The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis

by Darryl Cunningham, Michael Goodwin (Introduction)

Tracing the emergence of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of objectivism in the 1940s to her present-day influence, Darryl Cunningham’s latest work of graphic-nonfiction investigation leads readers to the heart of the global financial crisis of 2008. Cunningham uses Rand’s biography to illuminate the policies that led to the economic crash in the U.S. and in Europe, and how her philosophy continues to affect today’s politics and policies, starting with her most noted disciple, economist Alan Greenspan (former chairman of the Federal Reserve). Cunningham also shows how right-wing conservatives, libertarians, and the Tea Party movement have co-opted Rand’s teachings (and inherent contradictions) to promote personal gain and profit at the expense of the middle class. Tackling the complexities of economics by distilling them down to a series of concepts accessible to all age groups, Cunningham ultimately delivers a devastating analysis of our current economic world.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, Comics, Politics, Economics, History, Philosophy

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

British Artist Darryl Cunningham is the creator of the web-comics, 'Super-Sam and John-of-the-Night' and 'The Streets of San Diablo'. Darryl's work can also be found at his blog and flickr page. His book Psychiatric Tales has been published by Blank Slate in the UK and by Bloomsbury in the US.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Major takeaway: “Ayn Rand was wrong. Selfishness is not a virtue.Altruism is not a moral weakness. Taxation is the price we pay for civilization. It’s time we rejected this selfish philosophy”--Cunningham

“I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically of banks and others, were such that they were capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms”--Alan Greenspan, before a 2008 US House Committee

This book is terrific. For those of you who skip over the business section of the newspaper as I most often do, this comics non-fiction book provides a concise explanation in entertaining and yet thoughtful fashion, (not as nasty as he might write it today) of how we got to where we are, with a major stop at one of the most serious recessions in recent history. Brit Cunningham takes a particular look at the American (but simultaneously British) turn to the Far Right thirty years or so ago and asks how it got its jump start. The short answer: Ayn Rand, a novelist and author of popular books such as Atlas Shrugged. There’s a through line from Rand to her disciple Alan Greenspan to the unbridled deregulatory “spirit” embraced by Paul Ryan/Mitch McConnell/Donald Trump/koch Bros/Project 2050. Rand helped them justify and articulate their rapacious greed and for the rest of the 1%. The billionaire class.

So you wonder why environmental protections are going away? Why there were hundreds of parents separated from babies now incarcerated at the US/Mexican.border? Why there is so much open disdain for non-white races by white people? Well, it didn’t start with Rand, but it really took off when politicians and corporate “leaders” began to embrace Rand’s simple “theory” of selfishness (or anti-altruism) (or as Musk has it, anti-empathy) (or: if you want to be a billionaire, embrace greed and corruption as they do, without shame) as a way of living life and creating less government (in order to give more money to the rich and the military) who, with the police, are expected to protect the wealth of the very rich from the starving poor and desperate immigrants.

Shame. The foundation of fascism. Great and concise and clear book.

[Todd Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Age of Selfishness is a graphic novel that illustrates (of all things) the life of Ayn Rand, her influence on acolytes like Alan Greenspan, the rise of deregulation and free market fundamentalism and the economic collapse of 2008. The book is illustrated with simple, angular line drawings and connects the dots between Rand’s philosophy of objectivism and the morally bankrupt, short-sighted, winner-take-all mentality that nearly destroyed the global economy.

Rand possessed the personality of a cult leader and created an insular environment where she was able to foment her ideas without risk of dissent. This is the only environment in which objectivism could ever be taken seriously, since it fails to hold up to the mildest scrutiny (it’s telling that no modern scholars give credence to her ideas). The obvious flaw in Rand’s dime-store philosophy is routed in human nature. “Enlightened self-interest” always degenerates into corrupt, sociopathic, insatiable greed unless checked by a higher power (usually the state, in the form of laws, a mechanism of enforcement and the criminal justice system).

This explains why ‘small government’ is so important to right-wing Randian ideologues. While they may frame their arguments in terms of increased personal liberty that would be achieved by reducing governmental ‘interference’. Their true, blatantly transparent aim is simply to remove every obstacle that seeks to restrain their inexhaustible avarice. Rand’s stunted world-view is embodied in Gordon Gekko (i.e. “greed is good”) and is the practical equivalent of the moral philosophy of a 2-year old who is incapable of thinking beyond their own selfish desires.

