To Mrs. William Maethner, a fan [Letter 580]

June 20, 1974

Mrs. William Maethner
5246 Rucker Circle
Indianapolis, Ind.  46250

Dear Mrs. Maethner:

Thank you for your letter of February 5. You have good grounds to be concerned.

Please tell your daughter that I am profoundly opposed to today’s so-called libertarian movement and to the theories of Dr. Murray Rothbard. So-called libertarians are my avowed enemies, yet I’ve heard many reports on their attempts to cash in on my name and mislead my readers into the exact opposite of my views.

Please call to your daughter’s attention my article “The Nature of Government,” in my book Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. I am enclosing a copy of my publication, The Ayn Rand Letter, in which I have marked the passage you will find relevant.[*]

Sincerely yours,

Ayn Rand

AR/as
Enc.

*Possibly the January 28, 1974 issue of The Ayn Rand Letter, in “Philosophical Detection.”