Paul Ryan Disses Ayn Rand For Thomas Aquinas

     Seems to me that he learns the wrong lessons from each of his heroes. Ryan has gone back and forth about how important Rand's thought is in shaping his overall philosophy. In more recent times he's attempted to minimize it:

     "Paul Ryan says that he read her books as a youth but was not influenced by her. In April, he gave an interview to National Review in which he repudiated Rand entirely. In the interview, he called reports of his adherence to Rand's views an "urban legend" and said that he was more deeply influenced by his Roman Catholic faith and by Thomas Aquinas."

     http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/14/opinion/weiss-ryan-rand/index.html

     Of course, the reasons are more to do with her support for abortion rights and her atheism. It's not her Social Darwinism that gives him cause as he himself is now running for the White House with the most Socially Darwinist Presidential platform in over 100 years.

     Yes, I know he's not the Presidential candidate. However, in the WSJ itself this morning, Bret Stephens had lamented that he's not on the top of the ticket.

    In the past Ryan has not been so uncharitable to Ms. Objectivist:

     "But that's not the way he was talking in 2005, when he gave a speech to the Atlas Society, a group dedicated to promoting Rand's beliefs."

      "In that speech, Ryan said, "I grew up reading Ayn Rand and it taught me quite a bit about who I am and what my value systems are and what my beliefs are. It's inspired me so much that it's required reading in my office for all my interns and my staff."

      "He went on to say that "the reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. And the fight we are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism versus collectivism."

      See what I mean about him taking the worst parts of each? If only he shared St. Aquinas' Social Gospel rather than Rand's Social Darwinism. On the other hand, he could learn from Rand's libertarianism about abortion, etc.

      He actually has proposed the most draconian anti abortion laws in the age of Roe v. Wade, actually calling for women who have abortions to be sent to prison.

     http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2012/08/paul-ryans-scary-views-on-abortion.html

     So in his formative thinkers-Ayn Rand and Aquinas we get the worst of all worlds.