JTF.ORG Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: mord on November 09, 2009, 06:52:19 AM
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uHSv1asFvU
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I bow before this intellectual giant! Great clip! Thanks!
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Donohue is such a putz. Actually many of us would find quite a bit of disagreement with Ayn Rand on many issues. She was very strongly libertarian. I am pretty sure she favored legal abortion, probably legalized drugs etc.
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Did anybody ever read her books, The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged? I heard they were good. I saw a little bit of The Fountainhead movie with Gary Cooper but I couldn't get into it.
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I read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Along with watching Chaim on the Queens Public Television, reading Atlas Shrugged was what made me shift to the right. However, it's not a quick read. But it's still worth it, even if you don't agree with Rand's atheism or libertarian policies. If anything, the book gives an excellent defense of the *morality* of capitalism.
However, if you want a quicker intro to Rand, I recomment "The Virtue of Selfishness" and "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal." These books are just a series of essays by Rand on various topics.
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She has just common sense in this issue. :)
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I read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Along with watching Chaim on the Queens Public Television, reading Atlas Shrugged was what made me shift to the right. However, it's not a quick read. But it's still worth it, even if you don't agree with Rand's atheism or libertarian policies. If anything, the book gives an excellent defense of the *morality* of capitalism.
However, if you want a quicker intro to Rand, I recomment "The Virtue of Selfishness" and "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal." These books are just a series of essays by Rand on various topics.
I'm downloading the audiobook of Atlas Shrugged right now... it's ridiculously large! It's gonna take me a year to listen to it.
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Did anybody ever read her books, The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged? I heard they were good. I saw a little bit of The Fountainhead movie with Gary Cooper but I couldn't get into it.
I didnt even know they made a movie for Atlas Shrugged. When was it made?
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They didn't make a movie for Atlas Shrugged (that I know of). But they made a movie for The Fountainhead. It's with Gary Cooper, and it must be like 60 years old. I caught it half-way through on PBS one time.
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I read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Along with watching Chaim on the Queens Public Television, reading Atlas Shrugged was what made me shift to the right. However, it's not a quick read. But it's still worth it, even if you don't agree with Rand's atheism or libertarian policies. If anything, the book gives an excellent defense of the *morality* of capitalism.
However, if you want a quicker intro to Rand, I recommend "The Virtue of Selfishness" and "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal." These books are just a series of essays by Rand on various topics.
That woman changed my philosophical outlook.
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Really, which books of hers did you read, Mishmaat? Which ones do you like best?
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Really, which books of hers did you read, Mishmaat? Which ones do you like best?
Atlas Shrugged, Anthem, The Fountainhead, We Are The Living, and For The New Intellectual.
I would have to say that Atlas Shrugged and Anthem are my personal favorites.
I'm downloading the audiobook of Atlas Shrugged right now... it's ridiculously large! It's gonna take me a year to listen to it.
Patches, get your hand on a physical copy at your local library if you can. I'd also make sure to have a good dictionary on hand.
I hope you enjoy your remarkable journey into the world of objectivism!
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Yeah, you're definitely right Mishmaat, the audiobook was a bad idea. I'll stick to dumb Stephen King novels for the audiobooks. Off to Queens Public Library I go!
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I lent my old worn out paperback version of Atlas Shrugged, with many passages underlined to my cousin. I don't think I'll be getting it back for a long time.
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That's okay, I found a copy on Amazon for like 8 bucks... I hate going to the libraries around here.
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I often forget to return library books on time, and it ends up costing me. So I think it's best to buy books either from used online book stores or from thrift shops.
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Ayn Rand was a very interesting character, but certainly not a libertarian, she would be turning in her grave at the suggestion! She was the founded of the philosophy of Objectivism, and could be described politically as a minarchist (govt should only have police army and courts, and 'tax' should be paid only voluntarily).
As the clip shows, she was a strong supporter of Israel, not because of a belief in Zionism, but because of her uncompromising defence of a civilised nation against a savage aggressor. She argued that a free state has the right to invade any tyranny and install a new govt if it is in the interests of the free state - it is not moral to do it on some kind of liberal, humanitarian basis.
Most people here would reject a lot of what she wrote about as she was a solid atheist, dismissive of religion and basing a philosophy on Scripture or belief in G-D. She rejected faith and spirituality outright. She was a proponent of abortion, but was personally, morally against things like pornography and prostitution (as they are damaging and not in anyone's rational interest), but argued that it was an individual's right and no business of the state to intervene. She was also a strong individualist, arguing that your life is your standard of value, an advocate of rational self-interest (selfishness). She opposed the culture of altruism, as defined as a sense of duty to be charitable and to help others.