Political Science

Arby’s Owned by Investment Group Named After Ayn Rand Character!

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Today the Arby’s chain of crappy food folded to pressure from the left and elected to stop advertising on the Rush Limbaugh show. As I pointed out, the @StopRush account has only about 11 thousand followers, while Rush’s 2 twitter accounts, which have only recently been active, have 200,000 followers, and 176,000, and he has 22 million listeners. Apparently Arby’s math is about as good as their food.

But there’s a further irony.

Arby’s was purchased by an investment group called “Roark Capital”. I thought this was serendipitous, since Howard Roark is a character in Libertarian semi-divinity Ayn Rand’s novel, Fountainhead. When I looked into the company, to my shock, I found it was no coincidence:

Are these the values that caved into liberal pseudo-fascist pressure?

Roark Capital Group’s goal is to be the preferred capital source for private equity solutions by earning the respect of all those with whom we do business. We secure trust by abiding by the highest ethical and moral standards while treating our investors, management teams, lenders, advisors and service providers with dignity and respect.

Howard Roark is the hero of Fountainhead, an example of Ayn Rand’s vision of the man who eschews what others think of him, and simply pursues excellence according to his own will and design.

As they explain it:

Roark Capital Group was named after Howard Roark, the protagonist in Ayn Rand’s classic The Fountainhead.

For much of the book, Roark’s unwavering commitment to his style of architecture put him at odds with the people in power and thus the people who influenced public opinion. While many of his peers altered their architectural designs to gain public approval and fame, Roark was always true to himself and his work, refusing to succumb to conventional wisdom. By the end of the book, the former architectural elite are exposed as frauds, and Howard Roark is discovered as a true visionary.

Integrity, according to Ayn Rand, is commitment to one’s own thinking and one’s own mind. If a man sincerely believes a claim to be true, then he must hold to this belief even though society opposes him. He must think independently and form values that he never sacrifices. Howard Roark’s life exemplified the true nature of this independence and integrity.

Roark Capital Group’s investment style and business philosophy is meant to emulate the life of Howard Roark. We hope to invest in outstanding companies in partnership with exceptional operating executives, regardless of conventional wisdom or the latest trend. Further, Roark Capital Group will support its portfolio companies and its management partners, in good times and bad, as long as the fundamental long-term opportunity remains intact. In the end, this patient, independent approach, will generate superior risk adjusted investment returns for Roark Capital Group.

 

Really, Roark Capital?

If a man sincerely believes a claim to be true, then he must hold to this belief even though society opposes him.

Sounds more like Rush Limbaugh than it does Arby’s, who completely caved in to society opposing him. In fact, not even all of society but a small group of loud, intolerant filthy hipsters making pseudo-Fascist demands.

 

Oh and by the way, if you only go to Arby’s because of the “Horsey Sauce”, @Juju_Lapin supplied the recipe:  CLICK HERE!