Alex Ross

So... you think that the theory I'm talking about is there, in For the New Intellectual, or are you just naming one of the possible essays?

It is a cruel irony that a fan of Miss Rand's and believer of her theories should suffer such a cruel death. I mean, he believed that it was totally wrong to initiate violence and nevertheless... Hope that's enough to explain the comment. :-)

I am new to Objectivism. I halfway through The Fountainhead, and I've listened to some lectures online, but I still don't know Ayn Rand's work as much as I'd like to. There is one thing, though, that's been bugging me for quite a long time. My father used to be a great fan and in one of the conversations we had when he was still alive (ironically, he was tortured and killed in a robbery) was about a theory that explained how our society was shaped this way. According to what I can remember (it's been decades now, so it's certainly not accurate), the theory stated that as soon as humans started living in bunches, someone came up to the crowd and offered to be their leader, to guide them. Thus was born the POLITICIAN. After some time, there were wars with other clans and someone came up to the crowd and offered to protect them against intestine and alien threats. Thus was born the POLICEMAN. Soon, the police realized that they owned brute force and could easily overthrow the leader. To control them, the Gods and preachers were created to inflict fear. Thus was born the PREACHER. I am pretty sure that he attributed this theory to Ayn Rand, but I don't really know if it is hers. I'd like to know if anyone here has ever read anything similar. If so, could you please tell me where to find it? I would really love to 'skip' some reading and go straight to that part, because I really miss the old man and the way he opened my eyes in some of our conversations. I am not sure if this is the correct forum to post this question. If not, I hope you'll forgive me. Thank you in advance. Alex Ross.