The Return of the Primitive : The Anti-Industrial Revolution

Review Ayn Rand is a writer of great power. She has a subtle and ingenious mind and the capacity of writing brilliantly, beautifully, bitterly. --_New York Times Book Review_ ''Ayn Rand is destined to rank in history as the outstanding novelist and most profound philosopher of the twentieth century.'' --_New York Daily Mirror_ 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. The Late 1960s Saw The First Widespread Expression, In Overt Form, Of The Creed Of Anti-industrialism In America. The Original Edition Of This Book Was Published As A Response - As An Analysis And Refutation Of That Deadly Phenomenon. Among Noted Thinkers Of The Day, Ayn Rand Alone Stood Firm Against The Tide Of Kantian Nihilism And In Support Of Reason, Individualism, And Laissez-faire Capitalism - The Philosophic Ideals That Are The Foundation Of American Achievement And Progress. Three Decades Later, Despite A Seemingly Different Sociopolitical Climate, The Intellectual Essence Of The New Left Endures. Its Continued Influence - Manifested In Such Ideologies As Environmentalism And Multiculturalism - Renders Rand's Observations And Warnings As Relevant, And As Urgently Needed, As When They Were First Written. In This Newly Revised And Expanded Volume, Peter Schwartz Supplements Rand's Work By Shedding New Light On The Dangerous Legacy Of The New Left - A Legacy That Seeks To Return Mankind To The Era Of Primitivism. Ayn Rand ; Edited And With An Introduction And Additional Articles By Peter Schwartz. Comprises, In Addition To Three Articles By Peter Schwartz, The Text Of The Original Ed. Of The New Left, Supplemented By Two Ayn Rand Articles, Racism And Global Balkanization Previously Published Elsewhere. Cf. P. Ix. Includes Bibliographical References. "Original edition published as The New Left : the anti-industrial revolution by Signet in 1971. "Racism" appeared in ... The virtue of selfishness ... published by Signet in 1964 ..."-- T.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references. The late 1960s saw the first widespread expression, in overt form, of the creed of anti-industrialism in America. The original edition of this book was published as a response - as an analysis and refutation of that deadly phenomenon. Among noted thinkers of the day, Ayn Rand alone stood firm against the tide of Kantian nihilism and in support of reason, individualism, and laissez-faire capitalism - the philosophic ideals that are the foundation of American achievement and progress.Three decades later, despite a seemingly different sociopolitical climate, the intellectual essence of the "New Left" endures. Its continued influence - manifested in such ideologies as environmentalism and multiculturalism - renders Rand's observations and warnings as relevant, and as urgently needed, as when they were first written.In this newly revised and expanded volume, Peter Schwartz supplements Rand's work by shedding new light on the dangerous legacy of the New Left - a legacy that seeks to return mankind to the era of primitivism 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 feminism, 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. 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 feminism, 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.