Ayn Rand was a sociopath worshipping psuedo yoda

[mezi]

Watch this video, I can't embed it for some reason.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b63_1306200629
*I believe theres a Burial track in that video somewhere, as well as Kraftwerk - Radioactivity.

http://exiledonline.com/the-fountainhea ... -colorado/

Ayn Rand is self described radical capitalist; Basically greed and selfishness are virtuous and that the poor can gently caress themselves. It's amazing that everywhere else in the world Rand is laughed off but American's actually took her seriously including GOP politicians such as Ron Paul and Supreme court justice Clarence Thomas.

[Genevieve]

I guess I can be described as libertarian and I absolutely DETEST Ayn Rand. I think she's misguided and has pretty much destroyed the face of free market capitalism with her bullshit attitude on altruism and sharing. She's also a huge hypocrite, by telling people they had to think for themselves while simultaneously telling everyone how to think. One of the most obnoxious things I ever had to endure was her appearance on Phil Donahue's show. I think it's on youtube.

But I think she's still contributed something of worth to the 20th century. I mean, she was misguided, but as was Karl Marx. To be informed of either extreme can still be valuable to yourself. Whether you agree with the person saying it or not. I don't take her seriously, but she needed to exist. It's healthy to be directly faced with the embodiment of egoism. Helps you form an image of what you consider important.

Also, it's a bit of a generational thing. If she would come out today NO ONE would take her seriously. But at a time when government intervention became the norm and people began to question capitalism (and rightfully so -- and not because I disagree with it but because questioning anything is healthy), she was the most vocal and radical supporter of it. If it weren't for her, a lot of people wouldn't have learned about the merits of free markets and individualism.

So yeah, basically. She was a nutcase, but I think that's mainly what makes her important and why at least reading up on her can be of value.

[knell]

just the words "Ayn Rand" send shivers down my spine.

i agree with Genevieve tho, she does have a role in history

[Genevieve]

Maybe it's kinda paradoxical, but I pretty much agree that people should most of all think of themselves and do everything they can do to make themselves happy. At the end of the day, legally, people are responsible for themselves and to their happiness. So, I agree with Ayn Rand, except

But...

I also believe that there's an unwritten rule among friends and family that they're at least, though not legally, still morally responsible for each other and the moment people let go of that responsibility, people stop looking out for them too. I mean, making other people happy makes me happy. To what degree that is selfish is up to debate, but Ayn Rand made the mistake by overlooking that debate in its entirety and claiming that all forms of voluntary altruism are equal to self-sacrifice and self-destruction. And it's that type of.. radical black and white thinking that makes Ayn Rand both misguided AND important.

I also believe that people have the natural right to be selfish and if that makes them happy, I'm not gonna stand in their way and neither should anybody else. I just doubt that Ayn Randian levels of egoism makes anyone happy.

[firky]

I find the link between her and Alan Greenspan interesting.

[Naan_Bread]

The horrible thing about Ayn Rand is that when she does present a good idea she almost immediately proceeds to go and contradict herself. Though when I read The Fountainhead a few years back it sort of lead the way for me to seek out other philosophies and ideas so it could be argued that in this respect she is actually a positive influence.

She is a better philosopher than she is an author, but that's not saying much.

[Hyoscine]

Ayn Rand is a joke. An "egoist" that propounds doctrine... give me a break.

[64hz]

fuck whats the song coming in at 8.20 ish? ?

[firky]

It's a Nine Inch Nails tune but I forget which one, corona maybe.

[firky]

Best Friends - Angelo Badalamenti
In Dreams - Roy Orbison
Right Where It Belongs - Nine Inch Nails
Corona Radiata - Nine Inch Nails
Forgive - Burial
Aua - Stereo Total
Le Fiacre - Jean Sablon

[seckle]

But I think she's still contributed something of worth to the 20th century. I mean, she was misguided, but as was Karl Marx.

america was in the most mental macarthyist decade when 'atlas shrugged' came out in 1957. at that time it was a breath of fresh air, as america and indeed the world was in the middle of a war against communism. i don't agree with all of objectivism, but she's an incredibly important influence on entrepreneurial culture, which now 50 years later is overflowing, as many people shun corporate life.

[seckle]

She is a better philosopher than she is an author

+1

[AllNightDayDream]

Her writing is terrible

[test_recordings]

Her hypocrisy is ridiculous, what she's advocating (i.e. selfishness) would have the same outcome as what she's saying would be avoided by not being altruistic... people would lose everything or other people or at least be in a perpetual circle of aggression to one another

[the acid never lies]

lol at comparing Ayn Rand to Karl Marx - she's not exactly of the same intellectual calibre. The point isn't that she is an egoist or selfish, it's that she has a completely loopy view of how the world functions. In her world it is the genius entrepreneurs that magic things into existence. Such a shame that the pesky working classes want to take any credit...

[hutyluty]

got mad scary eyes

[seckle]

she wasn't the only one influencing entrepreneurship. i mean if you want to get pedantic, milton friedman and free market economics gave ayn rand objectivism on a silver platter. she was a very bad writer, but the combination of political climate, her gender, and the end of maccarthyism made atlas shrugged stand out. obviously, any socialist is going to pull their hair out over it, but for all the negatives, you can pin on her, she influenced a generation of small businesses, that went on to become global businesses. microsoft is the sort of company that is derivative of her influence.

[the acid never lies]

microsoft is the sort of company that is derivative of her influence.

Interesting, how so?

[test_recordings]

I wouldn't have ascribed that much influence in the course of history to be honest! She seems more of an extreme, distorted product herself than producing anything in particular

[Hyoscine]

I have to disagree that her philosophy is better than her writing. She's the laughing stock of western philosophy, and rightly so. Nearly everything about her philosophy is objectionable, if not completely ridiculous. Her "work" on aesthetics is particularly bad.