"One thing I've never seen pointed out are the odd similarities in the appeal of Strauss and Ayn Rand. Both appeal to those who see themselves as being smarter than others, and offer what seems to be an easy means to gaining power over those unfit, miserable clods-- and it's a method that satisfies certain kinds of resentment over _not_ having power. With Rand, it's being a clever capitalist. With Strauss, it's the swaying of the public mind with well-crafted lies."
Well, being a capitalist kiss-ass never hurt anyone in this world. And the last thirty years were the years of the "meritocracy": you know, starting from an equal playing field, some folks rose and some folks sank. And that's all she wrote.
Rand had the special extra fragrance of being a disillusioned immigrant from the USSR during the cold war. That didn't hurt either.
Joanna