Although libertarianism is childishly impractical (which, of course, is why no government founded on libertarian principles has ever existed, anywhere in the world, at any time in history) some of its precepts have taken hold in the minds of small-government, free-market fetishists who push for deregulation and an end to corporate transparency and regulatory oversight. When bad ideas are put into practice, tragedy and failure inevitably result … and of course that is exactly what occurred in 2008 (the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression of 1929).

Alan Greenspan has been quoted as saying, "I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms." Of course, this ‘mistake’ was obvious to many economists who warned of the destabilizing effects that deregulation would have on the economy. Taking stock of Greenspan’s little error:
- The financial crisis cost the U.S. an estimated $648 billion due to slower economic growth.
- Government spending to mitigate the damage cost taxpayers $73 billion.
- The U.S. lost $3.4 trillion in real estate wealth from July 2008 to March 2009.
- The U.S. lost $7.4 trillion in stock wealth from July 2008 to March 2009.
- 5.5 million American jobs were lost due to slower economic growth.
{* Analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts}

Mistakes occur when decisions are based on ideological grounds instead of facts and evidence. However, in a world where bad ideas exist in abundance, there are few ideologies so tragically flawed as to create consequences of the magnitude summarized above. Randianism just happens to be one of them.

Though I’m not a graphic novel fan I found The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis to be a fascinating little book that does a great job explaining the 2008 economic crisis for those that have a few hours to spare.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially enjoyed the first two sections and wasn't familiar with Rand's biography. It explains a lot and helps explain Greenspan's role in setting up the 2008 crash described in the second section. I was also surprised at how much the art added to the story. I felt the third section lost focus and fell into a false equivalence trap when it tried to describe the positive side of the conservative mindset. In the end, the third section in particular is clearly written from a certain political perspective (one that I happen to be sympathetic with), but fumbles when it tries to pretend that it's not. On the other hand, the attempt to come to a sympathetic understanding how the mind of a conservative works is admirable (and typical of a liberal--a real conservative would never go to the trouble).

[The Sporty Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roman graphique ayant pour thème l'individualisme et le néolibéralisme. Il se compose de 3 parties : la biographie d'Ayn Rand qui fut une théoricienne de l'individualisme, puis l'évolution du conservatisme jusqu'au krach des subprimes en 2008 et enfin la situation depuis. C'est un BD claire, très compréhensive et bien illustrée. Par contre, c'est très déprimant sur le monde contemporain car cela met l'accent sur les agissements des banques d'affaires, le manque de sanctions et le fait que ce sont les états (et donc les contribuables) qui paient les pots cassés à la fin. Tout cela rend de plus en plus pessimiste sur la société et particulièrement le système financier. Donc cela est destiné à un public averti, peu enclin à la dépression.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book--the artwork complements the text perfectly, in that in this case, it enhances the subject rather than detracting from the prose. Because the history of Ayn Rand and her Objectivism, especially in connection with U.S. (and world--author is English and connects the dots between this predatory capitalism and UKIP), this is more relevant than ever, which is depressing since this book was written a few years ago.



It's not a huge revelation the hypocrisy behind a lot of what Ayn Rand wrote--the amount of help and loans she got in America, how she died friendless and in denial on Social Security, her demand for her acolytes' total obedience (it did feel like a cult), and her positions on a number of things (anti-draft, anti-Vietnam War, pro-choice, atheist, anti-Native American, anti-feminism) . When Atlas Shrugged came out, it flopped. Even conservative National Review's take on it: "From almost any page of "Atlas Shrugged," a voice can be heard commanding 'to a gas chamber--GO!'"

Now of course, people read her books over and over and long for the Galtian life of isolated splendor I guess over the parasites--I personally found Atlas Shrugged both dull and mean spirited with a random romance shoehorned in and it's firmly in the column of "What is all the fuss about?" along with a lot of other books and movies. for me But Ayn Rand, you have to hand it to her, is still poisonously influential (Cunningham does a good job though of making you feel a little sorry for her)--through her "constant," Alan Greenspan and now newer fans Paul Ryan and the Koch Brothers.

And here I was very happy this was a graphic novel, because it did help to illustrate just exactly what mortgage tranches are and Credit Default Swaps and just how the deregulation of the banking industry, paired with lax and basically complicit enforcement, has led to the economic state we are in now.

