Last night I pulled out some of my papers and research from college and I was surprised at what I found. I have not looked at any of this since then (I hate to admit how long ago that was). I had made notes that now seem very interesting to me on Ayn Rand. I decided to do some more research and found out quite a bit. What I found most interesting was that her position on capitalism may be due to her personal knowledge of the Russian Revolution and her extremely negative views on totalitarianism. I find that interesting because it is generally known that in her later years she became somewhat of an authoritarian herself in regards to her movement. She expelled a friend of hers because he refused to carry on an affair with her (I believe they were both married at the time). She also fell out with an economist because he refused to become an atheist (he was an agnostic) and divorce his wife who was a christian.
What I find most detestable about her was her willingess to testify during the McCarthy hearings. She thought many Hollywood movies contained anti-capitalist messages. However, to her credit she actually believed that all those refusing to testify were actually members of the communist party doing exactly what the party instructed them to do. I don't know if any of that was ever verified with party rosters or not.