#2 2013-04-06 18:05:57
They've latched on to her novels as a way of absolving themselves of any responsibility for the poor and underclass in this country. Nobody with any kind of right mind believes in "noble Industrialists", not then, and not now.
I did enjoy a bit of schadenfreude, however, in Atlas Shrugged where all the whining selfish people get killed the in train tunnel.
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#4 2013-04-08 13:48:16
choad wrote:
Previously...
Dusty's Bête Noire
I doubt anyone could be called a pure Libertarian. Societal rules trump unfettered individual desires. However, I found it strange that Rand should be flogged for accepting Social Security and Medicare. Since when are those welfare benefits? The average person who works from the age of 20 until 66 and earns and average of $30,000 per year in today's dollars will, between the worker and his employer, pay over $200,000 into Social Security. If you compound the interest that should be paid on those contributions, each of us should have $750,000 or so at retirement. Put that into an annuity and you should be paid over $3500 per month for life. Do any of you expect to get half that much from SS based on your $30,000 per year salary?
Auto-edited on 2020-08-02 to update URLs
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#5 2013-04-08 15:12:52
How come no one speaks of moby dick as a literal philosophical position? How about catcher in the rye?
Anyone that reads atlas shrugged and fountainhead as anything more than works of fiction deserves to be confused. However, Anthem was a very meaningful book.
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#6 2013-04-08 15:16:36
I'm going to stick with Huxley's "Brave New World" as the most influential novel of modern times; I intend to read it again right after I get back from the movies tonight.
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#7 2013-04-08 16:26:09
Emmeran wrote:
I'm going to stick with Huxley's "Brave New World" as the most influential novel of modern times; I intend to read it again right after I get back from the movies tonight.
Prescient for sure.
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#8 2013-04-08 16:33:37
Emmeran wrote:
"Brave New World"
Brave new world my ass; where the fuck is my Soma?
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#9 2013-04-08 19:46:04
This article entails just about all the rare little things that really piss me off; Generalizations, misrepresentations and out-right partisan political bullshit.
I find Atlas Shrugged to be very entertaining, but then again, I'm never read it because i was looking for salvation. However, I will admit that in terms of religion, it's just as bombastic and illogical as other religious books. And her meaning was just as misunderstood.
Her whole premise was preaching for a meritocracy based on individualism as opposed to socialism and central control. The reason it strikes a nerve these days is because people are in complete denial about just how socialistic the US is. You cannot succeed in america today using the Atlas Shrugged Method.
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#10 2013-04-08 20:31:07
"The Fifth Elephant" Terry Pratchett
Last edited by Fid (2013-04-08 20:32:16)
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#11 2013-04-08 21:30:40
"Stand on Zanzibar" - Harry Harrison. Just as cheap, just as well thought out and you don't have to deal with people rolling their eyes when you ask if they have read it.
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#12 2013-04-09 10:29:13
GooberMcNutly wrote:
"Stand on Zanzibar" - Harry Harrison. Just as cheap, just as well thought out and you don't have to deal with people rolling their eyes when you ask if they have read it.
"Make Room! Make Room!" is Harrison, "Stand on Zanzibar" is Brunner. Both are good books.
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#13 2013-04-09 11:18:04
Lip shitz wrote:
This article entails just about all the rare little things that really piss me off; Generalizations, misrepresentations and out-right partisan political bullshit.
I find Atlas Shrugged to be very entertaining, but then again, I'm never read it because i was looking for salvation. However, I will admit that in terms of religion, it's just as bombastic and illogical as other religious books. And her meaning was just as misunderstood.
Her whole premise was preaching for a meritocracy based on individualism as opposed to socialism and central control. The reason it strikes a nerve these days is because people are in complete denial about just how socialistic the US is. You cannot succeed in america today using the Atlas Shrugged Method.
You never could.
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#14 2013-04-09 11:43:19
annnnd I had a heated discussion with our staff economist - he likes to believe that the rich actually built all of the roads, etc.
Pointless discussion obviously but I remain eternally pissed off at people who laud war without ever strapping on a pair of boots.
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#16 2013-04-09 13:37:07
hedgewizard wrote:
GooberMcNutly wrote:
"Stand on Zanzibar" - Harry Harrison. Just as cheap, just as well thought out and you don't have to deal with people rolling their eyes when you ask if they have read it.
"Make Room! Make Room!" is Harrison, "Stand on Zanzibar" is Brunner. Both are good books.
I concede the point. Thanks. My only defense is that my adolescent brain was awash in chemical substances, both internally and externally produced.
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#17 2013-04-09 14:17:24
Dmtdust wrote:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/opinion/sunday/douthat-the-secrets-of-princeton.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y&_r=2&
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