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

We live in the age of selfishness. It didn’t begin with Ayn rand, but this book does. And then goes on to cleverly connect her specific brand of lunacy to the present day ugliness through theoretical links of ideology and very real and tangible link of Alan Greenspan, a once upon a time Rand disciple who went on to become a longtime chairman of the Federal Reserve until 2006 and had entirely too much to do with the financial crisis that followed almost immediately after.
Ayn Rand was a character. Ayn Rand was a caricature, really, and thus lends itself perfectly to being featured cartoonishly. The thing is…every single thing about her theories, her thinking, her ideas…it’s all perfectly explicable, given her background. She’s a perfectly epitome of you can take the girl out of (insert country of origin), but you can’t take (country of origin) out of a girl. She left behind a totalitarian regime of conformity and oppression and went on to reinvent one in the new world. Every ugly and wrong thing she loathes, she brought with her. And she didn’t seem to realize it either. She comfortably preached individualism while actively submitting her followers to her will and rule and abiding no dissent. She extolled the virtue of self reliance, perfectly comfortable accepting assistance from her relatives who helped her get established in her new country. She even accepted government’s assistance late in life when she needed it, from the safety net she has been so determined to destroy with her ideology. So yeah, hypocritical and hypercritical, she was a critically panned author who tended to wrap her ideology in oversentimental overwritten tomes that extolled selfishness as virtue and money as the most important thing of all. That’s a reductionist version of her life, but this reviewer is trying for brevity. That’s also chapter one of the book.
The subsequent two chapters take you into the making of a financial crisis and its aftermath. And here I’ll try to be even more reductive…making of was caused by uncontrolled greed and made possible by deregulated markets and the aftermath was surpassingly slap on the wrist mild. And thus we are currently living in a society with the most striking and ever increasing wealth disparity and nothing is likely going to be done about it.
The author seems to be more optimistic than me, but then again this book was published in 2015. That’s practically ironic. Or just sad. To publish such a scathing condemnation of a great American socioeconomic tragedy a year before The US took a decisive (avalanche style) turn downhill, to rant about a financial crisis when nowadays the very democracy is in crisis…yeah, no words.
But some closing words must be said…Cunningham is good. This was my second read by him and he’s got a knack for explaining complex things simply, with simple but fun cartoons to go along. And so this was a very good guide to the whys and wherefores of American financial system for anyone interested. Not an easy read, great injustices don’t really make for those, but an important one. And that timing…oh, man.
Ayn Rand may be on the cover of this production and featured heavily in it, but it wasn’t her fault, she’s more of a gargoyle presiding over a great temple to Mammon that American dream greed built. The age of selfishness is a comfortable age to live in, but it’s brutal for the soul.
The author takes a much more polemic approach to it and as a result the book is very ne sided and very partisan and very much the case of preaching to the choir. It seems unlikely that the people on the right (who are according to the book are statistically more stuck in their ways and less willing to accept new information and change their minds) might read this book and see the error of their ways. And people of the left probably already know all these things and are powerless to change them. Such is life. Knowledge is probably meant to empower, but it mostly just frustrates. There’s a reason there’s that saying about ignorance…
For anyone choosing to forgo ignorance and its cozy promises, this is a good and informative read.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of Ayn Rand and her influence on (in particular) economic policy. This book will help to explain some of her more complex ideas. I really thought that the art meshed well with this GN. If you are going to read anything by Ayn Rand this may be the book you want to read first. Very easy to follow yet very informative.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I think of Ayn Rand devotees, what jumps to mind are people who pretend to be far richer than they actually are and who attempt to find philosophical meaning in cheating on their spouses. This book is divided into three sections: a biography of Rand herself, an examination of the factors leading to the 21st-century financial crisis/housing collapse, and an examination of the psychological differences between liberals and conservatives.

The illustrations are the weakest link in this book. Seriously, they are bad. The people tended to be squarish doodles with no sense of form or perspective.

Rand was what one may have expected: a tyrannical narcissist. The financial crisis, despite being explained in an elementary fashion, is still difficult to grasp, like most concepts in economics. The psychological look at liberals and conservatives was most interesting to me, if oversimplified.

Surprisingly, research indicates that political leanings actually develop in childhood, long before a child has much concept of politics. Children who prefer rules and order tend to grow into conservatives, whereas those with a more free-form, less structured approach tend toward liberalism. I remember observing this in my own art classes in elementary school. (Art was always my favorite and best subject.) Some kids would make their art project exactly like the teacher's example with no deviation. Others would follow the basic idea, but would add their own creative touches, to which the more conservative kids would usually respond with "I'm telling." I can't tell you how many times I got "told on" for doing things like perching a bee on a pilgrim's shoulder or making cats in clown costumes instead of straight-up clowns.

