Opinion

A Karl Marx Christmas vs. Ayn Rand Christmas

Karl Marx, left, the author of the 1848 pamphlet The Communist Manifesto, and Ayn Rand, right, the Russian-American author of Atlas Shrugged.

Over the years, I’ve shared examples of a politically correct Christmas, several versions of a TSA Christmas (here, here, and here), a couple of versions of The Night Before Christmas (here and here), and even a story of Santa Claus getting busted by the IRS.

But one of my favorites is the poster asking whether Santa Claus is on the left or on right.

Is he more like Bernie Sanders because he “gives out lots of free stuff”?

Or is he more like Paul Ryan because he “is a maker, not a taker”?

Amusing, but it’s time to take this this to the next level. Right or left is too mainstream. Let’s ask the more fundamental question: Is Christmas a Marxist holiday or a Randian holiday ?

We’ll start with the first option. Here’s a cartoon strip that would make Karl Marx smile.

Now let’s look at some Christmas spirit from Ayn Rand.

There are 21 satirical Randian Christmas cards to choose from. Here are the two that I found most amusing.

And…

Ouch. While I’m a fan of Atlas Shrugged and think Rand was a net plus for the cause of liberty, I’m not a Randian and these quotes are a good example of why her philosophy of objectivism leaves something to be desired.

But this isn’t a day for serious discussion.

So I’ll close by linking to some clever Obama-era Christmas cartoons (here, here, and here).

And this one-liner from Jay Leno is always worth a chuckle.

Last but not least, here’s a cartoon video showing what would happen if Obama ran the North Pole and another video with Santa grousing about unhelpful policies from Washington.

Merry Christmas everyone.

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Daniel Mitchell

Daniel J. Mitchell is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, and a top expert on tax reform and supply-side tax policy. Mitchell’s articles can be found in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Investor’s Business Daily, and the Washington Times. He is the author of "The Flat Tax: Freedom, Fairness, Jobs, and Growth," and co-author of "Global Tax Revolution: The Rise of Tax Competition and the Battle to Defend It."

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View Comments

Truth Seeker says:

December 25, 2017 at 10:21 AM

I'm pretty sure they were both Jewish and didn't celebrate Christmas.
John Donohue says:

December 25, 2017 at 2:11 PM

Ayn Rand was not "Jewish." One is not that into which one is born. Rand was atheist, the most convinced and consciously chosen atheism possible.

Meanwhile, she loved Christmas, for its joyfulness, benevolence, and generosity.
- D says:
  
  December 21, 2018 at 6:55 PM
  
  Karl Marx was raised a Lutheran. Both his parents were converted Lutherans. He was only ethnically Jew.
Anders Ingemarson says:

December 27, 2017 at 8:58 AM

Fun post!

Here's what Ayn Rand actually had to say in answer to the question of whether it is appropriate for an atheist to celebrate Christmas:.

"Yes, of course. A national holiday, in this country, cannot have an exclusively religious meaning. The secular meaning of the Christmas holiday is wider than the tenets of any particular religion: it is good will toward men—a frame of mind which is not the exclusive property (though it is supposed to be part, but is a largely unobserved part) of the Christian religion.

"The charming aspect of Christmas is the fact that it expresses good will in a cheerful, happy, benevolent, non-sacrificial way. One says: “Merry Christmas”—not “Weep and Repent.” And the good will is expressed in a material, earthly form—by giving presents to one’s friends, or by sending them cards in token of remembrance . . . .

"The best aspect of Christmas is the aspect usually decried by the mystics: the fact that Christmas has been commercialized. The gift-buying . . . stimulates an enormous outpouring of ingenuity in the creation of products devoted to a single purpose: to give men pleasure. And the street decorations put up by department stores and other institutions—the Christmas trees, the winking lights, the glittering colors—provide the city with a spectacular display, which only “commercial greed” could afford to give us. One would have to be terribly depressed to resist the wonderful gaiety of that spectacle."

(From The Objectivist Calendar, Dec. 1976 as quoted in The Ayn Rand Lexicon http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/christmas.html)

A Belated Merry Christmas!