Ayn Rand contradicts herself 1.9

Ayn Rand published two essays about monetary systems, one written by Alan Greenspan and one written by herself. They both cite events for which there is no objective evidence, which is a violation of Rand’s philosophy.

WHEREAS, Rand’s philosophy says, “… concepts represent classifications of observed existents…ⁱ; which means that mental concepts are true only if we saw examples of them in the real world…

AND Alan Greenspan asserts that “The existence of (money) is a precondition of a division of labor economy. If men did not have some commodity of objective value… as money, they would have to resort to primitive barter or be forced to live on self-sufficient farms. If men had no means to store value, i.e., to save, neither long-range planning nor exchange would be possible”ⁱⁱ…

BUT, there is no objective evidence for Greenspan’s assertions. The objective evidence is to the contrary. Most people have lived as part of an interdependent group, whether with a monetary system or not. Communities without money have had division of labor and operated non-monetary economic systems, such as communism or gift/obligation. They also remembered who shared what with who, and acted equitably. They made long-range plans and had systems of exchange within the community and with other communities,ⁱⁱⁱ not necessarily using barter…

THEREFORE, Greenspan is in violation of Rand’s philosophy. Because she published Greenspan’s essay as appropriate for her system of thought, Rand contradicts herself.

WHEREAS, Rand’s philosophy says, “… concepts represent classifications of observed existents…^iv; which means that mental concepts are true only if we saw examples of them in the real world…

AND Ayn Rand asserts that mediums of exchange and money grew out of barter systems. “… you discover you can trade with other farmers… , and you trade your products by direct barter… You can trade your grains for something that will keep longer, and which you can trade for food when you need it… but which commodity?… You devise a tool of exchange – money”^v…

BUT, there is no objective evidence for Rand’s assertions regarding barter and monetary systems. There is no evidence or record of barter economies. There is no evidence of monetary systems arising from customs of barter. There is no record of barter practices which did not operate within a larger economic system along with complex financial instruments, such as credit^vi. Rand may be repeating Aristotle’s speculations^vii…

THEREFORE, Rand’s statements are violations of her philosophy. Because she violated her own philosophy, Rand contradicts herself.