Then, I grew up.

Ayn Rand never grew up, but she did grow old. When she was old, she lived on Social Security and other benefits of the “welfare state.” Ironic, that.

There is an aspect of Rand’s Virtue of Selfishness philosophy that is not being talked about, and that is the essential immaturity of her vision. Hers was a child’s view of the world and how the world works. She never grew up. She just grew old.

One can take her premise of selfishness-as-virtue and re-cast it from an adult perspective. Ergo, “a nation of strong community and strong working class and middle class with less poverty will provide everyone with a better quality of life, and I am part of “everyone” so as a selfish person, I support that nation-as-community-model.” That’s where Rand’s philosophical musings might have taken her, had she ever grown up.

The reason Paul Ryan and others don’t support America as a community-nation is because their vision is fundamentally immature.

Paul Ryan never grew up. Nor did Mitt Romney. They may be wearing big-boy pants, but their vision and world outlook is still that of self-absorbed teens.

My two cents.

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