Ryan would have been my choice -- in another life

      The selection of Paul Ryan for his vice presidential running mate shows that Mitt Romney is giving up on middle ground votes.
      There was a time when I might have applauded. That was before I walked in the shoes of someone who had to acknowledge that government in the modern era can not be premised on a simple ideological theory.
      It's complicated, because people are involved, not just theories.
      In a way, Paul Ryan would work better as a VP running mate for Ron Paul, the wizened Libertarian who has an ardent following among the extreme Right, but whose candidacy was rejected in primary elections across the country. Ron Paul and Paul Ryan are political and philosophical soul mates.
      Their ultra conservative ideas are not evil, but they just won't work today, and even conservative Republicans were wise enough to see that when Romney and the rest were in races in the primaries earlier this year.
      Much is being written now that Paul Ryan is a brilliant budget wonk who knows the Federal budget as well, if not better, than anyone in Congress.
      But that's not the same as understanding the consequences of the proposals he has espoused.
      Maybe that's because he is a disciple, of sorts, of the controversial novelist Ayn Rand, whose views made popular fiction in the post-WWII years, when Americans feared the statist extremes of Stalinist USSR, and totalitarian government that was vying with America for world dominance.
     You've heard of Rand by now. Maybe you've read her novels, Atlas Shrugged, and The Fountainhead; one was made into a movie -- one of the few bad movies Gary Cooper ever made.
     She used those books to push her ideas of a society where selfishness was a good thing, the ultimate virtue, because it would require every citizen to scratch out their place in the world without regard for anyone else. Only reason, not altruism, not emotion, should lead to success. Enough reason would ensure prosperity. She had no use for religion or personal sacrifice on behalf of others. Every man for himself.
     I can't do Rand justice here, so take some time to read up on the one influence that would-be vice president -- potentially, president -- Paul Ryan says forms his political philosophy.
     Look up Objectivism on the web. Google Ayn Rand, or Nathaniel Branden, who was her colleague for 18 years before he split with her.
     Learn more about the ideas behind this up and  coming Republican named Paul Ryan, and maybe you, too, will be left  with some serious misgivings about how much humanity will be left in American governance if he and his ilk gain too much political power.