Rand holds to conservative philosophy of objectivism, this can be termed ‘rational selfishness’
Objectivism rejects the notion that you are in any way obligated to do things that are labelled ‘morally right’
We have a duty to take our interests as first importance; Rand argued that altruism and self-sacrifice were immoral ideals
“The first right on earth is the right of the ego. Man’s first duty is to himself"
Holds to the idea that reality is real; men perceive reality through reason
Objectivism says man is an end in himself and therefore, allows for a degree of government regulation
The basis of Rand’s political philosophy rests on the presupposition that man has free will to make choices
Politics is a key component of Rand's philosophy and why?
- An ideal political system for objectivists is laissez-faire capitalism; a system with a complete separation of state and economics
- The primary role of the government is to protect the rights of the individual within the state
- Rand argues that individual actors acting in cooperation with one another will seek to benefit themselves
- Consequentially, this will benefit the system as a whole

Rand and wealth:

She contended that those who create wealth should be revered at the expense of those who seek to take it off others by force
Rand praised the creation of wealth above the attempts of the state to redistribute wealth in anyway
Wealth, Rand argued, ultimately ends up in the hands of electorally-important groups or those with the most political power
Thus, Rand promoted ethical egoism - we ought to act in our own self-interest (this is associated with the political right), while ethical altruism - moral duty to help our fellow man is linked to the political left

Rand's opposition to Collectivism and Statism:

"The political expression of altruism is collectivism or statism, which holds that man’s life and work belong to the state—to society, to the group, the gang, the race, the nation—and that the state may dispose of him in any way it pleases for the sake of whatever it deems to be its own tribal, collective good." (The Objectivist Newsletter, pp. 35, August 1962)

"A statist system—whether of a communist, fascist, Nazi, socialist or “welfare” type—is based on the . . . government’s unlimited power, which means: on the rule of brute force. The differences among statist systems are only a matter of time and degree; the principle is the same. Under statism, the government is not a policeman, but a legalized criminal that holds the power to use physical force in any manner and for any purpose it pleases against legally disarmed, defenseless victims.

Nothing can ever justify so monstrously evil a theory. Nothing can justify the horror, the brutality, the plunder, the destruction, the starvation, the slave-labour camps, the torture chambers, the wholesale slaughter of statist dictatorships." (The Objectivist Newsletter, pp. 44, October, 1962)

Key Conservative Thinkers