It's Randian because they say it is: Objectivism is a shared mythology, and like all mythologies it comes to bits rather badly when forced into contact with reality.
In my experience, most self-declared libertarians aren't very good business-people, and a surprising number work in institutionally-coddled enterprises like real estate, medicine and law. As such, it's no surprise that they're ill-equipped to deal with scam artists.
The Free State Project in the US (which aims at what amounts to a democratic coup in New Hampshire: https://freestateproject.org/) is the only scheme of this kind that seems remotely plausible, but that's in part because their ambitions are relatively modest. They want to get enough like-minded people together in one American state that they can have a significant influence on the local government. They are aiming at a state that already has notable libertarian leanings. And they aren't aiming for an anarcho-capitalist utopia, although some of them are anarcho-capitalists. It's a great democratic experiment, and while my money is on failure it has at least a modest chance of success, and either way it should be fascinating to watch.
Objectivism is a philosophy, not a mythology. This was not an objectivist effort, actually at all. You're giving the article too much credit, it is pretty much all spin.
> most self-declared libertarians aren't very good business-people
This kind of broad smear is exactly the point of the article-- to give you cover so you feel comfortable impeaching your intellectual integrity.
In my experience, most self-declared libertarians aren't very good business-people, and a surprising number work in institutionally-coddled enterprises like real estate, medicine and law. As such, it's no surprise that they're ill-equipped to deal with scam artists.
The Free State Project in the US (which aims at what amounts to a democratic coup in New Hampshire: https://freestateproject.org/) is the only scheme of this kind that seems remotely plausible, but that's in part because their ambitions are relatively modest. They want to get enough like-minded people together in one American state that they can have a significant influence on the local government. They are aiming at a state that already has notable libertarian leanings. And they aren't aiming for an anarcho-capitalist utopia, although some of them are anarcho-capitalists. It's a great democratic experiment, and while my money is on failure it has at least a modest chance of success, and either way it should be fascinating to watch.