The Vindication of Ayn Rand

The Autonomist ^ | 03/11/05 | Cass Hewitt

[elfman2]

Nice work! I didn’t know that it was just another “damned” Freeper who wrote it. I almost linked to it from an HPO post, but I see it’s already there:

http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?q=%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freerepublic.com%2Fforum%2Fa38bdcc213b5d.htm%22&hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2003-41,GGLD:en&sa=N&tab=wg

And at least one other place on the web:

http://www.google.com/search?tab=gw&q=%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freerepublic.com%2Fforum%2Fa38bdcc213b5d.htm%22&hl=en&lr=&

[Huck]

That's cool! Thanks for sharing those links. Atlas Dined lives!

[dAnconia]

Thanks for the ping!

[dAnconia]

There is usually more than one side to a story...

[cgbg]

My thoughts on Ayn Rand--

I read her books as a teenager and they had a major influence on me--and still do.

However, I found many of her followers to be very difficult--they tended to be dogmatic, emotional, and high-strung.

I consider her essential reading for anyone interested in philosophy or politics or economics or art, and I wish every college student required to read Marx's insanity was required to read her as an antidote.

I think the problem with her followers (and Rand as a person) is that logic is cruel--it is very difficult to find a nice way to tell someone they are an idiot or their values are evil.

Since the vast majority of people on the planet probably need to be insulted if they are told the truth life can be rather miserable if you insist on doing so. :-)

My approach with such people is to drop hints here or there with the hope that the seeds will take root. Rand and her followers preferred two by fours to the head.

As the old-timers may remember it was Whitaker Chambers who believed (feared) that a Randian state would quickly devolve into an authoritarian one despite Rand's clear opposition to violence. His point may be that the vast majority of human beings are just not capable of logical thought in their political lives, so the Randians would have to eliminate Democracy and resort to violence if they wanted the political results they desired.

Make no mistake--our current system of the "mixed economy" is a total failure and our Republic's long-term future is bleak imho.

Perhaps there is no political system that can work in the real world with real people. While I am very angry and frustrated with all Democrats and most Republicans I see no other country that is significantly better than the U.S.

While economics has been called "the dismal science" perhaps the real secret is that politics is an equally dismal one.

[B4Ranch]

>>On the other hand, its nice that somebody is presenting another view, even if I'm never able to get at the truth.<<

Truth is an interesting word. I have found that understanding the depth of it has many variations, all of which depend upon a persons education, employment fields in life, intellectual capabilities, social experiences and their ability to analyze. The desire to continually learn also has this nasty habit of changing what we believed last year versus this year.

Numerous times I have seen my own beliefs do a complete 180 degree turn in just a few short years as my comprehension matured and my friends tolerated the discussions I would start. Some of these would last many hours or even continue for months as I searched for a solid anchor to fasten my beliefs to on any particular subject.

Ann Ryans writings teach the same concepts. Unless we comprehend the full aspect of self resposibility we will always be sheeple, willing to be led on a leash by others who understand the weaknesses of the human mind better than we do.

Continue your search for the truth. The journey will ensure you a wild and exciting life. Never will you be at a loss for new unknowns to discover or fantastic ideas to discuss.

[rlmorel]

I love the book. I have read it three times, and am now listening to the electronic version and...you are right. The John Galt Speech bores me to death. Some good points, but TOO DANG LONG!!!!!!!

[sonserae]

Kudos to you. Thanks for writing it!

[WhiteGuy]

Pretty good so far.

Not only does it get better with each page................

It improves with each reading.

I try to schedule enough time each year to re-read this classic.

[BradyLS]

I wish they had made the movie a long time ago. It would seem anachronistic now, a movie about the "future" where the hero has to stop an get a "long distance operator" on a pay phone to call someone.

I had imagined that a good, modern retelling of Atlas Shrugged would use the airline industry in place of the railroad industry in the book.

[BradyLS]

Having grown up in a Democratic family I didn't understand her philosophy at first.

