Thanks
however in my experience young people don't care that's what I'm scared of

what did you think of the Fountainhead?

You did not say it directly. I took it as implied since you were still willing to fight the system. I too will not quit fighting the system but have realized it will fail without a doubt. You are correct, they will take us with them. If it happens soon enough young people will be able to recover. My generation may not. But the alternative is to survive it myself and pass it to you. That's not how I want it. :)

I found an old copy of atlas shrugged on a shelf in a classroom one or two years ago. my dad encouraged me to read it I got through with it in two months and read the rest of rands novels by the end of the year

I don't want to withdraw from society I want to change it.

How did you come to read Rand?

Seventeen. My dad has been giving me political books since I hit middle school I've read probably more of them than any of my teachers

Yes she did. She saw the threat very clearly -- and didn't advocate or practice 'shrugging' as the means to stop it.

Your sense of justice in rejecting the 'looters' and not wanting to help them is very correct and completely understandable. But whatever any of us do personally to cut back or otherwise try to avoid punishment for success, neither Ayn Rand nor we could or can base a life on withdrawing from society or expect that to change the culture for the better.

How old are you?

I am doing my best to try but I'm so young that it seems I don't make much of a difference. I'm not quite shure what to do to be completely honest, kinda why I came here.

When did i ever say that!? I am one of the kids to whom the buck was passed! I want to end the insanity going on all around me! No one else has done anything about it good intentions don't get things done, actions do!

In what way(s) are you fighting 'it'?

It's only wasted if you vote for someone you don't like....or the lesser of two evils. In that case, when there is no good choice to choose from, not voting is shrugging. Compromise is evil.

So you prefer to pass the buck on to the kids or grandchildren? I don't. I have come to the realization that this government is going to fail. Not a matter of if. It's a matter of when. I believe it is my generation and the one before me that has allowed this to be possible. I believe if we have to start over I want it done while I am still alive to pay the price, not passing it on to others. In other words taking responsibility for my actions.

My dad tells me that I sound like her all the time
but seriously I understood where she was coming from, I've never been able to stand by and watch something I hate happen or watch something I love crumble, in the case of our country its both I can't help but fight it

That sounds like dagny.

I am more than familiar with rands philosophy, as I have said before I have read all of her books. What I saw was preventing communism before it could start. She saw the shadows of what would come because she had seen it before, in communist Russia. She wanted to prevent that from happening here

Your sheer dishonesty in misrepresenting me is disgusting.

That is what 'shrugging' means, but it was not the point of Ayn Rand's life and philosophy, and she did not write the novel to promote 'shrugging'.

Withdrawing support from something you disagree with says nothing about what you are for and what you do about it in active pursuit of values. Ayn Rand was no drop-out, did not advocate it for one's personal life, and explained why it is not a strategy for positive social change.

She did recognize that people do not and cannot be expected to work for punishment, but that leaves open what else they do instead, about which she had a lot to say. She wrote extensively about that. Her focus was _not_ on 'shrugging'.

There is a common confusion -- among some of the public not familiar with her philosophy -- between a fictional plot device in the novel versus the theme of the novel and the content of her philosophy.

But this is a different topic than misusing this forum to advocate illegal activities like violently overthrowing the US government.

Having people with similar opinions is so weird! I love it!

Ah... I was wondering about the influx of new members. :)

No they are not destroying just themselves they are taking us with them! I'm just not at the point that I can stop fighting them and let everything crumble.

I don't believe this post is about overthrowing the government. They are working on that themselves. IMHO this is about how to make it happen faster and come out okay in the end.

I bought the newest atlas shrugged movie after reading all of rands books and similar things the link was in the box with the movie and I thought I would check it out ☺

How'd you find us?