What Does It Mean to Shrug?--Revisited
Posted by CarolSeer2014 9 years, 8 months ago to Philosophy
Just now reading this thread. I agree completely with khalling and stargeezey. Rand's working title for Atlas Shrugged was "The Strike"--what happens when the "prime movers" had had enough of the looters, those who felt entitled to the fruits of the labor of the producers, without feeling any need to contribute themselves. But I always believed, that once the Social Order, so-called, realized the absurdity of the Marxist slogan "From each according to their ability to each according to their need" the producers would rejoin society, and that for the most part, those who could work would be working.
Ideally, anyway, but human nature being what it is, nothing is ever ideal! I guess at that time in my life, I was still pretty optimistic.
Ideally, anyway, but human nature being what it is, nothing is ever ideal! I guess at that time in my life, I was still pretty optimistic.
This was an extreme example of what happens when we don't respect people's rights. I do not think she was saying it was a good thing but rather a worse case scenario.
It was never meant, IMHO, as a way to put a positive spin on being a disgruntled gov't employee or retiring early because you can't get along with clients and colleagues. In other words, it was a warning, not a call to adopt a victim mentality.
Some act (and speak) as if AR had issued a call to surrender. Not hardly, not in a million years. Quitting is the easy thing to do... it's why some describe suicide as cowardly, allowing the demons to prevail.
There is no place to hide from this. What we need to do is to turn this back, not hasten its implementation.
midnight shift, with stargeezer!!! -- j
I'd love to write the story, but I'm afraid it would turn out to be science fiction.
number of regular U.S. citizens [who Are Producers]
wake up and realize that they Are, and that they Can
have an effect. primarily at the voting booth.
or, well, it may not be luck;;; it may be consequences!!! -- j
and we can only seek to maximize both!!! -- j
Second, and I realize that if they, (Dagny and Hank) had this realization there would be no storey, they would have realized that much like rehab, it is not there for people who need it, it is there for people who WANT it and will do what it takes to get it.
If they realized that, they would have quit (Shrugged) half way through the first chapter and left society to crumble faster.
I have trouble debating AS on the forum, I confess. My problem stems from not being an academician. I have been an entrepreneur nearly all my life. My 4th grade teacher accused me of this and introduced the word to my vocabulary. I didn't discover AR and AS until all the hoopla with this administration. Things I think and do without deep though and literary references are the same things many people "look up" to see if it fits their philosophy. My sense of self interest and focus are ingrained from years of doing.
I had a musician friend with the same trouble in college. He was studying some very deep concepts in music. Heady things that could be taught from books, with study and practice. My friend John found himself surrounded with gifted players. John went to school to learn these things, the gifted players already played them. The gifted players learned the technical name for things they knew intuitively. John eventually became a very successful video editor.
My point is this; My opinion of Dagny and Hank come from 40 years of business, failing, trying again, succeeding, and so on. It may be different from those with differing experience.
You do not need to be an academic. only someone who can think logically, and put together a string of thoughts in a logical order using facts not opinions. In fact I always rail against academics, and elitists. When you are expressing opinions, call them out, and you did that in your reply, which in my opinion places you in the top 10% of people anyhow.
The Objectivist Slogan.
You said you believed that the producers would rejoin society. Then you say nothing is ever ideal, and you were optimistic then.
I think you're correct - producers will rejoin society, when the time is right. Do you not believe that will happen?
Do I believe, now, that society will come to its senses and reject the nonsensical belief "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need"? Good question.
conflict is not a bad thing [I'm thinking disagreement, not acts of war]; if fact, it's rather a useful thing in getting different viewpoints aired. If the conflict is resolved to the satisfaction of all, good has been done.