06-28-2009, 12:29 PM | #46 |
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You don't get it. A child is born "Type-A" or "Type-B". If he is born "Type-A", he will need no state-funded education, he will "teach himself to read" (as a character from The Fountainhead) and he will endure anything until he realizes his vision. This will allow himself to look down on those "Type-B" who couldn't make it and have turned to "looters" and "second-raters".
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06-28-2009, 01:30 PM | #47 | |
Publishers are evil!
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For the most part I enjoyed Atlas Shrugged. From a literary standpoint I enjoyed the story. I didn't mind that her characters didn't change because I think that was one of the points of the book. The world was falling apart around her characters but they never abandoned their core beliefs. From a philosophical (or political) standpoint the book was written over 50 years ago, but we are still struggling with many of the themes that Ayn addresses in Atlas Shrugged and the book still feels fresh and relevant. I don't agree with all of Ayn Rand's beliefs, but I do agree with many of them, and the one's with which I disagree I don't have good answers for myself. I am also constantly "re-examining my premises." One last thing, I have to say that I very much enjoyed the Dagny Taggart character. The book was published in the 1950s and Dagny had sexual relations with three different men all outside the bounds of marriage (at least on Dagny's part). I can just imagine how people from the 50s viewed Dagny. Personally, I find stong, intelligent, independent, and self-sufficient women very attractive. |
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06-28-2009, 05:47 PM | #48 |
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I loved Atlas Shrugged; I still love it. Knowing some of its flaws as a total economic & philosophical system don't change that.
I don't mind giving her a break about childcare issues... but her acolytes don't seem to have any better answers; they seem to think children are an expensive individual hobby rather than a community project. (While I think there's a limit to community input on child-rearing, I also think that encouraging parents to make entirely their own standards and choices is very troublesome.) |
06-28-2009, 11:06 PM | #49 |
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Vaccinations are a good example.
Many people are choosing not to vaccinate their children. And this is, of course, resulting with increased cases of measles, etc. Now should the parents be allowed NOT to vaccinate? What about the rights of the children not to suffer some disease because of stupid decisions by their parents? But most importantly... herd immunity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_immunity). The state has a very valid interest in seeing vaccinations happening - not because they have to care about little Johnny, but because it's better for everyone else if we don't have some people getting measles and then more people getting measles, etc... But really just another example of our entanglement with each other and how that entanglement plays out in regards to politics, personal freedom, etc. |
06-29-2009, 12:52 AM | #50 | |
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The mother had no ill effects from lack of immunization - but lived in a community of 90+% that had been vaccinated, so was never exposed to many childhood diseases that killed and maimed many in prior generations. Their kids, however, don't live in a highly vaccinated society and are exposed much more in their early years due to the prevalence of day care from infancy. Add in an influx of disease from illegal immigrants and you end up with infants dying of whooping cough again (already happening -- childhood diseases are hitting infants who should have immunity from their mothers, but don't, as the mother has no antibodies, either). |
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06-29-2009, 04:13 AM | #51 |
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06-29-2009, 04:28 AM | #52 |
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I had a GF once who loves Ayn Rand. She also loved Diana Gabaldon's books too. I find some of her taste in books to be a bit suspect.
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06-29-2009, 09:39 PM | #53 | |
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No, Rand's writing should certainly not be taken as gospel, but then very little out there should be. In any case, like it or not, Rand is a very influential author, and any 20th century overview, which does not mention her work, would be deficient. |
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06-30-2009, 07:55 AM | #54 | ||
"Assume a can opener..."
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Of course the things she touches on are relevant; We still live in the same, capitalist, world. That said, I have the feeling there are infinitely more productive authors to read than her.. Charles Dickens, for all I care (not that I have anything against the guy's writing). Again, the "problem" she mentions is the specifically economically conservative/libertarian viewpoint that noone should be forced to pay for anyone else; as such, it mostly seems to be used as a facile "defense" or rationalization for those people (Alan Greenspan and his economic "policy" comes to mind here). And it is facile especially because it ignores the entire social dimension of life in communities/societies/yada. As Nietzsche (and Plato) already pointed out: once the masses come out of the woodwork and combine their power, the "type A" personalities will just die, because they are too few, and will have antagonized everyone else too much for their outlook to still be a tenable. Sure, this "philosophy" works for some, but only because they can keep the effects of their behavior a relative secret (the effects of white collar crime are widely underreported, for instance). Once they're outed, it's over. Sure, it wasn't meant as a coherent defense (it's "only fiction"), but it is used that way, and I'm quite sure she was very happy about that, too. (disclaimer: I have no beef with a differential reward scheme, but one so entirely oblivious of the social implications of a winner-takes-all world..) Last edited by zerospinboson; 06-30-2009 at 08:11 AM. |
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06-30-2009, 08:02 AM | #55 |
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06-30-2009, 08:06 AM | #56 | |
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Update - found a link. |
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06-30-2009, 08:07 AM | #57 | |
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EDIT: and look how much NOFX rock and they're influenced by Noam Chompsky. I now rest my case. Last edited by Moejoe; 06-30-2009 at 08:09 AM. |
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06-30-2009, 08:08 AM | #58 |
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06-30-2009, 08:10 AM | #59 |
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06-30-2009, 10:58 AM | #60 | |
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