| | Whittaker Chambers wrote:
From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard, from painful necessity, commanding: "To the gas chambers-- go!"
In so many ways this is a dreadfully injust and notoriously vicious characterization. But not in every way. In certain respects, Chambers anticipated and predicted the whole Objectivist cult phenomenon. In the end, Ayn Rand sent many, or even most, of her true loyalists and long-time friends to her personal and intellectual gas chamber.
And what was their crime? Sometimes it was not living up to Objectivist standards, and to lacking the requisite character, integrity, honesty and courage to practice what this difficult demanding, idiosyncratic, technocratic ideology demands. But many times it was recognizing a flaw or two in the belief-system and/or having too much character, integrity, honesty, and courage. In that case: "To the gas chambers -- go!"
People who were genuine personal and philosophical allies of hers were purged and excommunicated from her life and movement with stunning severity and cruelty. So Whittaker Chambers -- god-awful human being that he was -- didn't get it totally wrong.
(Edited by Andre Zantonavitch on 11/07, 10:16am)
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