Is the book "Atlas Shrugged" being played out in real time?

[Indeependent]

Wall Streeters are some of those she was railing against....Galt and D'Anconia were independen businessmen, not crony corporatist collectivists.

And she cheered on an adulterous relationship between "independent" business people because it supposedly wasn't hurting anyone.
In Rand's world, you could lie, cheat and steal as long as you didn't hit someone...yes, I've watched her interviews.
She was vile.

 

[Moonglow]

LMAO, from the guy who voted for Biden, LOL. That's hysterical, broken English boy ...

I bet you can prove I voted for Biden also, because hey, one lie won't work at all...

 

[kaz]

Her life story is one of bitterness.
Her life's goal was to suck up to the rich without having to actually accomplish anything herself.

There is no one more self centered than the Nancy and Chuck show. At least she's honest and presents an alternative view about what selfishness even means. I'm not a fan of a lot of her choices either. But I'm far more a fan of her then the manipulative self centered asses who dominate DC

 

[kaz]

I bet you can prove I voted for Biden also, because hey, one lie won't work at all...

Sure I'll prove it. No one knows better than you and you weren't able to deny it.

Besides, you have a history of voting for people with no knowledge of economics and you don't know shit about economics yourself

 

[Oddball]

She had some decent ideas on economics in broad strokes. Her misunderstanding of human nature and its application is....odd? Off? Bad, at any rate. And if you ever happen upon real Randians/Randites, whatever they call themselves, their religion adherence to her ideas are off the charts weird, esp as applied to human relationships.

Now that I think on it, maybe dude Randians were early Incels

Anything taken to the absurd extremes that hard core Randians go becomes cultish.....The Branch Davidians or the People's Temple don't represent mainline Christianity.

 

[Oddball]

And she cheered on an adulterous relationship between "independent" business people because it supposedly wasn't hurting anyone.
In Rand's world, you could lie, cheat and steal as long as you didn't hit someone...yes, I've watched her interviews.
She was vile.

In Rand's world, you could lie, cheat and steal as long as you didn't hit someone.

No you can't....Fraud is aggression.

 

[Indeependent]

There is no one more self centered than the Nancy and Chuck show. At least she's honest and presents an alternative view about what selfishness even means. I'm not a fan of a lot of her choices either. But I'm far more a fan of her then the manipulative self centered asses who dominate DC

Atlas Shrugged lives in it's own vacuum sealed universe.
Her TV career lasted about 3 minutes because she was a cold hearted, ragged looking witch.
I didn't need Rand to tell me that business people and the politicians they bribe are pieces of garbage.

 

[Indeependent]

In Rand's world, you could lie, cheat and steal as long as you didn't hit someone.

No you can't....Fraud is aggression.

I read Atlas Shrugged very carefully and I have read many of her opinion pieces and watched many of her interviews.
I stand by what I posted.

 

[bendog]

Rand did show a tiny spark of talent in Atlas Shrugged, but the author was crazy, narcissistic, and taking amphetamines. She had a traumatic childhood in Soviet Russia before she escaped to the United States. She wrote four novels and a handful of political screeds that encouraged selfishness and a lack of concern for other people.. Very shallow and immature..

I find it odd to be supposedly seriously discussing Rand in a thread by a guy monikered as Gault who admits he never read her. But my opinion has been that her soviet inspired social commentary was about the State taking away incentive to a achieve because a base level of subsistance was guaranteed, and access to the top 10% could only be achieved by becoming a communist that had nothing to do with work and merit.

The only reason I even post this comment (besides the fact I just finished a work doc) is that the Gaults of America are not given a motivation by BBB to stop achieving. The architects, the lawyers, the docs, the tax saving accountants, and certainly not highly paid prostitutes who don't pay income taxes, may not make quite as much per ounce of effort expended on each client, but they WILL keep more of their earnings than they do now, if they capture say 10% more gross revenue.

But imo arguably the child tax credits, and just "giving" everyone who doesn't earn paid leave now four weeks, arguably does give incentive esp to hourly workers to just "take some time off" at a time when inflation is expanding in large part because not enough Americans are working. Rather than disencentivizing the Gaults of America, we may be giving people who (in Soviet parlance) share a liter of poorly distilled vodka with two others to achieve a nightly embrace of 333 1/3 ml.

We are not in danger of becoming more like the soviets, but the dems may be acting in an elitist was to further expand wealth disparity

 

[JGalt]

I bet you can prove I voted for Biden also, because hey, one lie won't work at all...

Even if you didn't vote for him, I can't believe you're so unenlightened that you can't see what's happening here:

Biden cancels some pipelines and puts thousands of people out of work. He enacts stifling regulations against the oil and gas industry, and they respond with a hearty "Fuck you" by cutting production. The price of oil rises, as does the price of gasoline, heating oil, natural gas, etc. Meanwhile, factories and supply lines aren't keeping up with the demand, as a result of governmental coronavirus restrictions, new taxes coming down the pipe, and other mandates.

The people in this country become upset and blame Biden and the Democrats for it, and their removal from office becomes more evident as the elections draw closer.

