Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal
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| Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal | |
|---|---|
 First edition with slipcase |
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| Author | Ayn Rand |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject(s) | Political philosophy |
| Publisher | New American Library |
| Publication date | 1966 (1st edition) 1967 (2nd edition) |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 209 (1st edition) 349 (2nd edition) |
| ISBN | N/A |
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal is a collection of essays, mostly by Ayn Rand, with additional essays by her associates Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan and Robert Hessen. The book focuses on the moral nature of laissez-faire capitalism and private property. The book has a very specific definition of capitalism, a system it regards as broader than simply property rights or free enterprise. It was originally published in 1966.
Contents |
[edit] Publication history
Most of the essays originally appeared in The Objectivist Newsletter or The Objectivist. The hardcover first edition was published by New American Library in 1966. When the book was published in paperback in 1967, it was revised to include two additional essays. In 1970, Rand revised the introduction to reflect her break with Nathaniel Branden.
[edit] Contents
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, is in Rand's words a comprehensive defense of the only social system consistent with man's requirements as a rational being: laissez-faire capitalism.
After an introduction by Rand, the book is divided into two main sections. The first section, "Theory and History", contains essays that focus on the theoretical basis for capitalism and historical arguments related to it. This section includes essays arguing against common objections to capitalism. The second section, "Current State", focuses on contemporary political issues from the 1960s. The topics covered in this section include the Vietnam War, student protests, and the papal encyclical Populorum progressio. An "Appendix" section reprints two essays on political theory previously published in Rand's earlier book, The Virtue of Selfishness. A recommended reading list about capitalism is also provided.
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Theory and History
- 1 What is Capitalism?, Ayn Rand
- 2 The Roots of War, Ayn Rand
- 3 America’s Persecuted Minority: Big Business, Ayn Rand
- 4 Antitrust, Alan Greenspan
- 5 Common Fallacies About Capitalism, Nathaniel Branden
- 6 Gold and Economic Freedom, Alan Greenspan
- 7 Notes on the History of American Free Enterprise, Ayn Rand
- 8 The Effects of the Industrial Revolution on Women and Children, Robert Hessen
- 9 The Assault on Integrity, Alan Greenspan
- 10 The Property Status of Airwaves, Ayn Rand
- 11 Patents and Copyrights, Ayn Rand
- 12 Theory and Practice, Ayn Rand
- 13 Let Us Alone!, Ayn Rand
- Current State
- 14 The Anatomy of Compromise, Ayn Rand
- 15 Is Atlas Shrugging?, Ayn Rand
- 16 The Pull Peddlers, Ayn Rand
- 17 “Extremism,” or The Art of Smearing, Ayn Rand
- 18 The Obliteration of Capitalism, Ayn Rand
- 19 Conservatism: An Obituary, Ayn Rand
- 20 The New Fascism: Rule by Consensus, Ayn Rand
- 21 The Wreckage of the Consensus, Ayn Rand
- 22 The Cashing-in: The Student Rebellion, Ayn Rand
- 23 Alienation, Nathaniel Brandon
- 24 Requiem for Man, Ayn Rand
- Appendix
- Man’s Rights, Ayn Rand
- The Nature of Government, Ayn Rand
- Recommended Bibliography
- Index
[edit] Themes
| “ | Capitalism is the only system geared to the life of a rational being and the only moral politico-econo mic system in history. — Ayn Rand | ” |
Rand applies her philosophy of Objectivism to the subject of politics. When Rand talks of capitalism, she means laissez-faire capitalism, in which there is a complete separation of state and economics "in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of church and state." Rand says, "Objectivists are not 'conservatives'. We are radicals for capitalism; we are fighting for that philosophical base which capitalism did not have and without which it was doomed to perish."
Rand says that most people do not know what capitalism is, which is why it is "the unknown ideal." She contrasts her approach to capitalism with that of others:
There is a fundamental difference between the approach of radicals for capitalism and that of capitalism's classical defenders and modern apologists, who with very few exceptions, are responsible - by default - for capitalism's destruction. The default consists of their inability or unwillingness to fight the battle where it had to be fought: on moral-philosophical grounds. The method of capitalism's destruction rests on never letting the world discover what it is that is being destroyed - on never allowing it to be identified within the hearing of the young. The purpose of this book is to identify it.
[edit] What is capitalism?
As understood by Rand, capitalism is the system that emerges among a group of free individuals, each applying time and reason to sustain their own life, each the owner of the means to do so, freely trading among themselves.
Capitalism is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned. The recognition of individual rights entails the banishment of physical force from human relationships: basically, rights can be violated only by means of force. In a capitalist society, no man or group may initiate the use of physical force against others. The only function of the government, in such a society, is the task of protecting man’s rights, 'i.e., the task of protecting him from physical force; the government acts as the agent of man’s right of self-defense, and may use force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use; thus the government is the means of placing the retaliatory use of force under objective control.
Rand regarded a mixed economy as a dangerous and unstable combination of freedom and controls in which there is a tendency to move towards statism.
[edit] Reason and values
Rand says that where animals are guided by instinct to survive, humans survive by using reason. Only through reason can humans build a shelter, make weapons for hunting, preserve food for future needs, etc.
Rand holds that capitalism is based on the objectivist theory of value. The value of an object is a combination of reason and labor. A rock is just a lump of chemicals. But in the hands of a human, a rock could be useful as a weapon. But the human had to first conceive of the rock as a weapon. Furthermore, a rock with a sharp edge would be even more useful. In order to sharpen the stone, the human must first, through reason, discover that a sharp edge is useful, and then by applying labor, actually sharpen the stone. This is how value is created.
[edit] Individual rights
In its most basic form, the right to life (as understood by Rand) is the right of each human to do any and all activities necessary to sustain his own life, but his right to life can never deny another human's right to life. Rand views humans as independent beings; each freely expending their own time and reason to sustain their own life.
No human has indefinite time available. To produce an object, a human spends some of his finite time. It is the act of spending time into an object, that makes that object property. Take the case of an arrowhead: To a cat, a piece of flint is just a rock lying on the ground. But a human takes the flint, and using time and reason shapes the flint into an arrowhead. The arrowhead is valuable for survival. Because the human spent of his own time in making the arrowhead, and because the time spent cannot be replaced ever, that arrowhead now belongs to that human.
Most humans cannot produce everything they require for living. Skill levels vary from human to human. One human may be better at shaping flint into arrowheads. Another may have acquired the skill to turn mud into pottery. If the first wants a pot to cook in, he may trade an arrowhead for a pot. The central feature of free trade is that each participant feels they have traded an object of lesser value for that of higher value. The arrowhead is not very useful for cooking, so the first human feels he obtained a more valuable object. Conversely, the second human will have a hard time hunting buffalo with a piece of pottery, so to him the arrowhead is of more value than a pot.
[edit] Reception
Compared to Rand's earlier books, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal received relatively few reviews. Positive reviews appeared in The Freeman and the Houston Chronicle, and Barron's Magazine published a review by Rand's associate Leonard Peikoff. A negative review appeared in Book Week, and another negative review, in The New Republic was titled, "Here We Go Gathering Nuts".
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Rand, A., (1967) Ayn Rand - Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.
- Capitalism - Theory, The Ayn Rand Lexicon.
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