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The Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution

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It's hard to engage in hyperbole when it comes to praising Ayn Rand, she was a brilliant novelist, groundbreaking philosopher and accomplished communicator, all of the first order. "The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution," though its adroit assessment of the cultural conflict of 1960's and `70's clearly ranks among the crown jewels of the Objectivist corpus. Written at a time when America was in a confused retreat, facing the wholesale rejection of the principles that led to its spectacular rise and facing a future that seemed wrought with storm clouds, Ayn Rand cut through the haze like a laser, identifying the altruist moral premise of America's destroyers and prescribing the antidote. Her essays, like `The Comprachicos,' which identified the essence and effect of progressive education, or `Apollo and Dionysus,' which contrasted the Apollo moon launch with the Woodstock music festival, all eloquently identified the forces that were tearing America apart and what was needed to make it whole again.

Yet it would be a mistake to say that Ayn Rand's essays were written only for the time in which they were written. Primarily philosophical examinations of the era, these essays have a timelessness to them that make them all the more vital today. In describing the problems that plagued America in the 60's and 70's, Ayn Rand described the problems that face all men who live in civilization, yet do not fully posses the right principles for doing so.

Now re-released as "Return of the Primitive" with new essays by Peter Schwartz, (a brilliant communicator in his own right), the book takes on an almost haunting tone. Today, the once-radical agenda of America's destroyers in the 60's and 70's is all but accepted. Through his new articles, Schwartz gives his readers an update on America's philosophical trends and makes clearer the stakes that are at risk.

Does America have to be lost? No, and this book is a call to arms to those who would save both it and their own lives.

Return of the primitive: The anti industrial revolution is a modernized version of Rand's original work from the 1960's: The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution. I have read Atlas Shrugged, Fountainhead, Anthem, We the Livng, Philosophy Who Needs It, Virtue of Selfishness...all by Ayn Rand. This book, The Anti-Industrial Revolution, in its original form is a very high quality addition to your Ayn Rand library.

Originally written at the suggestion of student/ reader, The Anti industrial revolution is a good application of Rand's philosopy to the troubles which plauged society both today and at the time of its writing, the riotous 1960's. Here you will see Rand analyse famous events such as Woodstock.. the mud pit fiasco of pot smoking non productive tribal minded people, and Apollo the launch representing man's highest abilities: the culmination of industry and technology in to man's greatest achievement to date (1960's). You will hear rand compare and contrast Woodstock with Apollo and you will be both surprised and enlightened.

The chapter on the comprachinos will take you for a psychological tour of what makes a man develope as a thinking individual, or not, from the time of birth through adolescence. Rand takes you on a virtual tour of a childs life, showing you which points are critical to the developement of individuality: the ability to percieve objectively. If you are concerned about what, if any, detrimental effects day care centers may have on the development of your child, you can find guidance here with Rand's writings.

Over all the book, composed of many short articles by Rand, is a very good addition to your works by Rand. I believe you will find it to be of the same high quality as other works by Rand. A really good book for those interested in reading some Rand for the first or fifth time.

Ayn Rand's analysis of the Left in the 60's was deadly accurate. It was eye-opening when I first read it, and remains relevant to this day.

One of Miss Rand's unique talents was in showing how important basic philosophical ideas are in shaping cultural trends. For example, if you're concerned about the deplorable state of education, her article "The Comprachicos" shows how educational problems have nothing to do with funding or class sizes, but everything to do with the way teachers teach, i.e., that the content and method of today's classrooms is designed to destroy a child's mind. Miss Rand's genius is that she exposes the basic philosophy behind this, and many other cultural phenomena.

Mr. Schwartz's essays on environmentalism, multiculturalism and feminism also hit the mark, highlighting Miss Rand's prescience. He shows that those who advocate these ideas want to take away all the values of your life--right down to the computer you're using to read this review--and how.

I highly recommend this book.

If you are are serious about ideas and sympathetic to today's fashionable causes, such as feminism, environmentalism and multi-culturalism, this book will make you think again.

Ayn Rand's essays are clear, incisive and compelling. Peter Schwartz's contributions are equally lucid. He has the remarkable ability to cut through the rationalizations and smokescreens thereby exposing the essence of an ideology. His attention to detail is astonshing. Ever considered why environmentalists use the term "environment" rather than "nature"? Schwartz has.

Peter Schwartz has taken on a tough assignment; few question the validity of the causes he has in his sights. His is an unpopular position, but after reading this book you might wonder why.

If you really want to understand today's trends, Ayn Rand and Peter Schwartz offer a concise and cogent analysis and a withering rebuttal unlike any other I have read. Highly Recommended.

"Return of the Primitive" is a masterfully re-edited version of Ayn Rand's "The New Left." By adding Ayn Rand's essays, and a number of his own, Peter Schwartz has assembled a new manifesto against the horrors of today's intellectuals.

Essays by Ayn Rand, new to this edition, include "Racism" and "Global Balkanization." The first explains Ayn Rand's unique (and powerful) case against racism; the second explains the deeper philosophic reasons why racism is engulfing the globe at an ever-expanding pace.

Mr. Schwartz's new essays also go a long way in addressing certain contemporary cultural questions (feminism, multiculturalism, and environmentalism) on which Ayn Rand herself was not able to comment in full.

Of particular interest is Mr. Schwartz's essay, "Multicultural Nihilism." By identifying the *epistemological* roots of contemporary diversity worship, Mr. Schwartz is able to resolve a nagging paradox of contemporary leftism: why do the multiculturalists advocate radical non-discrimination policies, but affirmative action (a form of discrimination) at the same time? The answer to this question -- which I will leave to the reader to discover -- is a stroke of integration of the brand I have come to expect (and appreciate) from Peter Schwartz.

