Allow Me to Introduce Myself

[Rev. Rye]

Why is Rand hated so much here?

I've never read any of her work, [...] She seems to be quite reactionary.

I think you just answered your own question. Admittedly, she's not an Alt-Right crypto-fascist type of reactionary, more a "leave the capitalist robber barons alone!" sort of reactionary. Think less the typical conservative cycle of nostalgia or Nazi Germany and far more Gilded Age for her ideal. And the flaws in her approach certainly became a lot clearer after Alan Greenspan, an Objectivist who actually contributed three essays to Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, was nominated to run the Federal Reserve and instituted policies that led to the 2008 financial crisis, with effects lasting to this day.

That said, I do think she's at least a fairly decent novelist. I liked Anthem and The Fountainhead when I read them (In my teens.) Although I freely admit, the former is easily improved by Rush: