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Remembering the Real Ayn Rand
Wall Street Journal ^ | APRIL 14, 2011 | DONALD L. LUSKIN

Posted on 04/13/2011 10:38:36 PM PDT by TheDingoAteMyBaby

Tomorrow's release of the movie version of "Atlas Shrugged" is focusing attention on Ayn Rand's 1957 opus and the free-market ideas it espouses. Book sales for "Atlas" have always been brisk—and all the more so in the past few years, as actual events have mirrored Rand's nightmare vision of economic collapse amid massive government expansion. Conservatives are now hailing Rand as a tea party Nostradamus, hence the timing of the movie's premiere on tax day.

When Rand created the character of Wesley Mouch, it's as though she was anticipating Barney Frank (D., Mass). Mouch is the economic czar in "Atlas Shrugged" whose every move weakens the economy, which in turn gives him the excuse to demand broader powers. Mr. Frank steered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to disaster with mandates for more lending to low-income borrowers. After Fannie and Freddie collapsed under the weight of their subprime mortgage books, Mr. Frank proclaimed last year: "The way to cure that is to give us more authority." Mouch couldn't have said it better himself.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Miscellaneous; Music/Entertainment; Society
KEYWORDS: atlasshrugged; aynrand; individualism; libertarianism; objectivism; rand
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1 posted on 04/13/2011 10:38:40 PM PDT by TheDingoAteMyBaby
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To: Razz Barry
bump for later
2 posted on 04/13/2011 10:58:36 PM PDT by Razz Barry (Round'em up, send'em home.)
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

She was a brilliant woman who, like all of us, had plenty of flaws. Atlas Shrugged is a terrific book and unfortunately it is proving to be very accurate today.

Thanks for the link.


3 posted on 04/13/2011 11:06:49 PM PDT by volunbeer
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby
I always took her to be a libertarian, not a conservative.

Republicans have made me so angry sometimes, I even looked into changing. After reading the platform,....couldn't do it.

The beauty of the Tea Party is they don't want a 3rd party, they want to take over the GOP. A libertarian that votes for the Libertarian Party is always an insufferable brat that throws a fit til he gets his way. The GOP is usually not liberal enough and the Dems are just socialist. A libertarian that votes for the GOP understands he will never get everything he wants and just makes the best choice offered. The Silent Majority took over the GOP once before to oust the "Rockefeller" Republicans and made the GOP a winning party. If the Christians leave, they will leave the GOP to wallow in their own spit for another 60 years. Rand was a liberal in social policy and didn't understand the corrosive effects that her social beliefs had. Her economic beliefs are right on the mark. Ron Paul is a shadow of Rand and that is why he will probably never be president, but can you imagine him as a Treasury Secretary? He is Christian and pro life, but his foreign policy principles would get a nuke on DC or NYC for sure. I understand the principle he espouses, but that doesn't work with despots that want you dead as their own religion dictates. It has nothing to do with power or the economy when your "god" says the infidel must die.

4 posted on 04/14/2011 12:04:13 AM PDT by chuckles
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

Where will it be shown or where can we buy a DVD?


5 posted on 04/14/2011 12:22:51 AM PDT by jongaltsr (It)
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To: jongaltsr

The first part is coming out in theaters this Friday. You can use Fandango or other theater ticket sites to get times in your area.

http://www.fandango.com/atlasshrugged:part1_136949/movieoverview


6 posted on 04/14/2011 12:29:11 AM PDT by TheDingoAteMyBaby
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby
I purchase all copies of Atlas, Fountainhead, Anthem and We the living from a second hand store.

I give them to anyone I suspect has ability to comprehend such.

I find that females have a distaste for Ayn's style.

It is a strange thing, but it remains a thing.

