• • • Paul Ryan: The Big Idea Guy 
Michael Crowley, Time Atheism  |Atlas Shrugged  |The Fountainhead  |Capitalism  |Egoism  |Paul Ryan  | (Full article requires subscription.)Rand was a passionate believer in individual freedom who argued that selfishness is a virtue because society works best when people pursue their truest aspirations: “Accept the fact that achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life,” she writes in Atlas Shrugged. Rand saw government as an obstacle to happiness; a modern Randian strain on the right argues that government isn’t just inefficient and expensive but is actually immoral, creating a culture of dependency that stunts free will. Ryan’s rhetoric echoes this view.   Published: 2012-08-31