Adam Kirsch
This nomination is for the ability to so completely miss the point as to make the rest of your premises and conclusions suspect. In Mr. Kirsch’s review of a new Ayn Rand biography, he references a story about Ms. Rand making a deal to take fewer royalties in exchange for the inclusion of a particular passage of her book, Atlas Shrugged, and then expounds that
Giving up her royalties to preserve her vision is something that no genuine capitalist, and few popular novelists, would have done. (link)
Of course, a true capitalist would welcome the opportunity to arrive at a fair price between two parties in order to complete a satisfactory deal. Contrary to the beliefs of many (possibly even contrary to the beliefs of some who think they understand the Atlas Shrugged philosophy), capitalism does not need to represent the persuit of the dollar above all else. It simply requires that all parties involved in the deal are free to negotiate the terms as they see fit. In Ms. Rand’s case, that price appears to have been $.07 per copy of her book in order to preserve this particular speech. I suspect it was a deal she was quite happy to have the opportunity to make.