These new social movements need to work with family formation and the generational transmission of the movement’s mission to sustain themselves. We can see that clearly in Mormonism, for example, which builds on traditional biblical Christianity’s pro-natalist beliefs.
By contrast, Ayn Rand’s writings show a genuine hostility towards family life and having children. I don’t know if we have any social science data about Objectivists, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Objectivists tend to display below-average fecundity, which bodes poorly for Objectivism’s future as a new folkway. Atlas Shrugged provides two examples of good sibling/bad sibling combinations in two different families, so I have to wonder if Objectivists don’t want to have children partly out of fear that some of them might grow up resembling Ayn Rand’s villains.
These new social movements need to work with family formation and the generational transmission of the movement’s mission to sustain themselves. We can see that clearly in Mormonism, for example, which builds on traditional biblical Christianity’s pro-natalist beliefs.
By contrast, Ayn Rand’s writings show a genuine hostility towards family life and having children. I don’t know if we have any social science data about Objectivists, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Objectivists tend to display below-average fecundity, which bodes poorly for Objectivism’s future as a new folkway. Atlas Shrugged provides two examples of good sibling/bad sibling combinations in two different families, so I have to wonder if Objectivists don’t want to have children partly out of fear that some of them might grow up resembling Ayn Rand’s villains.