P.S. My husband (who wasn't wearing his glasses at the time) glanced at the cover of this book and asked me why I was reading a book about "selfies." I'm thinking that the current obsession with selfies is just another example of our selfishness!

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ouch! So the book I read before starting this one was a collection of LOLcat memes. I think I got mental whiplash. This is an excellent book! It begins with Ayn Rand and her disciples, and ultimately takes us through deregulation all the way up to Obamacare and beyond. Cunningham lays everything out with elegant simplicity. This is some of the most easy-to-follow economics I've ever read, not that I've had a wide experience reading such. I admire his ability to talk politics without belittling the side he's arguing against. Indeed, one of my favorite parts of the book is his discussion of the differences between liberal and conservative mindsets, and the strengths of each. This is definitely a book worth reading.

[Brandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a copy of Darryl Cunningham's "The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis" from the Goodreads.com website. As a political moderate (AKA - I don't trust ANY politician), I can definitely see the flaws in objectivist thinking as well as the negative impact it has on modern society. I believe the author could have taken it one step further, though. Many people promote objectivism at the expense of the middle class, yet others take it further by promoting objectivism over all lower classes, children, the environment and public safety. Some people (regardless of political views) have no qualms who they step on just so they can have more....
Overall, regardless of political viewpoint, I see no merit to objectivist thinking.
I would recommend this book to those unfamiliar with the concept of objectivism as well as those unfamiliar with Ayn Rand's other philosophies and their effect on society. The book is well-constructed and attractive and would also make a fine addition to a reference library.

[John of Canada · Rating 2 out of 5]

Leave your critical faculties at the door,Darryl Cunningham will do your thinking for you.Just reading the preface and introduction is evidence that the book is a hatchet job.Simplistic invented conversations,talking buildings,"research"galore although Darryl never identifies where it came from.Oh!There are widely accepted scales by psychologists,yes psychologists,to explain his views.Darryl just wants us to trust him.
The part on the Crash wasn't bad,which is why this gets 2 stars.Reading Michael Lewis would be a better idea.Also there were the usual shots at Ann Coulter,Fox News and the drawings of Ayn Rand were very unflattering.I am awarding myself 5 stars for finishing this and not flinging it in the fireplace.

[Emilia P]

A crisp, biting bio of Rand, an excellent explanation of the origins of the global financial crisis of 2008, and a HORRIBLE attempt to tie them together with a laundry list of "liberals are this way, conservatives are this way" that did not deliver a convincing argument, own up to its bias, or convince me I should oppose a Randian conservativism (even though I am SUPER-anti-objectivist! Yeesh!). Plus the illustrations are great in themselves, but become superfluous and repetitive as the book plods along. It's too bad, because I'm basically on Cunningham's side, and, well, this doesn't do us many favors.

[Ishita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first two-thirds of this graphic novel - Cunningham makes a convincing argument showing the influence of Ayn Rand and her disciples in fomenting what became the financial crisis. His illustrations make the complexities of derivatives and CDOs easy to understand, and provide a depth often inaccessible with just words. However, the third section on the "Age of Selfishness" was reductive in its analysis, and fell back on stereotypes on how liberals are "creative" and conservatives "organized", weakening the impact of the argument Cunningham had built. Still, an enjoyable and informative read.

[Philopoesis · Rating 1 out of 5]

You can ALWAYS spot a lefty-progressive book by the immature front cover; the authour’s key aim is invariably to undermine any person or idea associated with right-wing conservatism. 'The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality and the Financial Crisis' by Darryl Cunningham is a left-wing, polemic, insidiously designed to appeal directly to young adolescents with the graphic novel format so as to 'catch them early' and thwart any attempt at independent thought. They like to use big, bright colours, an infantile aesthetic, and usually infographics too whereby the cartoon people must always be ethnically diverse; if it's a group, the white male must be regulated to the back because of his privilege. They do this to lure in the younger audience and give them bite-sized, easily digestible chunks of misinformation to chew on, in order to sow the seeds of indoctrination and hatred early; preferably before their prefrontal cortex is developed enough to read a copy of Atlas Shrugged - which requires a modicum of mental exertion.

A few pages in, and it doesn't take long to realise that the authour regards Ayn Rand with utter contempt; seemingly his entire motivation for creating this graphic novel is to discredit her as much as he can. I am interested in the products of Rand's mind: her novels and works of non-fiction, not so much that she may have cuckholded her husband or claimed social security when misfortune befell her later in life (on that point, I don't see that she committed any great transgression by claiming some of the money back which had been forcibly taken from her through taxation her entire life - the fact that she disagrees with the welfare system in principle doesn't negate the fact that she was never given a choice as to whether or not to pay into it in the first place!)

