’t help but wonder if Mr. Allen actually read any of Ms. Rand’s books, or if he acquired his opinion from other lefties.