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THE EDUCATION OF AYN RAND, 1905–1943
directed at ending the Depression had created a climate of uncertainty
that was further drying up the free fl ow of capital. Paterson’s prescription
was to leave well enough alone; the government should pull out
and let the economy recover on its own. Although her solution was
unusual, her sense of the problem was not. Writers like Snyder and even
members of Roosevelt’s administration such as Stuart Chase fi ngered
Federal Reserve policy as a cause of the depression. Most were willing on
grounds of expediency to excuse government action to avert the crisis.
Paterson, who set great stock in principles and consistency, was not.
Rand’s encounter with Paterson constituted a virtual graduate school
in American history, politics, and economics. She soaked up Paterson’s
opinions, using them to buttress, expand, and shape her already established
individualism. Paterson helped shift Rand onto new intellectual
territory, where Nietzsche’s voice was one among many. Now Rand
could draw from and react against the British classical liberal tradition
and its American variants. Conversations with Paterson made Rand well
versed in the major and minor arguments against the New Deal state.
Rand’s relationship with Paterson also reinforced her growing preoccupation
with reason. Both women shared a belief that with the world in
political free fall, reason was their only hope and guide. In an episode that
eerily mirrored Rand’s break with her agent, Paterson described an argument
she had with Rose Wilder Lane, another conservative writer. When
Lane told Paterson she sometimes formed a conclusion by a feeling or
a hunch, “ . . . Isabel Paterson screamed at her over the phone, practically
called her a murderess, explaining to her: how dare she go by feelings
and hunches when the lives of other people are involved, and freedom
and dictatorship. How can she go by anything but reason in politics, and
what disastrous irresponsibility it is.” To Rand, Paterson’s arguments in
favor of reason were “marvelous and unanswerable” and her anger in
the face of disagreement understandable, even honorable. 24
As her friendship with Paterson developed, Rand continued to work
closely with Pollock and Emery. In October she drew up an “organization
plan” and traded ideas with Emery on a potential name. He proposed
American Neighbors, a name Rand rejected as too vague and
meaningless. At one point the trio considered merging their efforts with
the Independent Clubs of America, the group that had grown out of
the Willkie Clubs. Rand drafted a fund-raising letter, noting that their
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