Ayn Rand’s Revenge (Rand, Republicans, Tea Parties, Etc. Per the New York Times)

New York Times ^ | November 1, 2009 | ADAM KIRSCH

[altair]

So, will Atlas shrug as she chronicled? I think not. For one thing, her assumption that a small and vital few super-achievers can bring the whole system down by striking does not seem to be validated in reality.

You've missed the point and the scale. Look what is happening in New York with so few taxpayers to begin with who are now fleeing the state.

[gargoyle]

...True or not, depending on all the opinions and history, what matters is the issue. If you read it, what did you deduce? Should be all that matters...

...Your free to take or reject my advise...

[parsifal]

She’s worse than them. They go away in 4 to 8 years. Her malevolent influence continues generation after generation with the young and the weak and the gullible.

parsy, who has grown to hate her

[parsifal]

I won’t. But not being a louse, I will extend help to you. Plenty of food and ammo. Hope you have weapons that fit my ammo. Hope you like Armor Treet.

parsy, who is not afraid to be unselfish

[County Agent Hank Kimball]

I don’t worship Rand....but I respect her as a great writer and philospher. She was the first to put forth a moral defense of capitalism and debunk the false idol of altruism.

Millions were influence by her, myself included. She disabused me of the notion that “sacrifice” or “altruism” are virtues, and as others here have noted, vividly illustrated the evil of collectivism and mysticism.

Worship? No. But I don’t “worship” Ronald Reagan either. Or any other human being. That strikes me as a straw man.

Hank

[elkfersupper]

Seek help.

[parsifal]

Let me caption this for you: OH NO! Not the John Galt radio speech again! parsy, the ex-Randbot

[NCBraveheart]

ping for later

[Professional Engineer]

Self ping

[GOPJ]

The inmates of prisons have plenty of self esteem. Ditto the NY Times, especially its editorial board.

The kids with the highest self esteem in high school are gang members.

[GOPJ]

When Bennett Cerf, a head of Random House, begged her to cut Galt’s speech, Rand replied with what Heller calls “a comment that became publishing legend”: “Would you cut the Bible?” One can imagine what Cerf thought — he had already told Rand plainly, “I find your political philosophy abhorrent” — but the strange thing is that Rand’s grandiosity turned out to be perfectly justified.

I believe Cerf wrote a book - most liberals do - I wonder how that book is doing today? In short - like most liberal books it's gone nowhere. No one reads it - no one cares - nothings been added to the world of ideas. Anyone know what Cerf wrote? Anyone care?

[MetaThought]

What is it about Rand/Libertarianism that you dislike again ?

[parsifal]

In brief, that it is simplistic and not realistic. Libertarians are like commies in that they have a convenient whipping boy for every problem and conveniently it is a whipping boy that can not be eliminated, i e “Gov’t” Rand created a bunch of “heroes” (supermen) and anybody who has ever worked in the real world knows that the boss is usually the laziest and least necessary person in the company.

That zompist link above sets out my objections pretty well.

parsy, who named his first kid after Ayn

[MetaThought]

Sure, Rand’s heroes are idealized.

I don’t take it literally.
The point that I take away from Rand is that there are many solutions which may never come into being due to xyz regulation, etc.

[MetaThought]

Not that every boss is a hero, but the government destroys enough heroes to hurt us all.

[Eastbound]

Ditto.

[parsifal]

How do you have a society without regulation? Regulation can be overdone, and it can be underdone. My problem with libertarianism is that there is that anarcho-capitalists side that thinks every regulation is bad. take the current economic mess.

Libertarians are just blind to Wall Street having done anything wrong. Oh no, its all gov’t and all the poor widdle bankers being forced to make bad loans crapola fairy tale. One can not look at this without realizing it was the lack of regulation and greed by Wall Street which led t this mess.

Libertarians can’t fix anything because they are as far out of touch with reality as the liberal welfare-staters of the 60s and 70s. Whatever the answer is, it can’t be their THEORY that is screwed.

Frankly, we have too many delusional people loose in the country as it is following the de-institutionalization of mental hospitals back in the 70s and the libertarians and Randites just make it worse.

parsy, who is trying to be gentle here

[o_zarkman44]

ping for later read.

[o_zarkman44]

WE THE PEOPLE have the RIGHT TO ENFORCE the laws of the Constitution if Congress relaxes law enforcement and fail in the performance of their jobs.

[meadsjn]

Unfortunately, the heros of Ayn Rand only exist in small businesses, who stand little chance of getting larger. Large corporations have been controlled by the blood-sucking liberals for at least the past two decades.

There are no Hank Reardons. His snot-nosed commie offspring inherited the steel mills, the oil fields, the copper mines, etc., and sold it all to our enemies.