Glenn Woiceshyn
National Post
December 5, 2000

Dear Editor,

It’s about time the National Post published an op-ed from the Ayn Rand Institute. People keep telling me that the Post is a pro-capitalist newspaper, but there is no greater champion of capitalism than novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand.

Robert Tracinski rightly argues that the American urban voter philosophically leans towards collectivism, whereas the rural voter leans towards individualism. Anyone familiar with Americans knows this to be true.

Lawrence Solomon argues the opposite, exhibiting flawed logic and gross evasion. The fact that many rural voters accept government handouts doesn’t necessarily mean they are philosophically oriented towards collectivism — it could mean that they are inconsistent or that they believe collectivism is responsible for creating the conditions that force them to seek government help. Likewise, the fact that entrepreneurs and high-tech companies exist in cities doesn’t mean that the urban population at large is philosophically oriented towards individualism. What a ludicrous inference!

Most urban dwellers in America (and Canada) lean philosophically towards collectivism — primarily because they have been indoctrinated with collectivism via the education system and the media. Hopefully, the Ayn Rand Institute will someday change that. After all, Ayn Rand painstakingly proved that collectivism is evil and destructive.

Glenn Woiceshyn, Calgary, Alberta