Barack Obama refutes Hank Rearden. "you didn't build that..."

https://libertypen.substack.com/p/why...

Obama summed up "We rise or fall together as one nation and as one people, and that’s the reason I’m running for President — because I still believe in that idea. You’re not on your own, we’re in this together."

All for one and one for all. A Socialists' fantasy, An Individualists' nightmare.

Thanks LP, excellent essay.
I noticed your use of "rational self-interest", a phrase I prefer over Rand's insistence on "selfishness". It's very difficult to get over the negative stigma that "selfishness" raises in many people. They are turned off before they even find out what she means by it.

Atlas Shrugged is daunting to many people because of its length and the amount of thought it evokes. I saw a headline earlier today to the effect that the average attention span is about 8 seconds. That doesn't encourage me to believe the next generation will read AS. Maybe they will watch the movie ... probably while scrolling their phones!

I just referenced Atlas Shrugged today with a colleague. We were talking about how most restaurants screw up your orders now, how the shop screwed up my oil change (top-tier shop, no Jiffylube), etc. She said, "It's like people don't want to work anymore." She's right. They don't. They just wanna get stoned and coast on through with minimal effort and no real concern for their own effectiveness. Make no mistake, though. This is a lot more than people en masse just deciding to mail it in. What incentive is there, anymore? My own kids have seen how hard I've worked and, frankly, it probably didn't look like fun. I asked my colleague if she is familiar with Atlas Shrugged. She wasn't.

Me dino never heard of Ayn Rand (maybe once hearing her name on TV but not caring who she was) until my most conservative of 4 brothers Christmas gifted my with all 3 DVD's of Atlas Shrugged.
Very shortly thereafter, I was reading the book from cover to cover and also internet researching Ayn Rand when I stumbled upon The Gulch, landing here 11 years and 8 months ago.