Mystique of the Intellectual: Heroes of Ayn Rand's Dystopias and Ron Paul's Revolution

Abstract

This article explores and correlates attributes of intellectual mystique as expressed in Ayn Rand’s fiction and in Ron Paul’s campaigns.  Ron Paul’s political campaign and supporters use economic and biographical facts to reinforce Paul’s maverick intellectual esteem, which is reminiscent of objectivist protagonists in Ayn Rand’s dystopias.  The symmetry between Paul’s revolution and predominant themes in Ayn Rand’s suppositional dystopias contributes to his mystique, leading in some cases to the fictionalization of fact, and in others, the reification of fiction.  Intellectual mystique thereby operates as a nexus between fact and fiction.  The paper references Ron Paul’s campaign rhetoric, political theory, and economic argumentation against the backdrop of Ayn Rand’s Objectivism and the heroes who articulate it.  The analysis exposits ‘knowledge inflation,’ ‘funneling,’ and ‘prediction-fulfillment’ as three vehicles by which intellectual mystique is constructed in Ayn Rand’s heroes and Ron Paul’s revolution.  Ron Paul’s campaign, then, provides a paradigmatic example of fiction built from fact and supposition catalyzed by intellectual mystique.