Surely the great lady herself would not have agreed with such outrageous sentiments. Or would she?
The excellent ARCHN blog recently addressed this topic, presenting us with the following quotation straight from the lips of John Galt's creatrix:
"They didn’t have any rights to the land, and there was no reason for anyone to grant them rights which they had not conceived and were not using . . . . What was it that they were fighting for, when they opposed white men on this continent? For their wish to continue a primitive existence, their ‘right’ to keep part of the earth untouched, unused and not even as property, but just keep everybody out so that you will live practically like an animal, or a few caves above it. Any white person who brings the element of civilization has the right to take over this continent."- Address to West Point, 1974
Niiiice. A rare lapse on the part of history's greatest intellect? A commenter on the ARCHN blog thinks not, and produces other Rand quotes to make his case.
We owe nothing to the Indians, except the memory of the monstrous evils done by them.... Now, I don't care to discuss the alleged complaints American Indians have against this country. I believe, with good reason, the most unsympathetic Hollywood portrayal of Indians and what they did to the white man.... I oppose applying contract law to American Indians.
All these quotes, we are informed, are from Ayn Rand Answers, no doubt a treasure trove of choice nuggets of nuttiness.
A clueless anonymous commenter then queries,
okay, I give up: what part of this quote/attitude do you have a problem with?
Hmm, hard to say. Could it be a self-styled "philosopher" condemning the indigenous peoples of the Americas on the basis of Hollywood movies she's watched? Reducing all of native American culture to "monstrous evils," without a shred of evidence other than the aforementioned Hollywood movies? Claiming that Indians lived in caves? Saying they have no human rights because they aren't civilized? Explicitly connecting the concept of "civilized" with the concept of "white"? All of the above?
Evidently the view of Indians as pestilent savages who deserved to be wiped out is not limited to the wackos on the fringes of the Randiverse. It is the official position staked out by the wacko at the very center of the Randiverse, Aym Grand herself.
But remember, it's only a matter of time until Randism sweeps the nation! We can't wait!
