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Atlas Shrugged fans

BobMc

BobMc

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I'm just finishing Atlas Shrugged for the third time and was wondering if there were any other Atlas Shrugged fans here on the forum?

Ps. Who, is John Galt ? :)
 
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Not a right wing conservative, so, no I hate Ayn Rand. She was not popular during her life, but has been picked up by mostly far right conservatives.
 
paul1598419 said:
Not a right wing conservative, so, no I hate Ayn Rand. She was not popular during her life, but has been picked up by mostly far right conservatives.
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Not a right or wrong issue, was wondering if there where any fans here? Thanks for your thoughts. :)

Just curious, which ones by her you've read? :thinking:
 
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I must say i liked the movie trilogy, which could be worth watching regardless if you like the Rand theories or not.

One thing that i think is important to mention is that economic theory does not have to be linked with conservative or progressive views on things like personal freedoms. In many countries it is (and espeically in the US i suppose), but there is no reason that this link has to be there. Some countries have sizeable libertarian movements that would be considerd 'right' on the economic spectrum but 'left' when it comes to most other issues.

The other mix also exists, politics that want to redistribute wealth but also limit personal freedom.

That's just a ramble though, i'd recommend watching at least the movies since they are quite good, and reading the books if you're interested in more detail.
 
@Benm, I quite agree, I find Rands writing neither "left" or "right". I think she did a fine job of showing the difference between the "creators" ( those that create things and wealth ) and the "looters" ( those that take their property by rule of law ), what would happen if the creators went on strike. Which happened to be the name of the book at first. It was called "The Strike". The movies are enjoyable, as all books made onto movies they give you the jist but like you said leave out a lot of detail. Still trying to figured out John Galts speech, that's got my head in a twist. :thinking:

Rand wrote another book called "Anthem" it's a short book about what happens when men no longer have the "right to be wrong" which is a interesting book also.

Can't say I agree with all of Rands ideology, but she did a great job of showing the fruits of tyranny by rule of law. Thanks for your thoughts and happy laseing. :)
 
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paul1598419 said:
Not a right wing conservative, so, no I hate Ayn Rand. She was not popular during her life, but has been picked up by mostly far right conservatives.
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Hey thanks for this I'll give the movies a shot. I hope its as good as you make it out to be. I don't seem to find the time to sit down and read but I have been trying to get through The Devils Dictionary.
 
dden4012 said:
Hey thanks for this I'll give the movies a shot. I hope its as good as you make it out to be. I don't seem to find the time to sit down and read but I have been trying to get through The Devils Dictionary.
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It's a trilogy, hope you enjoy it. If you can, after you watch the movies post your thoughts. :thinking: :thanks:

Ps, what is the Devils Dictionary ?
 
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The movies were produced on a limited budget, keep that in mind, but i think they're a nice set and good to watch none the less. The acting and all is fine, but don't exxpect spectacular visual effects or anything like that (not that the story would require much of that).

As for Rands ideas: regardless of if you agree with them or not, the arguments made are often good and quite persuasive. Personally i see how government regulation can harm business development and innovation and how that could end up being bad for society as a whole.

There is a decent argument for keeping government from meddling in what corporations do for a profit. If we'd given government control over technological development we'd probably still be reading books by candle light right now. Surely shoving two unfolded paperclips into an outlet would kill you, but so would ramming them up your nose - educating people in what not to put where would be a fine job for goverment if they are bored ;)
 
dden4012 said:
Here is what had drawn me to it.
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/865289-the-cynic-s-word-book
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Curious, read through some of it, and it's seems to be a book of contrary.

Education, "that which discloses to the wise ~~~~~~and hides from the foolish." See the contrary, half is true and half is not ??

But it could be a humorous read ? :)



@Benm, One sad part of the movies ( I found ) was they changed the cast for each movie. You get use to seeing one person as a character and on the next movie they have some else playing that part. But true, seeing, it was a low budget movie, you get use to it. But still worth a watching. :)
 
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That's a valid point indeed, especially when you watch the movies shortly after eachother.

I watched them as they were released (as torrents...) so with a lot of time between them making that less noticable. The graphical effects and camera work also differ between them, so i could imagine they would not seem to be a true trilogy if you watch them back to back. The storyline is pretty consistent as far as i remember though.
 