If that isn't a page right out of the book, I don't know what is. You figure it out.

Oh, and did I mention the labor force participation? So few people are actually going to work and generating revenue, that it looks like we'll never return to pre-Covid Trump levels...

 

[surada]

I find it odd to be supposedly seriously discussing Rand in a thread by a guy monikered as Gault who admits he never read her. But my opinion has been that her soviet inspired social commentary was about the State taking away incentive to a achieve because a base level of subsistance was guaranteed. The only reason I even post this comment (besides the fact I just finished a work doc) the Gaults of America are not given a motivation by BBB to stop achieving. The architects, the lawyers, the docs, the tax saving accountants, and certainly not highly paid prostitutes who don't pay income taxes, may not make quite as much per ounce of effort expended on each client, but they WILL keep more of their earnings than they do now, if they capture say 10% more gross revenue.

But imo arguably the child tax credits, and just "giving" everyone who doesn't earn paid leave now four weeks, arguably does give incentive esp to hourly workers to just "take some time off" at a time when inflation is expanding in large part because not enough Americans are working. Rather than disencentivizing the Gaults of America, we may be giving people who (in Soviet parlance) share a liter of poorly distilled vodka with two others to achieve a nightly embrace of 333 1/3 ml.

We are not in danger of becoming more like the soviets, but the dems may be acting in an elitist was to further expand wealth disparity

How exactly do you identify elitists?

 

[bendog]

Enjoy.

Ayn Rand - Existential Comics

Ayn Rand - Existential Comics

www.existentialcomics.com

And that was the day that Utilitarians, Objectivists, Communists, and Egoists all united as one: to kill Nietzsche. And also they told him that their group was really hardcore and didn't allow re-rolling characters, so once you died you had to wait outside and not talk.

That's pretty good.

 

[Karen Brandon]

I have not re-read ATLAS SHRUGGED or THE FOUNTAINHEAD in a long time; but I recently re-read RADIO FREE ALBEMUTH. I have read ALL of Philip K. Dick's books except THE MAN WHOSE TEETH WERE ALL EXACTLY ALIKE.
I guess ATLAS SHRUGGED and THE FOUNTAINHEAD are the only Ayn Rand I ever read.

Unranked Dayton just beat #4 Kansas 74-73.

Whoops - I never read GATHER YOURSELVES TOGETHER

 

[bendog]

and one How exactly do you identify elitists?

Oh I think you link to comics was spot on. A college education doesn't teach the realities of being a truck driver ... unless one does the route of community college and the "ten year plan." LOL

I doubt Red Bernie and AOC have much in common with G. Ferraro, and certainly not with moynihan

 

[surada]

Even if you didn't vote for him, I can't believe you're so unenlightened that you can't see what's happening here:

Biden cancels some pipelines and puts thousands of people out of work. He enacts stifling regulations against the oil and gas industry, and they respond with a hearty "Fuck you" by cutting production. The price of oil rises, as does the price of gasoline, heating oil, natural gas, etc. Meanwhile, factories and supply lines aren't keeping up with the demand, as a result of governmental coronavirus restrictions, new taxes coming down the pipe, and other mandates.

The people in this country become upset and blame Biden and the Democrats for it, and their removal from office becomes more evident as the elections draw closer.

If that isn't a page right out of the book, I don't know what is. You figure it out.

Oh, and did I mention the labor force participation? So few people are actually going to work and generating revenue, that it looks like we'll never return to pre-Covid Trump levels...

View attachment 568710

The US didn't cut production.. Just slightly in 2020 during the shutdown.. and we only imported 5 million bpd instead of 7 or 8.. What are you talking about? Unemployment numbers are way down.

 

[JGalt]

The US didn't cut production.. Just slightly in 2020 during the shutdown.. and we only imported 5 million bpd instead of 7 or 8.. What are you talking about? Unemployment numbers are way down.

What part of "labor participation rate" don't you understand?

 

[bendog]

What part of "labor participation rate" don't you understand?

View attachment 568717

The particiaption rate was going down before Trump. don't selectively graph dates for partisan gain.

Civilian labor force participation rate

www.bls.gov

There's no dispute that the particpation rate has not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. While child tax credits may have something to do with it, the fact that people are not vaccinated and infection rates are going up AGAIN and INsanely not all schools are open to VACCINATED kids are contributing factors as well.

 

[kaz]

I bet you can prove I voted for Biden also, because hey, one lie won't work at all...

You go girl. You got me, no one noticed your lips glued to Biden's cock, you fooled us all. Who did Moonbat vote for? no idea, it's amazing!

LOL, moron ....

 

[Stryder50]

Bump for general reference ...

 

[bendog]

Bump for general reference ...

Why? The op said he never read the book or saw the movie. I gotta say, Rand is pretty turgid stuff. Jmo she took it too far in comparing the 60s liberals to Stalin, esp considering she lived off of social benefits, but she did have a point. and it is still played out as progressives do want to "even things out" So, I can see the relevance. But not the bump.