The Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (Paperback)

~ (Author), Peter Schwartz (Contributor) "The so-called student "rebellion," which was started and key-noted at the University of California at Berkeley, has profound significance, but not of the kind that..." (more)
Key Phrases: ecological crusade, personal alchemy, conceptual faculty, United States, New Left, Women's Lib (more...)

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Product Description

In the tumultuous late 60s and early 70s, a social movement known as the "New Left" emerged as a major cultural influence, especially on the youth of America. It was a movement that embraced "flower-power" and psychedelic "consciousness-expansion," that lionized Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro and launched the Black Panthers and the Theater of the Absurd. In Return Of The Primitive (originally published in 1971 as The New Left), Ayn Rand, bestselling novelist and originator of the theory of Objectivism, identified the intellectual roots of this movement. She urged people to repudiate its mindless nihilism and to uphold, instead, a philosophy of reason, individualism, capitalism, and technological progress. Editor Peter Schwartz, in this new, expanded version of The New Left, has reorganized Rand's essays and added some of his own in order to underscore the continuing relevance of her analysis of that period. He examines such current ideologies as environmentalism and multiculturalism and argues that the same primitive, tribalist, "anti-industrial" mentality which animated the New Left a generation ago is shaping society today.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Plume; Expanded edition (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452011841
• ISBN-13: 978-0452011847
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #295,298 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A timely update of a vital text, February 16, 2000

By	Nicholas Provenzo (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is another of Rand's whopping success!, May 18, 1999

By A Customer

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.

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great, timely update to Ayn Rand's view of the Left, January 24, 1999

By	Andrew J. Lewis (Laguna Niguel, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.