The Lure of Ayn Rand

Adolescents, particularly weak outsiders, are sometimes fascinated by powerful villains and their cold ruthlessness. That is what Ayn Rand offers, a gross reversal of morality, an admiration for sociopathic evil. An outcaste teenager who adopts Rand moves into a position of secret glamor (she or he believes) and dark superiority to ordinary people with their feeble kindnesses to one another.