The intellectuals despise Capitalism because it stands a monument in opposition to their philosophical principles.

Capitalism is the system of individual rights; the intellectuals on all sides are for some form of collectivism.

Capitalism is the system of individualism, self-interest, and happiness; the intellectuals are for altruism, self-sacrifice, and misery.

Capitalism is pro-reason; the intellectuals are steeped in mysticism and subjectivism.

Capitalism is a social system for living in reality; a reality which the intellectuals despise and wish to overturn, or whose existence they deny.

In this interview, which took place upon publication of For the New Intellectual, Ayn Rand discusses the nature of cultural leadership, the influence of Plato, Aquinas, and Kant, the creeping mysticism infecting science and the lengthy process by which individuals become the “new intellectuals” of tomorrow. Recorded May 15, 1961