Posted on 01/30/2005 3:14:41 PM PST by beavus
Has Ayn Rand gone mainstream? The radical champion of individualism and capitalism, who died in 1982, is no longer an exotic taste. Her image has adorned a U.S. postage stamp. Her ideas have been detected in a new mass-market animated comedy film, "The Incredibles." And Wednesday, on the 100th anniversary of her birth, there will be a Rand commemoration at the Library of Congress--an odd site for a ceremony honoring a fierce anti-statist. In her day, Rand was at odds with almost every prevailing attitude in American society. She infuriated liberals by preaching economic laissez-faire and lionizing titans of business. She appalled conservatives by rejecting religion in any form while celebrating, in her words, "sexual enjoyment as an end in itself."
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
She hated both. She considered herself a philosopher and was deeply concerned with the ideas underlying peoples actions. The notion of altruism, being self-sacrifice, she considered to be an irrational idea for an individual to act upon.
Don't confuse her with a libertarian. Libertarians are not concerned so much with how an individual lives or thinks, so long as he doesn't interfere with others. Reminds me of someone who once referred to Objectivism as the "anti-libertarian wing of the Libertarian party". It's a common confusion.
Good thing no one asked you. sheesh.
Apparently you see more of her influence than I do. I even talked with people who've read it. I'm left wondering what motivated them to read it, since it apparently wasn't her philosophy. I'm guessing it must've been the sweaty sex scenes.
No I'm not drunk. Not a bad idea though.
The Fountainhead is probably the best novel ever written.
I did not say anything about my personal view, I was merely pointing out that Ayn Rand herself would have been highly irritated by being termed " a Jewish intellectual" as she viewed herself and any others she agreed with as " Intellectuals, not female intellectuals, jewish intellectuals, etc. I personally disagree with her views on religion, and have no problem if someone wished to call me a female intellectual, or a southern intellectual, and so forth. Just pointing that out to you, very sorry if I offended you in any way.
booked for later
Did you read it or Atlas Shrugged?
Here’s to the crazy ones.
The eccentrics.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some see them as the crazy ones,
We see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.
I agree!
Beware of altruism. It is based on self deception, the root of all evil.
ROBERT HEINLEIN
I would disagree and say that "Atlas Shrugged" is the best novel ever written. It is a much fuller elaboration of the Objectivist Philosophy,and in an entertainment viewpoint, Dany and John Galt are much more interesting than Rourke.
Interesting analysis. I only know that Rand seemed to favor individuals living rational lives to greatest potential and happiness. Maybe that combination leads to 'too self-confident to be sexually permissive'.
Sorry here to. I was just stating another view. But I like to compare her with a bogus Freud. Sorry for overreacting.
I think he wrote the gold standard article found in one of her books of essays.
Yes. I've read everything, I think, except her play.
No she was against altruism.
He was quite a thinker. But, I still get the most kicks out of watching giant bugs getting blasted to pieces.
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