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Food
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
342 Posts |
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Terrahawk
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
644 Posts |
 Posted - 02/13/2011 : 6:25:22 PM
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Personally, I can only hope the film flops. The Fountainhead was a slog to read when I was a junior in high school. After that, I have had no interest in Atlas Shrugged. And once you read about the cult she started, you can see the utter nonsense she was spouting. All that being said, at a couple of points she makes are valid, but they are lost in the sea of her Objectivist ravings.
I summon Bigger Fish! |
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The Bog Man
Minister of the Sacraments of Jabootu
45 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2011 : 1:07:51 PM
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My reaction to this was;
Wow, they really stayed close to the source... this isn't going to make a dime. If I'm wrong, fine, but Rand was interested in giving lectures, not building character or plot. A philosopher perhaps, but not a screenwriter.
www.hauntedbog.com
That is not dead which can eternal lie, I'm just not a morning person. |
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Pip
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
333 Posts |
Posted - 03/12/2011 : 11:20:51 AM
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I think there is quite a bit of good in Objectivism and, in my experience, I've seen quite a bit of bad in the people most vocal in their objection (heh) to Rand's support of rational self-interest. They tend to be disgusting one-worlders who see others as a means to their ends and who expect us to be our brother's keepers. They seem to extol a sort of slavery on the installment plan and when you object (heh x2) to this, you're a bad person.
It's funny: while I have no time for them, ultimately they have plenty of time for me and other productive folks upon whom they feed.
Pip
"Shout for joy, if you get the chance." - U2 |
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Terrahawk
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
644 Posts |
Posted - 03/13/2011 : 5:52:42 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Pip
I think there is quite a bit of good in Objectivism and, in my experience, I've seen quite a bit of bad in the people most vocal in their objection (heh) to Rand's support of rational self-interest. They tend to be disgusting one-worlders who see others as a means to their ends and who expect us to be our brother's keepers. They seem to extol a sort of slavery on the installment plan and when you object (heh x2) to this, you're a bad person.
It's funny: while I have no time for them, ultimately they have plenty of time for me and other productive folks upon whom they feed.
Pip
She had nuggets of truth, but her overall philosophy seems to be just the other end of the spectrum against that which she railed. And as this article points out, Rand really became a cult leader
[url]http://www.2think.org/02_2_she.shtml[/url].
I ended up reading The Fountainhead because my Junior literature teacher was a semi-devotee to Rand. Let's just say, the teacher was not the most stable person you would meet. Anyways, based on just that book, my complaints against Rand, both stylistically and philosophically are:
1. The evil guys in her books are straw men. Of course her protagonists are straw men themselves. The pro's are beautiful and brilliant, being held down by the clueless and ignorant masses. While the evil guys are blindingly stupid except in controlling the clueless and ignorant.
2. She doesn't write a story. She writes speeches which sometimes involve characters. Heinlein did this to some extent with Starship Troopers but he actually had an interesting story with it. Plus, his was a nice and quick read and not pages of characters delivering monologues.
3. Self-interest only is a limited view in life. Sociopath's are the ultimate in self-interested individuals. I know Rand isn't saying that. But when you look at The Fountainhead where Roark blows up a building because they changed his design and rapes/pseudo-rapes another character, you have wonder what she does believe about self-interest.
4. The woman did actually form a cult around her beliefs. It is interesting that once Reason (one of the four key points of Objectivism) determined something to be true, it could no longer be questioned. I remember reading that there were major debates about whether smoking was permissible.
A final note, while I think Rand in general was a loon, that doesn't mean I think a society that massively redistributes wealth is the way to go. That discussion is for another day.
I summon Bigger Fish! |
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Pip
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
333 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2011 : 11:35:42 PM
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I think she had quite a bit of truth. Just because a small group of socially maladjusted latter-day academic contrarians saw fit to behave like persnickety yahoos is largely beside the point to me. Sounds to me like you were are looking for a reason not to like the idea. Oh well.
"Self-interest only is a limited view in life. Sociopath's are the ultimate in self-interested individuals."
Goodness! It's a good thing I put the word 'rational' in front of the words 'self-interest'! Otherwise I might have fallen into the strawman you were stuffing.
Pip
"Shout for joy, if you get the chance." - U2 |
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