Ayn Crowd.(The Talk of the Town)(Ayn Rand)

Every month, a group of Ayn Rand enthusiasts get together at the Midtown Restaurant, on Fifty-fifth Street, for ice water and grilled cheese and a discussion of Objectivism--the philosophy, expressed in Rand's novels, that celebrates the individual over the collective, and argues that laissez-faire capitalism is the only just social system. There was a special buzz at the most recent meeting: for months, Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged"--which describes an American economic apocalypse, spurred by socialist-style government intervention--has been on the best-seller lists. "This economic crisis has sparked so much interest!" Robert Flanzer, a dentist, said. He has been a disciple of Rand's since the sixties, and for a long time drove a car with a license plate that said "JOHN GALT" (the hero of "Atlas Shrugged").

About twenty participants gathered around a long table at the front of the restaurant and introduced themselves. Jim Smith, who was wearing a maroon polo shirt, is the group's founder. "I've been a follower of Ayn Rand for five years," he said. He used to be a "spiritual care manager," but now works in wealth management. Then came Francisco Villalobos, who owns a fitness consulting company; Isabelle McQueen, a shamanic healer; and a flight attendant named Matthew Simpson, who said, "I wouldn't say I'm a follower. I hate authority. I hate the establishment. So that's me." The core members of the group had known Rand back when she ran a salon, called The Collective, in the sixties, and sometimes gave lectures at the McAlpin Hotel, on Thirty-fourth Street, and in the basement of the Empire State Building. ("She was like a cuddly grandma," one said.)

Paul Bell, another disciple of Rand's, rose and started the discussion. "Generally, at these meetings, we get together to schmooze," he said. "This time, there are serious concerns." He wanted to talk about Alan Greenspan, Rand's best-known acolyte, who offended Objectivists last fall by conceding, before Congress, that he'd "found a flaw" in his trust in free-market capitalism. Bell gave a little history lesson: "Let's flash back to the sixties"--around the time Greenspan taught at the Nathaniel Branden Institute, named for Rand's chief protege and lover. "My understanding is that Miss Rand was an enormous admirer of Alan Greenspan," ...