In the opening chapter, Cunningham cherry-picks events from Rand's personal life to deliver a series of visual ad-hominem attacks to undermine the credibility of her theories. It is a complete character assassination attempt: he depicts her as a megalomaniac, a cult leader, a gas-lighting meddlesome home-breaker; and even hints at her being a fascist (ironic given that she was a jew forced to flee communist tyranny) - I bet he would have loved to work up the courage to state it in a less oblique way if he had any justification for doing so. It is worth noting, that Cunnigham presents Rand’s views in the most narrowly circumscribed and derisive manner, often employing the bifurcation fallacy so that his arguments seem 'open and shut', no need for further scrutiny; Cunningham is telling you she was an egotistical, elitist, bigot, therefore he must be right based on his subjective FEELINGS!

Now, I will be completely honest and say that I am simply not well-informed enough to comment on the veracity of the contents of chapter 2 (The Crash); I have a general understanding of the 2008 financial collapse, but I am by no means an expert on the more esoteric aspects of the banking sector or world economics to speak with any degree of authority on the matter. My intuition tells me that Cunningham's demonstrable bias casts significant doubt on the credence of his interpretation of events; notwithstanding the fact that I think everyone on either side of the political spectrum can agree that it was a great injustice that unscrupulous bankers were not punished for their malfeasance.

But to insinuate that the blame for a world-wide financial collapse be laid solely at the feet of Ayn Rand - a writer/philosopher who died decades before the event occurred because she happened to inspire Alan Greenspan - the man who headed the Federal Reserve - seems to be a feeble argument. Additionally, I don't recall Ayn Rand ever advocating for complete unregulated baking so that the financial institution could evolve into a pernicious hydra preying upon an unsuspecting citizenry. I am pretty sure these bankers and institutions would be condemned as 'looters' and 'parasites' according to Rand; as, in her novels, she consistently glorifies entrepreneurs and industrialists who CREATE wealth, invariably through tangible means (Rearden Metal - Atlas Shrugged for example). Rand emphasises the beauty of capitalism being in the equal value of exchange; I highly doubt Ayn Rand would support the creation of wealth through subterfuge, theft and conceit. It is a shame that Cunningham allowed his extreme prejudice to run to excess in this book, because his explanation of concepts such as credit default swaps, derivatives, government/municipal bonds etc. were actually quite informative (the only reason I gave it one star by the way).

The final chapter which contrasts left vs right politics was a monolithic cringe and riddled with contradictions. Here, Cunnigham attempts to illustrate what differentiates liberals from conservatives. The argument he presents is what you would expect from a child equipped with a pack of crayons. He is careful to side-step any unfavorable aspects that typify liberals, but is generous indeed with his disparagement of those bigoted, knuckle-dragging conservatives. They're all so closed-minded you see - they don't read books, albeit their bedrooms are orderly and well-lit, but their only wall decoration consists of a national flag; liberals, on the other hand, are so deep and diverse - they have copious books on travel, ethnic issues, feminism. They love music, including world music! Their offices are more colourful that conservatives too! It is a crass and ill-conceived juxtaposition to put it mildly.

Furthermore, reading this now in 2022, it certainly has not aged well at all, given that governments all around the world have now gone completely insane, drunk with power, imposing a medical tyranny and apartheid on their populations that would make Joseph Stalin blush. The abhorrent actions of government that we gave all endured throughout the last two years of the covid scam, have proven unequivocally the devastation that unfettered big government can cause. If you aren't an advocate for small government after all of this, you are beyond help.

One of the most erroneous statements he makes throughout this cringe-fest of a chapter, is that liberals are more tolerant, open-mind and accepting of other people's views. (Writing this in 2022, when a recent poll in the US revealed that 59% of Democrats supported fines, indefinite home imprisonment, digital tracking and the forcible detainment in a prison camp for the unvaccinated - AND, 29% of those same Democrats believed that it would be reaosnable to take their kids off them too!!!!) Cunningham continues regarding the liberal mindset: "they have a different way of processing complex information... for (liberals), it is not a difficulty if things are ill-defined or unresolved...conservatives are more likely to categorize and divide people into either good or bad." Then he hits us with a picture of two figures talking on a street corner, with a disgruntled conservative onlooker in the foreground muttering to himself "damn gays!" Because after all, there are no gay conservatives...right? cough​ Douglas Murray, Dave Rubin, David Stakey...

