To Mrs. Milton W. Broberg, a fan [Letter 524]

September 3, 1964

Mrs. Milton W. Broberg
939 North Clementine Street
Apt. 4
Anaheim, California, 92805

Dear Mrs. Broberg:

Thank you for your letter of July 19th. I am pleased that you liked my books and that you are an advocate of free enterprise.

I hope that you will not find yourself in need of public assistance. But permit me to say that if you do need it, you should not hesitate to call on it, because you are certainly entitled to it—in view of the taxes you have paid and in view of the fact that today’s political system makes it impossible for anyone to provide for his own old age. This does not mean that the welfare state is right, but that so long as you oppose the welfare state, you should not be its first victim and should not be made to suffer while your own hard-earned money is being spent to support bums all over the world.

I agree with you that Senator Goldwater is the best candidate today. All of us should do everything we can to support his campaign.

Our office has sent you an answer to your question about my other works. I will add that a new pocket book will be published by New American Library in December or January under the title The Virtue of Selfishness, A New Concept of Egoism, which contains articles, by me and by Nathaniel Branden, from The Objectivist Newsletter, dealing with the subject of the Objectivist ethics.

With best regards,

Cordially,

Ayn Rand

AR:dk