This may be a tall order but how in the world is she tied to conservatism? And how would it be relevant in contemporary American politics?
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I think this post, from an American who used to be an Ayn Rand fan, ties it to American politics, and puts her writings in a greater context: [https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/atlas-flunked/](https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/atlas-flunked/) It’s not ELI5, but frankly, this is a topic that is very hard to describe with simple terms because it’s so complex.
Ayn Rand had a trauma from the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Her father lost his business, and she was purged from college. I believe this is what made her so opposed to any ideas about doing things collectively.
The idea that the individual stands over the collective, always, is at the heart of Objectivism. In the US, the neoliberal movement has influenced politics for a long time and neoliberal policies are common both in GOP and among centrist Dems. This makes Objectivism attractive to many people.
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