I was introduced to Ayn Rand's writing via Anthem, which is a good, science-fiction novella. When I told a friend that I liked it, he dropped Atlas Shrugged in my lap and I couldn't get through it. Then I saw a video of her last speech in New Orleans(?) and found her compelling and a bit repulsive all at once.

I figured that there had to be something about her and her works that I was missing or not understanding. Since people described her as "extremely selfish," I pulled down her book The Virtue of Selfishness. And that unlocked the mystery for me. To me, it is the best and most easily understood thing she ever wrote regarding her philosphy of Objectivism. Everything I'd ever read, heard, or seen about her began to make perfect sense. THIS is the book that I would give to someone before asking them to tackle Atlas Shrugged, no matter how old or keen a reader they are.

I think her best novel was the one set in Leninist Russia, We the Living. The Italians made a movie adaptation of the novel in 1942 called Noi Vivi, which was then banned from public viewing by Mussolini's government. I think the mvie stands as one of the best adaptations of a book ever made. It's faithful to the story, her philosophy, and is entertaining to boot.

[Askel5]

It's definitely still good for a laugh!

Trust all is well, Huck.

[Noumenon]

...she had them figured out in the 60s.

Precisely.

[Noumenon]

I re-read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead once every couple of years. It's always been worth the time. I also buy used copies off Amazon for a couple of bucks each and hand them out to those who might get something out of it. It's a very subversive thing to do.

[M Kehoe]

#94

I thought that I was the only one to do that.

;^)

5.56mm

[Mad Dawgg]

" I also buy used copies off Amazon for a couple of bucks each and hand them out to those who might get something out of it. It's a very subversive thing to do."

Heheh, I do the same, I usually give two books out at the same time one of Rand's and The Richest Man in Babylon ! It is my attempt at emulating Johnny Appleseed.

I am happy to report currently out of the 20 some attempts I have three very prosperous Capitalist trees growing and bearing fruit and 4 more seem to have taken root.

[jackbob]

You must read Atlas Shrugged!!!

If I had a nickel for every time I have been told this in the past 35 years or so, I'd be a very rich man. First off, I do not read fictions (I doubt I've read 25 of them in my lifetime).

The Fountainhead was the longest fiction I've ever read. But that book captured me right up front with a kind of unimaginable mystery, its description of a new kind of architecture. I do not think I would have gotten past page 20, had I had reason to adequately believe that it was Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture she used as her model in writing it. I still chose to close my mind to such thoughts, and visualize it as so much much more unimaginably greater.

Back to Atlas Shrugged. Not all the reviews I have heard are good. On criticism, in particular that sticks out with me, has to do with the quantity of repetition in the book. Repetition in a book is quite tiring to me.

If my not reading the book leaves me disabled in understanding objectivism, then so be it. I'm not an objectivist anyway, at least not in any pure Randian sense of it. But I do however view Rand as the Greatest woman of the Twentieth Century, even if all her reported faults are true.

[elbucko]

I liked Thomas Jefferson better. Ayn Rand....

So do I for the same reasons.

[jackbob]

The meaning of the word "truth" as I used it in my reply, was the scientific truth or the real, actual, state of existence. What actually happened. I usually do not like this use of the word "truth," as such truths are rarely ever knowable beyond possibility of doubt. My preferred use of the word is related to honesty and sincerity. I wrote and posted my reply quickly. Immediately afterword, I vocalized "damn it" out loud. What I wanted to say was "even if I'm never able to get at what actually occurred," rather than "get at the truth."

I also may have misleadingly implied a particular interest in Rand's life, where as I actually have none. I've only read commentaries and reviews of the Branden books without actually reading them. I have no desire to read this new book either. But I'm interested in what is generally in it.

[sonserae]

So be it...but let it be known that I don't read fiction either usually. I loved Fountainhead and love Atlas Shrugged. There are huge parts in Atlas Shrugged that are so insightful. They shouldn't be missed.