2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

Ayn Rand’s Objectivism and John Rawls’ Theory of Justice

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policies include heavily subsidising education, closing the gender pay gap which agree

with Rawls’ ‘veil of ignorance’ thought experiment.

Case 2: Social Justice in the United States

The United States’ political theory is unanimous with the neo-liberal socio-economic

theory that are present within Objectivism. Instilled in the United States constitution

are articles and amendments that align with Ayn Rand’s theory of Objectivism. Namely,

in relation to the limiting of government power and to protect the right to free trade.

The social contract that has arisen in the United States stresses power to the individual

and the right to self-interest. Altruism is not valued as highly in American society,

evident in their lack of universal health care and little subsidy for education. 27 The

United States scores 40.8 (Appendix 2) in the Gini Ratio and comes in 99 th for income

equality. 28 Despite this the USA has the highest GDP in the world making it technically

speaking the richest country in the world. This statistic depicts that the laissez-faire

capitalism, whilst effective in creating a wealthy nation it neglects the individual’s

rights to equality. Instead it focuses on rewarding those who exhibit strong self-interest.

Case 3: Social Justice in Australia

The Australian socio-economic theory establishes itself firmly in the middle ground of

Rawls’ and Rand’s political theories. Australia’s economy operates on a mixed

economic system. It draws equally from laissez-faire capitalism and welfare states.

27 Social Security Admnistration, 2019. Historical Background And Development Of Social Security. [Online] 28 Index Mundi, 2019. Gini Index. [Online]

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