[cornelis]

Just check out DU and see how they'll wax poetic about all kinds of crap they wouldn't know if it hit 'em upside the head.

Everyone works within limited givens, including Descartes. This is why his talk of finitude is important. The reaction to that is the reason for the fame of this Latin phrase. Rand and other Enlightenment optimists consider it sufficient for politics to work within limited givens and ignore the rest.

[discostu]

"Enlightenment optimists", I like that. In encompasses a lot of my problem with Rand and her ilk, frequently they state things as true that it would be really cool if they were, but they're clearly not, and it'll take a major change to the average man to make them true.