I could quote a litany of absurdities that dribble from the mouth of Cunningham in this 'book'; arguably one of the worst was his audacious criticism of Rand's literary merit: "her novels were high-minded and philosophical, yet also full of soap opera trashiness, overwrought emotion, and thin characterisation..." This coming from the soy-boy whose very own magnum opus is a cheap, factually inaccurate comic book diatribe. What a complete dolt you are Cunningham.

[Austin Storm · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a great idea for a comic book. Ayn Rand is already a larger-than-life villain, seemingly directly motivated by trauma she experienced early in life and completely uncompromising in her advocacy of 'selfishness'.

The book is divided into three parts. The first is a biography of Rand, which does a decent job of condensing things. The second is an overview of the 2008 financial collapse, which is also great.

Where things fall apart is in the third section, which attempts to be balanced in its presentation of the differences between liberals and conservatives, but feels forced and odd - like he's trying to assure us that he really understands conservatives so that he can lay the blame for the entire financial crisis at their feet.

It's frustrating because there are so many great contradictions in the life of Rand - her fierce advocacy for abortion (in the name of self-interest, of course) and her denunciation of feminism. And in the financial crisis - the selfishness of bankers, and the selfish entitlement of the 'American dream' of home ownership. But the author is ultimately too ideological to get beyond white hats and black hats.

Finding ideology in your comics is like getting unsweetened shredded wheat as your breakfast cereal.

The worst part of the book, unfortunately, is the format. This didn't need to be a comic book. Apart from a few standout moments, it's just narration. The compositions are all the same, and are very flat. I wasn't expecting the comic version of the 9/11 commission report, but this could've been so much better.

I get the need to be reductionistic, but there's so much pathos in the life of Rand. This attempts to get at it in a few places (her husband's marginalization) in a Chris Ware-esque way, but it's unsuccessful.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about Ayn Rand from this book. I also learned a lot about finance and financial markets. The book almost makes me want to re-read Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead- almost! The artwork is great and makes optimum use the limited color palette.

[Zedsdead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part One: Ayn Rand. This is biography, and Cunningham is up front about being critical of Rand on multiple levels. Though it doesn't come off as a hit job; he's cautious about his criticism. Rand was...unique. She made her husband wear a bell so she'd know where he was. She decided to have an affair, called a meeting with her husband and her lover, and kicked her husband out twice a week for trysts. She basically ran a cult--that she called The Collective--for decades.


Part Two: The Crash. Here the author breaks down the nature and causes of the 2008 economic collapse, the Great Recession. He goes into detail about the difference between retail banking and investment banking, the Great Depression, the Glass-Steagol Act and safeguards put in place to prevent it happening again, and the rise of Rand acolyte Alan Greenspan, who tore down those safeguards and set the stage for 2008. Cunningham makes the point again and again that the entities that blatantly caused the Crash profited enormously, and that only the lower and middle classes suffered...even after all the investigations and hearings were complete.

Regarding the 2008 financial collapse and TARP bailout:

"So, without any Congressional oversight or judicial review, the U.S. taxpayer ended up footing the bill for the financial industry's colossal incompetence and malfeasance. The U.K. government had taken the same bailout path, but had at least added some conditions to its billions. All banks accepting the money had to throw out management. There were restrictions on dividends to shareholders. And systems designed to encourage lending were put in place. By contrast, U.S. banks continued to pay out dividends and bonuses to the same managers who had screwed everything up in the first place. [The U.S.] plan didn't even work. It failed to either restart lending or restore confidence in the financial sector. Debt was transferred to the general population, and banks kept any gains."

Part Three: The Age of Selfishness. Here Cunningham delves into the relative natures of conservativism and liberalism and draws direct lines between the ideology and the behaviors and voting patterns that entrench economic malaise and iterate economic collapse. As in Part One, he is cautious with his criticism of conservatism and conservatives, but he makes his case, defines the true enemy (unfettered deregulation, ideological selfishness, and corporate hegemony) and calls for unity and sense.

"Having beaten communism, capitalism is well on its way to defeating democracy itself. The post-financial-crisis world should have seen a rush to rein in the power of the banks, but this has not happened. Instead, governments have essentially been captured by big business to do their bidding. This is disastrous, because any society that allows predatory, value-destroying behavior to become more profitable than honest work risks everything."

