Not if the trailer for the new Atlas Shrugged movie is to be believed. That'll get all the right wing nuts behind high speed rail.
Or it will make them realize that Ayn Rand thinks that they would totally fuck shit up without the rich elite. If people actually understood what Atlas Shrugged was about, I'm not sure they would love her as much.
Not if the trailer for the new Atlas Shrugged movie is to be believed. That'll get all the right wing nuts behind high speed rail.
Or it will make them realize that Ayn Rand thinks that they would totally fuck shit up without the rich elite. If people actually understood what Atlas Shrugged was about, I'm not sure they would love her as much.
I find her whole philosophy to be flawed and self-refuting. Also, any life philosophy (something you use as a guide for actually living your life and interacting with others) that is completely devoid of empathy is almost offensive to me.
And here's the thing: Because of her philosophy, Rand refused any edits on Atlas Shrugged, and told the publishers "Print it as it is, or not at all." The result? A badly written and overly long book. If she could have accepted help, her work would have been better. Good going, Objectivism!
Considering Russian was her first language, I find her writing to be quite good.
Everyone should be held to the same standard, regardless of when they learned the language. That's why authors like Lem wrote in their native tongues even though they knew English.
And WUB, no altruism for her, eh? Not that she would have wanted it.
Altruism for her? How do you figure? I'm merely saying that she rejected all altruism and was an egoist, and I personally find that disgusting. She wasn't even humanistic. She only ever did right by herself.
My assertion: Socialist philosophy is decidedly more empathic than Objectivist Capitalism, because people, caring for others, decide to share what they have. I think followers of Rand's philosophy (read: the American anti-government conservatives) are inherently less empathetic in their views of others.
The main problem with government distribution of resources is that people in it and people under it are imperfect and inefficient. You have to counter that. I would be fine with a benevolent AI computer that balanced resources, like in Hyperion.
Rand is okay if you can rest assured that you're an elite. The tough thing is that, if asked, everyone would consider themselves to be an elite. All those Rand people fancy themselves to be John Galt. Most of them would be sorely disappointed to find out their real Randian status.
Ah Luke, you are a Randian hero whether you like her or not. Re-read the Shrugged. They are empathic to each other in their own way.
Not sure what you mean by that. I am who I am regardless of somebody else's philosophy. And, as it happens, I believe the vast majority of people who make it in the world get their despite any strong minded philosophy. It's mostly down to luck. I worked hard to get where I am, but there are many others who have worked just as hard as me, and haven't gotten anywhere. For all the elites who say they got to where they are because of reading Ayn Rand, there are just as many people who believe that shit who got nowhere.
But we don't hear from those people.
Which is why I am more of a pragmatic socialist. I don't know where I could be in ten years time, and I might need the system. And because I'm a healthy human being, and I have a thing called empathy, I help other people. Some of that is paying taxes, but a lot is helping other jugglers become better jugglers, or better performers, or just have a better life in small ways.
With the degrading of America's financial rating and the general level of anger and spittle in politics nowadays (which I believe has gotten worse over the years), it seems like a general decline is inevitable. We can't rise to new challenges because a significant percentage of our population is trying to stifle anything that could be seen as progress in favor of bringing us back to their Utopian view of the past.
Comments
(Disclosure: I haven't read the whole thing, only parts.)
I think followers of Rand's philosophy (read: the American anti-government conservatives) are inherently less empathetic in their views of others.
The main problem with government distribution of resources is that people in it and people under it are imperfect and inefficient. You have to counter that. I would be fine with a benevolent AI computer that balanced resources, like in Hyperion.
But we don't hear from those people.
Which is why I am more of a pragmatic socialist. I don't know where I could be in ten years time, and I might need the system. And because I'm a healthy human being, and I have a thing called empathy, I help other people. Some of that is paying taxes, but a lot is helping other jugglers become better jugglers, or better performers, or just have a better life in small ways.
With the degrading of America's financial rating and the general level of anger and spittle in politics nowadays (which I believe has gotten worse over the years), it seems like a general decline is inevitable. We can't rise to new challenges because a significant percentage of our population is trying to stifle anything that could be seen as progress in favor of bringing us back to their Utopian view of the past.