WI: Ayn Rand stays in the USSR?

Best case for her is an unremarkable middle-ranking Party member who muddles along playing the system to her benefit as well as she can. Worst case... well, she was already purged once, it wouldn't take much at all for her to be purged again. Especially as an intellectual from bourgeois parents with counterrevolutionary beliefs.

Either way, nobody's heard of her.

I agree. I think Ayn Rand becoming the woman she became was very much connected to her status as an emigre in hypercapitalist USA. If she stays in the USSR, her political activism is probably confined to mouthing-off Bolshevik authority figures, an activity she would likely curtail if threatened with the barrel of a gun. And if not, she's eventually shot and buried in an anonymous grave somewhere.
 
I agree. I think Ayn Rand becoming the woman she became was very much connected to her status as an emigre in hypercapitalist USA. If she stays in the USSR, her political activism is probably confined to mouthing-off Bolshevik authority figures, an activity she would likely curtail if threatened with the barrel of a gun. And if not, she's eventually shot and buried in an anonymous grave somewhere.

I like that option.. a lot

seriously though is this even really worth a thread?
 
her political activism is probably confined to mouthing-off Bolshevik authority figures, an activity she would likely curtail if threatened with the barrel of a gun. And if not, she's eventually shot and buried in an anonymous grave somewhere.

Except that loads of lower ranked specialists and party members got promotions out of mouthing-off Bolshevik authority figures during two periods:

1) The Great Purge encouraged the elimination of old bolsheviks, specialists and management in favour of "new" party members who had joined since Stalin had taken over membership control of the party. There are instances of Stalin replying to regional party figures of no account, encouraging them to do this. And of course instances of personal initiative where people went after the job they wanted and got the people ahead of them sent down. Rational self-interest promoted this behaviour.

2) WWII regarding incompetence, in favour of promotion from below again.

In both cases rational self-interest encourages charismatic self-interested characters to bad mouth those above them.

yours for the Regional Manager Fish-canning Rand,
Sam R.
 
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