Why is there no liberal Ayn Rand? Conservatives have a canon, why don't liberals?

[hifiguy]

1. Because you can't herd cats.

True conservatives, and to a much greater degree baggers, fundymentalpatient religious crazies and old fashioned hard-core authoritarian reichwingers tend to have a dualistic worldview: right/wrong, good/evil, moral/immoral, etc. This mindset relishes in, and actually requires, save for a few traditionalist conservatives like A. Sullivan and, increasingly, D. Frum, an absolute set of rules that must be followed in all cases. The authoritarian mind gets panicky when there are no absolutes. They are followers in the truest sense of the word. They NEED an Ayn Rand to validate their own prejudices. Their own insecurites and fears are projected onto people who do not conform to their (weird) norms.

Those of us on the left tend to be a lot fuzzier. Everyone from RFK and MLK to George McGovern to Dennis Kucinich, Alan Grayson, Norwegian Social Democrats and even the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers can comfortably congregate under the banner of liberalism and tolerance. We are, as a rule, not terribly bothered by ambiguity or uncertainty and don't feel any need to be followers of One True Guru. This is in direct opposition to the right-wing mindset. We seek to persuade by reason not to bludgeon into cowed submission. Lefty types usually have a "live-and-let-live as long as you're not ripping people off or harshing my mellow" attitude (I simplify, obviously). Such a worldview is anathema to authoritarian personalities.