Posted on 06/22/2008 1:40:46 PM PDT by Hank Kerchief
ping for later
Responses to the FR posting demonstrate how few understand how far down the road to a ruined society, a corrupt culture, and total oppression America has gone. This article illustrates why the rapidly accelerating destruction of America is possible—because most Americans do not know what has been lost, because by the time they came along, it was already lost and they have never seen a society that is truly free, comprised of independent individuals of character and decency, men of culture and values and goodwill toward one another, such as cannot even be imagined today.
When any American today believes the lie that "voting" is "participating" in America, when there is no one to vote for but various brands of corrupt politicians, all bent on destroying this country, and do not understand there is absolutely no political solution to this downward spiral, the destruction of America will come with the willing complicity of its citizens.
Hank
(If you want on or off this list please freepmail me.)
Hank
Not one of her heroes engages in propaganda. All of her heroes do one thing, they choose to live their lives as free independent individualists, and it is that choice and their lives that produced the revolution.
Whole ball of wax.
When people in a society are allowed the freedom of pursuing their lives as "free independent" individuals to whom the products of their talents/labor belongs without encroachment - society benefits by default.
When society believes it has the right to take, by force, the use of another's work/talent - society will degenerate.
Thanks, Ping to Save
This article is well written, but it is obviously nonsense.
How can one be an “individualist” in Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Russia, Mao’s China, or Pol Pot’s Cambodia?
Our freedom came from George Washington and his army, and was codified into the US Constitution. Once one generation of freedom-loving Americans stops taking an interest in politics, the next generation will find that the freedom to be an individualist is gone.
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Philosopher’s Song
Immanuel Kant was a real piss-ant who was very rarely stable.
Heideggar, Heideggar was a boozy beggar who could think you under the table.
David Hume could out-consume Schoppenhauer and Hegel. And Whittgenstein was a beery swine who was just as sloshed as Schlegel.
There's nothing Nieizsche couldn't teach 'ya 'bout the raising of the wrist. Socrates, himself, was permanently pissed.
John Stewart Mill, of his own free will On half a pint of shanty was particularly ill.
Plato they say could stick it away, Half a crate of whiskey every day.
Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle, And Hoppes was fond of his dram.
And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart. "I drink, therefore I am."
Yes, Socrates himself is particularly missed; A lovely little thinker, but a bugger when he's pissed.
if the only way to prevail is to live your life as a free man, then did Ayn Rand follow her own advice; she wrote and was very influential in shaping others opinions, didn’t she accomplish far more through her efforts than she ever could have by only living life as a free person?
But they do go off on 50 page rants sometimes.
Individualism has been drummed out of us, and is not longer in our culture. The only place to start is culturally to put it back in. The politics would naturally follow from there.
I am not a disciple of Rand, although I do respect her carving out a unique philosophy when everyone else in the world was rushing towards communism. But as a conservative I do share a lot of beliefs with her too.
Its unfortunate that the only current diccussion of her ideas is contained in a videogame, (Bioshock), one which does not put Objectivism in any sort of positive light. In the game, an objectivist builds an underwater city, invites fellow objectivists to live there. It deteriorates into a zombie filled hellhole.
This article speaks precisely to the dangers we face. Civilization and freedom are fragile things, as history has clearly shown. The prosperity, comfort and safety that we Americans take for granted can vanish overnight. History is my witness.
I said long ago when I first joined this forum that we will not be able t ovote our way out of this. Yuor stetement below is an eloquent summation of that proposition:
When any American today believes the lie that "voting" is "participating" in America, when there is no one to vote for but various brands of corrupt politicians, all bent on destroying this country, and do not understand there is absolutely no political solution to this downward spiral, the destruction of America will come with the willing complicity of its citizens.
We will eventually arrive at the point where the only thing we can do is to sell our lives dearly.
Mark for later
“What the author is saying is that a republic may be necessary, but as we are sadly witnessing, it is not sufficient to save us from the tyranny of the masses.”
I note that Ayn Rand didn’t write her books in Stalin’s USSR: she came to America. Why didn’t she try being an individualist in the USSR? Obviously because then she would have become a little known corpse, instead of a world-famous author.
We either band together now to save the last best hope of mankind, or suffer the extremely negative consequences. The message that politics is no longer relevant is very very mistaken.
“... didn’t she accomplish far more through her efforts than she ever could have by only living life as a free person?”
Her “efforts” were how she lived her life as a free person. Do you think a free person does nothing?
Don’t mean to sound abrupt, and sorry if I have. I appreciate the question, and I know you’ll see the answer immediately.
Hank
Voting is so overrated. Standing in line with the other plebes certainly doesn't make me feel "empowered". In fact, if anything it brings me face to face with my powerlessness. There's a 50/50 chance the guy in front of me is going to cancel my vote. And how about the girl behind me? What if they vote for someone who's going to infringe my rights -- like Obama and his leftist pals?
Bottom line is that my confidence isn't in my measly power as a voter, but rather in the principles that my Republic is built upon and that are (or should be) beyond the power of the vote.
Weren't her actions different than her heroes' actions. She formed a movement (objectivism), attempted to shape politics, and wrote an lectured extensively.
I’m with Noumenon. When voting becomes the only way to protect yourself from the people running the elections, the game is up. You have lost your autonomy. Prepare for the future as if your life depends on it. If the statists thought they had anything to fear from holding elections they would do away with them.
Ayn Rand did not form a movement. There is no movement. Objectivism is surviving on its merits, not because of a "movement."
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