Ayn Rand’s Textbook of Americanism, written in 1946, was originally to be published in the Vigil, a publication of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, as a number of serials and then later compiled together in one book.
Only the first two or three serials were ever written. Rand considered this a side project for herself that would help clarify the ideas and terms needed to defend liberty and individualism. Given this goal for the project Rand thought it would be helpful for FEE’s Trustees and staff.
As she said in a letter to Leonard Read, “I hope your staff and trustees will study it (the Textbook of Americanism) carefully, as I know that it will be valuable to them in helping them to avoid giving our case away.” This file, which you can download at the link below, was the circulated copy. It consists of ten questions and answers concerning the difference between individualism and collectivism.
The issues raised in the textbook really do attempt to uphold individualism and destroy any collectivist mind set. For as Rand says on page 14, “Collectivism goes a step below savage anarchy: it takes away from man even the chance to fight back. It makes violence legal – and resistance to it illegal. It gives the sanction of law to the organized brute force of a majority (or of anyone who claims to represent it) – and turns the minority into a helpless, disarmed object of extermination. If you can think of a more vicious perversion of justice, name it.”
Maybe Rand was planning on telling us what she really thought of collectivism in the unwritten parts, but regardless this unfinished textbook makes for an informative and entertaining read.
