I'm more than ever convince that anyone that buy's into Ayn Rand doctrine will slowly become more and more of a hypocrite. I've seen so many countless examples.
I wonder why would people actively throw away their integrity and self esteem for this? Or is it because they lack integrity and self esteem to begin with, which is why it appeals to them so much.
http://www.patiastephens.com/2010/12/05/.../#comments
Funny how two people can read the same article and not come to the same conclusion. Regardless, Where are you coming from with the whole self-esteem issue?
It's funny, reading "Atlas Shrugged" when I was 19 was one of the biggest self-esteem boosters I've ever gotten.
I think Rand's philosophy works great on a personal level for people, and horribly on a social/political level. But that's just my opinion. People are very polarized about her ideas. And always have been.
Alright, this is going to be complicated.
A little bit of Ayn Rand message is good, be more self responsible and put every improvement and mistake on yourself is the best way for you to improve yourself.
However, she really royally fuck up on the political level for some people.
I known two people, who are very financially successful right now. They went to public grade, middle, high and public university. They uses financial aids and student grants to get their degree. However, after reading Ayn Rand doctrine, they believe that all form of government social program should be get rid of, including public education so that they can get more tax money.
Their selfishness is to the point where they're becoming rapidly more of a hypocrite, YET they're calling everyone else a hypocrite. Ayn Rand also preaches it's you against the world, for some reason, they believe EVERYONE is unethical and everyone's a hypocrite despite they themselves being the biggest hypocrite of them all. Basically, in her "self interest" doctrine, if you receive the benefits, it's great but fuck everyone else.
They think that you should get rid of environmental protections, give corporation unlimited power to screw over people and get rid of all social programs that have known to improve peoples lives. One can debate if social security actually improve society as a whole, but you have to be fucking stupid to even debate if public education helps society overall.
The most retarded thing i've heard is when they said in ancient era, there are educated people and you dont need public education. Yes, that's true, but the different is, only .00001 percent back then are educated while there's 30 percent people now with a college degree. Fucking idiots.
Alan Greenspan admits that by following Ayn Rand Policy, he fucked over the US economy. He even officially apologized as well. I will find his exact quote when i have time.
The best thing i've read ever since i read Ayn Rand was Poetic justice. She believes that the government sponsor program regarding the danger of cigarette is a hoax and so she smoke two packs a day. She eventually died of cancer. Before she died of cancer, she took money from social security AND medicare to pay for her hospital bills. She also uses her husband name so that her cult followers do not discover what a hypocrite she is.
Ayn Rand followers like to say that she is simply taking back the money that was taxed from her. The reality is, i highly doubt that the US government tax more money than what she took to cover for her medicare bills. She probably takes more. Good thing she died, but unfortunately, her legacy lives on and right now influence people to become more and more selfish.
I agree with everything you say. But her legacy is complicated and as with most people, you have to take the good and leave out the bad. I think people who use her philosophy to justify their selfishness were always selfish. She just gave them a means to justify it. Plenty of people read her work and come away better people for it.
You also have to remember, that she lived in a different era. Right now our country's biggest problem is selfishness and greed, people getting help from the system without contributing back to it, etc. Everything you say basically. But back when she wrote it, much of the civilized world had the opposite problems.
Like anything, there needs to be balance. Too much selfishness, and shit gets fucked. Too much welfare, and things get fucked. Both sides are corrupting. It's a constant battle to find and stay in the middle.
But yes, right now our country could seriously use a little less Randian philosophy.
(10-14-2011 01:58 PM)Mark Wrote: [ -> ]I agree with everything you say. But her legacy is complicated and as with most people, you have to take the good and leave out the bad. I think people who use her philosophy to justify their selfishness were always selfish. She just gave them a means to justify it. Plenty of people read her work and come away better people for it.
You also have to remember, that she lived in a different era. Right now our country's biggest problem is selfishness and greed, people getting help from the system without contributing back to it, etc. Everything you say basically. But back when she wrote it, much of the civilized world had the opposite problems.
Like anything, there needs to be balance. Too much selfishness, and shit gets fucked. Too much welfare, and things get fucked. Both sides are corrupting. It's a constant battle to find and stay in the middle.
But yes, right now our country could seriously use a little less Randian philosophy.
Exactly. Seem like most people doesnt have a brain to understand that moderation is what make the society most efficient. People always either swing too much in the way of selfishness or too much socialist(universal healthcare during a regression? eh) and lack the vision to look at the bigger picture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwpnH_OTZio
Balance is it, you must find.