Ayn Rand's original edition, "The New Left" focused mainly on the specifically anti-industrial doctrines of '60's leftists, such as "ecology." With the massive upswing of the multicultural movement (of which feminism is a part) in the 80's and 90's, however, the left became all the more variegated in its venom. Peter Schwartz's new edition shows what these new movements have in common with the anti-industrialism of the 60's: an all-out assault on values as such.

I recommend this book very strongly for those who want to grasp the deepest philosophical meaning of movements and events such as the student rebellion, multiculturalism, feminism and environmentalism. Ayn Rand and Peter Schwartz are brilliant in showing that these movements are anti-reason, anti-man and anti-life.

Have you thought, when hearing your friends fall blindly for the latest global warming hype, or hearing your professors disparage the American White Male as the cause of all the world's problems, that there is something terribly wrong with their positions? But have you found it difficult to argue effectively for your side because, no matter what facts or logical argument you raise, they respond with "facts" of their own and a "logical" argument that just doesn't seem right?

Ayn Rand is a master at uncovering the philosophical premises that are behind modernist fads like environmentalism (of course back then it was the next ice age, not global warming!), progressive education, racism, gender studies, etc. The ideas in Ayn Rand's Return of the Primitive and other books show the rottenness of many of the terrible ideas that are a part of our culture and will not only help you to understand and argue for better ideas but will arm you with principles against accidentally accepting the terribly mistaken philosophical premises that are behind them.

I notice, reading the reviews of those that "hate" Rand, that they often say that Rand's philosophy of selfishness is 'destroying western civilization' by insisting people not care for others. What a horrible misunderstanding this is. Those who believe as much have not spent any good amount time reading Rand's works.

Rand is not against love and compassion. Indeed, Rand's philosophy is supportive of such emotions, as well as charity. The difference is that Rand supoorts THE INDIVIDUAL'S CHOICE to love, care, and contribute.

Rand's philosophy is completely compatible with a compassionate society. She simply maintains that it is individuals, not the government, who should choose to help others. She argues, quite clearly, that it is each person's choice to "give" and not the government's choice to "take" charity.

Why do so many people on the left try to jump on Rand and make her into a demon? There is NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING in the philosophy of Objectivism that states that one MUST NOT show charity, compassion, or carring. It simply argues that such choices should be the decision of the individual, based on what the individual finds important, as opposed to guilt, regulation, or government sanction.

I have a dear friend who is an Objectivist, and he is one of the most giving people I know. Guess what, he just doesn't want the government to force people into "giving." There is another word for forcing someone to give. That word is "theft."

Stop complaining and attacking Rand. Just because you disagree doesn't mean you should mis-state what Rand stood for. Otherwise you can count yourself among those enlightened souls who call all Democrats Communists, all Republicans Nazis, and all bums "lazy."

This is a fine book. Rand is a fine thinker. You may disagree with her thoughts, but that doesn't make them wrong.

Even from an early age, I was distrustful of the glory others saw in something like Woodstock, for instance. I remember thinking that there was something terribly wrong about hordes of unwashed stoners swaying together in a field of mud to the sounds of musicians who, shortly after, began dropping like flies from gnawing at handfuls of drugs. So this is the enlightenment we've all been overlooking? It just never seemed to make a lot of sense to my young mind.

Now, of course, I can see what was so vacant in the notion of everyone joining together, taking several steps backward into the dark ages, tossing material comforts out of the window and wallowing in a mud pit to the sounds of 'revolution' with thousands of chronically-unemployed fiends. Namely:

-If someone can afford to pitch a tent at a rock concert for days on end, you can be sure that some 'prude' or 'unenlightened' person, namely, a parent, is paying for their folly. I just could never convince myself that taking money from someone in one hand and flipping them off with the other was consistent enough to earn my admiration.

-Listening to howling revolutionary inanities calling for a 'return to nature' through a microphone connected to a 5 million dollar sound system, and not falling down in laughter at the contradiction, is apparently confusing only to those who don't have peppermints for eyes.

-The unfolding philosophical and moral blackhole left in the wake of people like David Crosby who, after years of free-basing & drinking himself into liver-eroding blindness....all the while caterwauling songs about how screwed-up everyone else is....required a liver transplant. Why he didn't go to the river Ganges and find a fakir to do this remains a mystery, but here's one thing that is right out there in the open: he took a liver that someone who had the misfortune of being born with a liver defect could have used. He got one, though, and we get the payoff of suffering another decade of painfully repetious reunion shows featuring three wasted, jaded old men screeching "Teach Your Children". Thanks for the advice.

Anyway, buy this book.....Peter Schwartz also has some good essays toward the end.

In this book Ayn Rand looks at numerous aspects of our culture from Woodstock and the space missions to public education and relates them to various philosophic principles. She shows not only how irrational the current left-wing philosophy is, but also how it is now morally bankrupt, especially compared with 'the old left'. Despite the colossal failure of socialism time and time again, modern liberals- to this day- continue to idealize it, even the horrors of the former Soviet Union. Just look at the book 'In Denial: Historians, Communism, & Espionage' by John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr. Or look at the cover story "Missing the Good Old Soviet Days" in the March 8th, 2004 Los Angeles Times.

This is a new release of the classic "The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution" with a few additional pieces by Ayn Rand and a few new pieces by Peter Schwartz, a contemporary Objectivist. The new book offers better organization of the content, and the new essays clearly illustrate how the trend continues with Environmentalism and Multiculturalism.