Personally, I think Miss Rand is way too heavy-handed in her writing, and, most ironically, it is almost as if she (either consciously or subconsciously) created a Soviet-style personality cult and applied to capitalism. Regardless, communism, fascism, Ayn Rand...they're all such modernist constructions when I look back.
I dunno...it's notable as probably the most dominant conservative philosophy of the 20th century, which is probably why it is never brought up in the same breath as all the leftist philosophies of the century, but it's the personality cult is ultimately what makes "objectivism" less of a philosophy and more of an atheistic religion, in my opinion. "What Would Ayn Do?" Regardless, I would say that "objectivism" likely hit its apex during the 1980s, with the kind of laissez-faire "greed is good" capitalism that was most notable for that era. It shouldn't be a surprise either; many business CEOs are influenced by Ayn Rand and Alan Greenspan is a noted adherent too. But getting back to that ultimate "objectivist" question--WWAD?--it was noted that she hated Reagan for being too involved with the Religious Right, but she died in 1982, before much of the "Reagan Revolution." I am curious if she would have grown to like him in the end.
Melon