"There is a difference between mainstream conservatism and a fringe agenda that favors big business and the super-rich. America today has a shrinking middle class, an increasingly dominant billionaire elite, and a government corrupted by vast amounts of money. All the ingredients are in place to create a new gilded age in which the commanding heights of the economy are controlled not by talented individuals but by family dynasties. The corporate elite count on the public's apathy to protect their personal assets and businesses from fair competition, effective regulation, and taxation. ('All political parties are pretty much the same.')"

"If the public's outrage could be directed at those actually responsible for low wages, rising housing costs, and a corrupted political system instead of those also being victimized--such as migrant workers and the unemployed--then perhaps real change could be achieved."

[Meepelous · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure, I requested this book from the library because it was love at first site! I have read Atlas Shrugged and a graphic adaption of Anthem at this point and my utter disgust with both Rand's writing style and her politics really knows no bounds. So I'm slightly biased, that said, I tried to come up with some objective observations which I will now share.

First off, while the art was fun I did feel like it could have provided more visual learning elements. Certainly not too much a detraction really, but rather a way to push it over into classic excellence.

Secondly, I also felt like the first section was by far the best and that each subsequent section wasn't quite as good. While I'm sure even the first section could rub a Rand fan the wrong way, the third section, in particular, seemed a little bit too personal and judgmental. On the one hand, I think it is likely a good idea to realise that people are likely drawn to different ideologies based not only on the way they were brought up but also by their own personality. That said, according to the study that Cunningham sites, both my partner and I's need to plan ahead mean we are more likely to be conservative. Obviously, this study is NOT meant to be a hard and fast rule, but as a huge fan fo the Myers-Briggs personality test it did feel like an oversimplification. There are a lot of other personality traits that more directly relate to one's political inclinations then judging vs. perceiving.

Thirdly, because I can hardly stop numbering stuff now, I would like to switch to something a bit more positive. The one really big takeaway from this book that I really appreciate is the ways in which Cunningham shows the effect Rand has already had on the economy. Even as someone who despises Randian economics, due to how young I am (plus not reading much about the economy) I had always thought of it as something that had not happened yet. But Cunningham does a really great job of explaining how in many ways Rand has already done irreparable harm to the American economy.

Overall, despite a few flaws that I felt held it back a bit, I really enjoyed this book. I felt like I learned a lot and it definitely broadened my perspective a bit.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well-done, clear and concise explanation of the financial catastrophe that culminated with the economic meltdown of 2008, and its roots in Rand's philosophy of Objectivism - which is (very simplistically) a belief in hands-off capitalism and individual rights at the expense of all else, and everyone else. Alan Greenspan was a disciple, and so are the Tea Partiers, the Libertarians, and the right-wing conservatives, which makes the current fad for promoting personal gain at the expense of everyone who isn't rich and powerful suddenly make a lot more sense. The artwork in this graphic novel is deceptively simple and very powerful, and after reading it I actually understand what happened and how it happened when the financial markets collapsed.

[Melanie Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-researched graphic work that links Rand to the financial meltdown of '08. The back is full of citations, so you have a reasonable assumption that while Cunningham's opinions are present in the book (this is not a straight report), that they are well-researched. The drawing style is very simplistic, and I wondered about the benefit of that (aside from the usual "this book is long, so I made simple drawings so I could actually finish it" argument).

[Jeff Bartsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent and nicely simplified assessment of how our country got into its current shambles. I highly recommend reading it, and also recommend slyly leaving it out somewhere where your conservative uncle/parent/grandparent/friend might stumble upon it. This book should be required reading for high schoolers.

[Elle Jayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having enjoyed The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and Anthem, Ayn Rand was one of my favorite authors--until I read this book. In The Fountainhead, I found Howard Roark's character to be endearing and refreshing as he continued to stick to his puritanical ideals of architecture and refusal to succumb to society's stale standards of life. Selfishness, narrow mindedness, and lack of endorsement to society's standards are great a character archetype in a novel. But the philosophy of Rand's novels extended to her personal life too. She believed it was a battle of individualism versus collectivism, and a central government was her nemesis. Rand's coined philosophy of objectivism, putting the individual above all, gathered a cult-like following, including none other than Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve for 19 years (1987 - 2006).

Alan Greenspan and Ayn Rand were close friends for over 30 years, having written books together and co-hosted lectures at the NBI, the institute founded to promote objectivism by one of Rand's followers. In 1966 Greenspan wrote 3 essays for Rand's anthology, in which he equated government regulation with a breakdown of society's morals. In his view, there was no need for the securities and exchange commission, or the food and drug administration. He argued all the regulations which protect the public from business scams are unnecessary, as the damage of a reputation is enough to keep business legitimate. This is the crux of the issue. Greenspan's libertarian ideals and failure to regulate the banking system as the chairman of the Federal Reserve led us straight into the financial crash of 2008.

