Ayn Rand inspired high-tech capitalism

Insight on the News, Sept 22, 1997 by Gayle M.B. Hanson

Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged celebrated her philosophy of the individual as creator and entrepreneur. Her ideas and heroes inspired a generation of Silicon Valley achievers that she might have invented for her books.

Think of it as a quiz and tell us who wrote, "I swear by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." If the author of that quotation has you stumped, think technology, think capitalism, think individualism.

Is it Microsoft magnate Bill Gates? How about his archnemesis, Oracle Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison? Or maybe Cypress Semiconductor guru T.J. Rogers?

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

The guy who spoke those words is John Galt, a fictional character. If you find yourself asking, "Who is John Galt?" you're not alone. It is the driving question behind Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand's classic indictment of the welfare state and celebration of all things capitalistic, individualist and egoistic.

"I know that T.J. Rogers loves Atlas Shrugged," says Michael Berliner, the director of the Ayn Rand Institute in Marina del Rey, Calif. "Both Gates and [Michael] Milken have read it. But they're afraid of what it has to say. They have yet to understand the nature of their own philosophy."

Since its publication in 1957, Atlas Shrugged has become the centerpiece in development of Rand's philosophy of objectivism -- an ideology that centers around the idea that the individual is paramount in society. That greed actually is good. And that those who make money should be celebrated and not condemned. Today, more than 50 years after its publication, it is more popular then ever, and Ayn Rand clubs are springing up on college campuses nationwide, including Harvard's.

"Last year we had a Harvard blitz" says Berliner. "We had a talk every other week on campus for a semester. The American Philosophical Association now has an objectivist study group. I wouldn't say the ideas are making a great inroad, but the days of deconstructionism are over."

So what's driving this interest? How about technology. If a decade ago students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology could be seen lugging around copies of Rand's novel The Fountainhead, today many of the same guys are pulling down million-dollar-a-year salaries in a tiny pocket of economic affluence known as Silicon Valley

Let's face it, in the meritocratic manner in which they run their companies, many high-tech business leaders would be more at home with architect Howard Roark, Rand's heroic iconoclast who propelled The Fountainhead to the top of the best-seller lists, than Ben and Jerry, who sell heart disease by the pint all the while claiming that their "1 percent for peace" philosophy is rooted in something deeper than the bottom line.

Forget the Democrats. Ignore the Republicans. Future political battles likely are to be between what Fast Company magazine contributor Ronald Brownstein has christened Cyber-Communitarians and Techno-libertarians. The big difference between the two is that the Cyber-communitarians value team play above any other ethic, while the Techno-libertarians view the individual as paramount.

That's one scenario that very well could happen if information technology continues to power the U.S. economy and the real billionaire-boys club persists in its exponential expansion. For if Silicon Valley long has worn the mantle of political naivete there are growing signs that some of the biggest kids in the silicon sand box are ready to flex their muscles.

"Silicon Valley is not a political place," says Virginia Postrel, editor of Reason magazine and a Forbes contributor. "People in Silicon Valley are active on issues, but in general they are very politically naive. One thing that concerns me is the ability of people, most notably Clinton and Gore, to use Silicon Valley high-tech entrepreneurs as props to signify that they are for the future. At the same time the national Republican Party and conservative pundits have gone out of their way to alienate the high-tech community."

But while the Democrats were the first to tap into the valley as a potential source of political contributions, with Vice President Al Gore taking a leadership role in drumming up support with his information-superhighway rhetoric, Silicon Valley leadership is not necessarily willing to tool along in the same direction as President Clinton. While Oracle CEO Ellison, the richest man in California with some $8 billion lining his pockets, threw wads of cash at the president during both his 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns, when it came time to choose a politician for his own board he chose Jack Kemp, who only resigned when he entered the 1996 race as Bob Dole's running mate.

Ellison, who is building a $40 million home complete with a model of a 16th-century Samurai village, is the ultimate corporate warrior and legendary competitor who often uses militaristic language when plotting the demise of his competitors, particularly Microsofts Gates.