Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal | 
| Authors: Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, Robert Hessen
Publisher: Signet
Category: Book
List Price: $8.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  111 reviews
Sales Rank: 11971
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0451147952
Dewey Decimal Number: 320
EAN: 9780451147950
ASIN: 0451147952
Publication Date: July 15, 1986
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| Customer Reviews: Read 106 more reviews...
 An Excellent Collection of Essays on Ayn Rand's Political Views May 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book contains an excellent collection of essays on the political branch of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and is appropriate for anyone seeking to obtain a deeper understanding of her political philosophy beyond reading her novels. A few of my favorite essays contained within include:
* What is Capitalism? -- Ayn Rand's delineation of Capitalism as a political system where individuals live according to the Trader Principle and have a minimal, but central government to prevent the initiation of physical force and fraud.
* Antitrust -- Alan Greenspan's excellent essay that attacks Antitrust legislation as subjective, harmful and immoral.
* Gold and Economic Freedom -- Alan Greenspan's essay on the need for objective currency. In particular, he suggests a return to a 100% gold standard.
* Patents and Copyrights -- Ayn Rand's views on the necessity and morality of intellectual property rights.
* Theory and Practice -- Ayn Rand's views on the invalidity of the "Mind-Body Dichotomy", which is also known as the "Theory-Practice Dichotomy" or the "Thought-Action Dichotomy".
* The Wreckage of the Consensus -- Ayn Rand's views on the debacle that was the war in Vietnam. In my opinion, reading this essay really suggests how she would view the current war in Iraq.
* Man's Rights -- in this essay, Ayn Rand discusses what individual rights are and where they come from. Specifically, she argues that rights come from the nature of man (not from divine origin, society or law) and what they mean in practice.
* The Nature of Government -- this essay contains Ayn Rand's view on government's as an agency of force, how the only proper purpose for a government is to safeguard the rights of men, how the only legitimate functions of government are those necessary to preserve individual rights (i.e., police force, army and a court system) and the necessity for a strong, central government to serve as a final arbiter on the use of retaliatory force. This last point is in stark contrast to various anarcho-capitalists such as David Friedman and Murray Rothbard.
Capitalism is Right April 4, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I find it strange that a reviewer would post that "Capitalism is Wrong" while typing it on a computer and sending it across an Internet to a website that is built on the back of that "evil" word. Do you see the contradiction?
Those that actually read the book would have grasped the essential statement she made which was that she was not primarily an advocate of Capitalism, but of reason. Capitalism was just the natural conclusion.
In any case, the collection of essays presented here are an excellent example of historical evidence as well as philosophical reasoning behind the idea that Capitalism is the only moral political system in existence.
That may shock many potential buyers of the book, but Rand et al present a series of compelling arguments backed up with historical evidence that spans the nation's history to prove their point: Never, not once in America's history, did free enterprise capitalism ever cause ANY of the economic problems that have plagued this country. From the railroads, to the child labor laws, to antitrust regulations...all were caused by Government regulation and interference in the free market. It is a conclusion that one must read and study to believe.
Rand at her best January 5, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Yes, she is abrasive and condescending. That is because she tells the truth. Here is Ayn Rand at her fiery, angry best. Her logic is impeccable although her style may irritate many readers. If you are angry about what's happening to America today, at least attempt to read her prescient message.
 Capitalism is wrong November 4, 2007
2 out of 21 found this review helpful
Capitalism has a number of failings but perhaps the most basic one
is its theory of values. Capitalism acts as if there is a common
currency with which we can measure all that is valuable (money).
This value monism is incorrect. See "The non-existence of a utility
function and the structure of non-representable preference relations"
(Beardon, et al, J. of Math. Econ., vol. 37, pg 17-38, 2002) and refs.
therein. Capitalists simply get the math wrong. Money isn't everything.
Value pluralism is the correct axiology. There are things of value
that can not be bought and sold (thank god! like love and votes).
This failure of values within capitalism is why it is ultimately evil.
Rand is an apologist for evil, a tragic figure.
The moral case for the free market September 14, 2007
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
For anyone interested in an economic case for capitalism, this is not the right book - Rand was a philosopher, not an economist (in spite of her sound understanding of economic theorems.) However, for anyone interested in a moral defence of the system and an understanding of its intellectual history and opponents, this is a vital piece of work. Rand includes essays on voluminous topics, such as the gold standard, distortions of what actually happened during the Industrial Revolution, the proper role of government (I disagree with her on this), and so on. It is essential to understand that Rand was not a corporate shill, nor did she approve of the status quo - to the contrary, she strongly opposed the notion of corporate welfare and the like, and believed in a free market economy. Unfortunately, her adulation of big business gave ample ammunition to her critics. She replicates her essay on the rights of individuals toward the end of the book, which is in itself an excellent read. Taken in conjunction with The Virtue of Selfishness, this work will spur the youthful mind into further inquiry on the philosophical origins and defences of laissez-faire.
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