Ayn Rand’s self-interest morality provided ideological cover for corporate greed

Evidence

Ayn Rand (1966), who attained a sizable following in libertarian, neo-conservative, and corporate circles, championed the secular morality of self-interest in her version of laissez-faire capitalism. In her view, happiness through productive achievement is the basis of a moral life. (Productive achievement is not inherently moral. In fact, it can be detrimental, as in the tobacco industry.) An unfettered free market, she argued, is the only inherently moral social system. She justified the morality of self-interest and rejected “ethical altruism” as based, in large part, on making achievers feel guilty about the fruits of their labors. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1430

Categorization

• XREF: The Bandura chapter on moral justification pairs with the reader’s work on how reputational and signaling systems legitimize self-interested behavior.