Age of Selfishness

Full disclosure, I requested this book from the library because it was love at first site! I have read Atlas Shrugged and a graphic adaption of Anthem at this point and my utter disgust with both Rand's writing style and her politics really knows no bounds. So I'm slightly biased, that said, I tried to come up with some objective observations which I will now share.

First off, while the art was fun I did feel like it could have provided more visual learning elements. Certainly not too much a detraction really, but rather a way to push it over into classic excellence.

Secondly, I also felt like the first section was by far the best and that each subsequent section wasn't quite as good. While I'm sure even the first section could rub a Rand fan the wrong way, the third section, in particular, seemed a little bit too personal and judgmental. On the one hand, I think it is likely a good idea to realise that people are likely drawn to different ideologies based not only on the way they were brought up but also by their own personality. That said, according to the study that Cunningham sites, both my partner and I's need to plan ahead mean we are more likely to be conservative. Obviously, this study is NOT meant to be a hard and fast rule, but as a huge fan fo the Myers-Briggs personality test it did feel like an oversimplification. There are a lot of other personality traits that more directly relate to one's political inclinations then judging vs. perceiving.

Thirdly, because I can hardly stop numbering stuff now, I would like to switch to something a bit more positive. The one really big takeaway from this book that I really appreciate is the ways in which Cunningham shows the effect Rand has already had on the economy. Even as someone who despises Randian economics, due to how young I am (plus not reading much about the economy) I had always thought of it as something that had not happened yet. But Cunningham does a really great job of explaining how in many ways Rand has already done irreparable harm to the American economy.

Overall, despite a few flaws that I felt held it back a bit, I really enjoyed this book. I felt like I learned a lot and it definitely broadened my perspective a bit.