Good point dick greenhouse...

It is easy to find discrepancies within Ayn Rand's philosophy... and yet, I find all such discussions to be ultimately meaningful. I have found it difficult, however, to legitimize an all encompassing relevance to any work of fiction... especially when the author has a rather specific adjenda... as Rand, it seems to me, has. As she chooses almost exclusively to disparage the mismanagement of big business by big government, I don't mind the obvious shortcommings of her philosophy when it comes to society as a whole...

To do so is to run the risk of taking her meaning out of context.
ttr