It is a ruse to believe an unregulated financial system will naturally channel money to its best uses, or that bankers' concern for their reputation will prevent them from partaking in fraudulent business. Free markets don't lead us to personal freedom, but to corporate freedom, which has proven over the past thirty years to pollute the environment, steal from honest people, and oppress the less fortunate.

Besides Rand's ludicrous philosophy of objectivism (which one could make a case was a major impetus to the financial crash of 2008), she was not a good person. Shocking, I know right. Although her philosophy was fervently supported by her cult-like followers, anyone who argued against her ideas was immediately exiled from the group. She also began an affair with one of her students, despite both of them being married, despite her being 25 years his senior. Having developed a business and founded the NBI together, Rand discovered her student Branden was having another affair and refused her proposal to be together, she exiled him from the group, publicly slandered him, and ended all their businesses together. Doesn't sound like a person I'd want to do business with, be friends with, or even admire as a writer or philosopher.

It's worth noting that Greenspan apologized for his ill-advised actions before a 2008 House Committee hearing. In it he said, "I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically of banks and others, were such that they were capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms." Too little too late.

Although Rand's books and style of writing are entertaining for fiction, there's no place for her philosophy in reality. Taxation is the price we pay for civilization. Selfishness is not a virtue. Altruism is a noble cause.

[Maxine CD · Rating 4 out of 5]

The three chapters, which are on three distantly related topics, are interwoven perfectly. Ayn Rand's influence on Alan Greenspan and the economic policies that followed demonstrate the extent to which selfishness has been taken up, as a guiding virtue in the economic system. This helps explain the mechanics behind the 2008 financial crisis, discussed in part two of the graphic novel. I loved this section because I have struggled so much to understand how the crisis occurred and it was able to explain a lot of the structural flaws in the American banking system that led to it. However, as someone who has absolutely no knowledge of economics I still found some concepts very difficult to understand.

[Chedy R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce livre est divisé en trois parties : la première traite de d'Ayn Rand et de l'objectivisme, et ce qui en sort est surtout l'influence qu'a eu le vécu de Rand sur sa philosophie, chose qu'elle a toujours niée. La pensée d'Ayn Rand a marqué le mouvement libertaire américain et au-delà, la pensée économique néolibérale et toute la droite américaine. La deuxième partie explique la crise financière depuis les premières dérégulations et la troisième partie traite des psychologies des progressistes et des conservateurs.

Bien que la troisième partie prend quelques fois des raccourcis, le livre est à recommander car il se penche avec un angle nouveau (surtout pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas ou peu la genèse de la doctrine néolibérale américaine) sur les relations entre économie et politique, qui sont arrivées avec la crise à "l'ère de l'égoïsme".

[Keshav · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good birds eye view summary of the financial crisis, glass steagall, and Alan Greenspan's earlier intellectual fertility with Rand's libertarianism. A comment on how Ayn Rand's emphasis on individuality leads to the absurd outcome of conformity due to selfishness as the primary virtue was interesting. Towards the end there are some sweeping generalisations on fitting the OCEAN personality model on Conservatives vs Democrats (and back home on UKIP/Tories vs Labour) and how Conservative values can be useful in crises such as war, vs Liberals who are painted as indecisive. These sure are popular labels but IMO it undercuts the veracity of some of the more serious points raised by the book. Very approachable and can be finished in a single sitting.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it probably won't sway any Tea Party sympathizers, but an old liberal like me found Cunningham's book presents its facts in a clear manner, explains the vagaries of banking scams clearly and examines the psychological differences between liberal and conservative mindsets in a fairly even-minded way. The art isn't anything to write home about, but it's clear and conveys the necessary information.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a highly-accessible, cause and effect explanation of the global financial catastrophe of 2008. I enjoyed the research shared in the third part of the book on ways in which liberals and conservatives are different. I highly recommend this book.

[John Purcell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A necessary reminder of the need to pull together to protect the values and rights many of us hold dear. Clear, concise and informative, The Age of Selfishness is a book the young need to read, the old need to read and the bastards need to read.

[Carol Tilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readable, informative, insightful! Cunningham does a splendid job of dissecting the current neoliberal / libertarian / Tea Party economics rhetoric and its consequences.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review of this book is now up at The Comics Journal: http://bit.ly/1KzN4Hd