7 posted on 04/14/2011 12:39:56 AM PDT by mmercier (Who is John Gault ?)
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bttt


8 posted on 04/14/2011 2:30:16 AM PDT by DollyCali (Don't tell God how big your storm is... tell your storm how BIG your God is!)
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

Someone who knew Ayn recently told a story of how Ayn went shopping one day and showed this person what she had bought, saying something like “And it was marked down, so I got a better price.” Then she thought for a second and said something like “No, that was the price. It didn’t sell at the higher price, so that wasn’t the price.”


9 posted on 04/14/2011 2:44:03 AM PDT by firebrand (Impeach Obama.)
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

She was a militant atheist. I’ve got no use for her philosophy of godless selfishness.


10 posted on 04/14/2011 3:22:10 AM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
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To: jongaltsr

Check out Atlas shrugged the Movie website ,Last Count 277 theaters Nationwide


11 posted on 04/14/2011 3:43:56 AM PDT by ballplayer
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To: ballplayer

“Atlas shrugged the Movie website..”

Got a link for that? Thanks.


12 posted on 04/14/2011 5:10:26 AM PDT by panaxanax ( Hillary's gonna' run (and win) in 2012 if the GOP doesn't wake up!)
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To: mmercier

“I purchase all copies of Atlas, Fountainhead, Anthem and We the living from a second hand store.”

Glad to see I’m not the only one.

I bought an original first edition, 8th printing at a second hand store for a buck. Near perfect condition, but missing the jacket. They’re selling for over a $100 on the used book websites like ABE.


13 posted on 04/14/2011 5:17:14 AM PDT by panaxanax ( Hillary's gonna' run (and win) in 2012 if the GOP doesn't wake up!)
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To: ADemocratNoMore; Aggie Mama; alarm rider; alexander_busek; AlligatorEyes; AmericanGirlRising; ...

Excellent article on Rand.


14 posted on 04/14/2011 11:12:40 AM PDT by Publius
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To: panaxanax
Atlas Shrugged Part 1
15 posted on 04/14/2011 11:20:46 AM PDT by r-q-tek86 ("It doesn't matter how smart you are if you don't stop and think" - Dr. Sowell)
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To: Publius

At one point in the book club, we were debating which figure in 2010 real life is represented by which AS character. The Won got a few votes as Wesley Mouch, but his passivity is starting to remind me of Mr. Thompson. He just sits around and listens to all the minions talk for the most part. Wonder if Mr. Thompson had a teleprompter.


16 posted on 04/14/2011 11:37:58 AM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: mmercier
I purchase all copies of Atlas, Fountainhead, Anthem and We the living from a second hand store.

I give them to anyone I suspect has ability to comprehend such.

LOL. I thought that I was the only one doing that. It's been my practice for years. I buy everyone that I find, generally at the local library used book stores. I even bought Atlas Shrugged written in Spanish from some company in Argentina or Brazil and gave it way to a Spanish speaking relative.

17 posted on 04/14/2011 11:53:56 AM PDT by InterceptPoint
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To: InterceptPoint

¿La Rebelión de Atlas?


18 posted on 04/14/2011 12:09:14 PM PDT by Hoodat (Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. - (Rom 8:37))
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To: Hoodat
¿La Rebelión de Atlas?

I think so, something like that.

19 posted on 04/14/2011 12:20:46 PM PDT by InterceptPoint
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To: InterceptPoint
Many people give out the copies of Ayn's work.

I have all of them here and there, been rereading the “Virtue of Greed& or selfishness" or whatnot (how is that retention thing working out for me..?); and her essay on Marilyn this week.

I gave away my last “Fountainhead” and am currently engaged in book about geology. I need something about pole shifts. All metaphysically objectivistsid out for the year.

Is it just the girls I know, or do you find that females tend to strongly dislike Ayn...? It is hard to find people who can understand and read a book today. Decades, and I still have not found a mechanism to reconcile faith with objectivsm as she presents its form.

20 posted on 04/14/2011 1:35:31 PM PDT by mmercier (Paging Elsworth Toohey)
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