General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why is there no liberal Ayn Rand? Conservatives have a canon, why don't liberals? [View all]ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)Except I think the original post's premises are wrong.
There are plenty of heroes out there, too many to mention here. From people like Mark Twain to Noam Chomsky. From painters and artists, to computer geeks and wild-eyed thinkers. From Tom Paine to Ben Franklin, in terms of what the purpose of our country was at its ugly, dirty, bloody beginning.
There is a vast reservoir of talent, ideas, and progressive ideals that guide many of us. Do we need one particular hero to guide each and every thought and idea? Do we want to be so limited in scope and vision that we can only rely on one source? What if, as in the case of Ayn Rand, that sole source is horribly, terribly, and unabashedly incorrect in:
a) her facts
b) her theories
c) her application of her facts to her theories
If we choose one person, and there is the slightest error in any of their analysis or facts, the whole argument gets thrown out. Unless you are a libertarian, or an batty ultra-conservative like Ayn Rand, who would be almost proud of the TeaBagger crowd (except their religious problems)