Abstract

This essay, The Century Shaken: A Note on the Collapse of Marx, Rand, and Materialism, continues the arc begun in Hidden Kinship Between Marx and Rand. It argues that Marxism, Objectivism, and secular materialism collapse retroactively at inception because each denies the irreducible inner world of imagination, faith, art, and thought, the very realities they must tap into to construct their own ideologies. By exposing this denial as self‑defeating, the essay shows how these systems fail their promise of liberation and instead rest on foundations already undone. In contrast to prior critiques, this work introduces the Universal Principle of Collapse: any ideology that excludes the inner world is invalid from the start. This paper is the second in a three‑part series, with subsequent essays continuing the arc and deepening the implications for philosophy, culture, and human freedom. This work proceeds in a narrative voice, reflecting the irreducible inner world it defends.