Benm said:
That's a valid point indeed, especially when you watch the movies shortly after eachother.

I watched them as they were released (as torrents...) so with a lot of time between them making that less noticable. The graphical effects and camera work also differ between them, so i could imagine they would not seem to be a true trilogy if you watch them back to back. The storyline is pretty consistent as far as i remember though.
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That's true, I did watch them back to back to back. So I noticed it plenty. But I like the book, so I was real interested in the movies. Heard the Rand Society approved of the movies. Which is a interesting fact ??
 
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That's interesting indeed, but i see little reason why they should not.

I suppose the movies bring across the general idea sufficiently well: a dystopian future where government interference causes technological reversal, and how some but few people could afford to escape it.
 
Benm said:
That's interesting indeed, but i see little reason why they should not.

I suppose the movies bring across the general idea sufficiently well: a dystopian future where government interference causes technological reversal, and how some but few people could afford to escape it.
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It's weird that book was written over 50 years ago and so much of it seems to read like the front page of the newspaper. So much of what she describes seem to be happening. The entitlement mentality is running amuck. When 51% of society figures out they can vote themselves the other 49%'s paycheck, society doesn't have long to last. So sad . :(
 
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Those issues never really changed. The practical details have, but the concept has not.

There are certainly signs of a downfall coming shortly. Just the idea that the life expentancy of the current generation in america is possibly lower than that of the one before it (despite huge advances in medical technology) is a very interesting concept... aspecially as this is -not- the case in countries of similar development level in europe or even asia.

An interesting movie to see is 'Idiocracy', which was probably intended to be mostly funny but also touches the subject of doing what a majority (of a very media inflenced) public wants.

One major thing i noticed is that people do no longer understand how items they use in their every day life (like cellphones, computers or even cars) work. This may make us very vulnerable as most people are becoming unable to fix or re-create anything anymore.

Somehow i think we would build an archive that details evertyhing required to get from the stone age back to modern era, just in case something goes wrong very badly. Something like that should be chiseled into stone really, at least up to the point of developing proper semiconductors after which more complex designs could be stored digitally.
 
Benm said:
Those issues never really changed. The practical details have, but the concept has not.

There are certainly signs of a downfall coming shortly. Just the idea that the life expentancy of the current generation in america is possibly lower than that of the one before it (despite huge advances in medical technology) is a very interesting concept... aspecially as this is -not- the case in countries of similar development level in europe or even asia.

An interesting movie to see is 'Idiocracy', which was probably intended to be mostly funny but also touches the subject of doing what a majority (of a very media inflenced) public wants.

One major thing i noticed is that people do no longer understand how items they use in their every day life (like cellphones, computers or even cars) work. This may make us very vulnerable as most people are becoming unable to fix or re-create anything anymore.

Somehow i think we would build an archive that details evertyhing required to get from the stone age back to modern era, just in case something goes wrong very badly. Something like that should be chiseled into stone really, at least up to the point of developing proper semiconductors after which more complex designs could be stored digitally.
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I will have to check into the movie "Idiocrary" sounds like it could be a interesting movie. Our schools have stopped teaching critical thinking. I once watched a show where they took a 6 grade test from back in the early 1900's ( I think it was 6 grade or there about's ) and gave it to present day college students and it was amazing the college student couldn't pass the test. Our kids are being dumbed down so much it's scary. You can't control a strong person or country the same is true of a person who knows how to think "critically"

I read that even scienctists aren't even basing their research in the "search for truth" anymore just what they "want to be true" .

Even "wicapedia" can't be trusted these days. There's so much false and misleading information out there it's just shameful.

It use to be there were "no versions of truth, just truth". Now everyone has their own version of truth. It is being forgotten "that there are many versions of many things in this world, but are they not exactly that. A version of something and not the thing itself? Let us not worry about the version of the thing, just the thing itself" I love that statement :)

People it seems are forgetting the difference between wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge is the accumulation of facts. Wisdom being the proper use of those facts. Somewhere I read "professing themselves to be wise they became fools" seems to have such a ring of truth to it.

Ps. Looking for a 10watt plus LPM that data logs any ideas ?
 
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