Profound as it has been, the influence of Ayn Rand on Western culture is difficult to objectively measure. What is easier to spot is how many on the Right who admire her works still fail to grasp the fundamentals of her philosophy of Objectivism.

Key among them are those who self define as conservative, libertarian, anarchist, and others who "lean right" by seeking "more freedom through less government." As fans and followers of Ayn Rand, they might be surprised to learn that Rand vehemently rejected and opposed each of those "right wing" variants.

By being falsely associated with any of them, Rand understood how her philosophy of individualism could be misunderstood or rejected by the very people who would benefit from it the most.

She reacted to libertarianism as "the latest aberration of some conservatives who claim simultaneously to be followers of my philosophy and advocates of anarchism. Anyone offering such a combination confesses his inability to understand either. Anarchism is the most irrational, anti-intellectual notion ever spun by the concrete-bound, context-dropping, whim-worshipping fringe of the collectivist movement, where it properly belongs."

Best known for her monumental novels Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, even after her death Ayn Rand continues to be opposed, misunderstood, misinterpreted and misrepresented. Fortunately, there are still those of us who make the effort necessary to objectively frame her philosophy in a way that is Just Right.