Galt's Gulch

introduction

Posted by Dennis55 9 years, 5 months ago to Culture
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Hello, my name is Dennis and I too am thrilled to have landed in the Gulch.I read Atlas Shrugged in the spring-and I can't believe the impact. I am 59 and read a book a week. It is the greatest book I have ever read. I drove 1300 miles round trip to see Who Is John Galt? More to come-D

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  • Posted by Dennis55 9 years, 5 months ago
    I have always been free market, limited government. But I have been telling anyone who will listen that Fox Business Channel is the "all libertarian" channel in the evening. Just more and more references to Atlas, AR, and of course look at the political/statist landscape. So, I thought I shouldn't get too preachy until I read the book. Went looking for it and of course fell into a reawakening of AR -shall we say-prophecy? And timing is everything-it reinforced my views of current political events and perhaps had me reassess ALL that I held automatically-religion, free thinking, even loosened up my social views. It made/let me think. Which to me is the main theme-the mind-my mind. I am becoming a rabid Objectivist. I told my wife.... if AR were alive today I would sell the house and follow her around like a Dead-Head--kind of joking. But perhaps it helps make the point. And I mentioned I read a book a week. AS=6 weeks AND I carry it in my briefcase-hard copy AND on my tablet-electronic -just in case I have down time..... I'm re reading it. Just great. You folks know this-I am new to it. I love business but it's impact on me wasn't just my work approach. It's a lot more.
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    • Posted by ewv 9 years, 5 months ago
      Be sure to read her non-fiction explaining the philosophy. In addition to her own anthologies with essays on a variety of topics, the book Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand by Leonard Peikoff provides a comprehensive and systematic explanation.
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  • Posted by teri-amborn 9 years, 5 months ago
    Welcome.
    You will soon be searching for more readings by AR. I highly recommend The Fountainhead along with her non-fiction: The Voice of Reason and Philosophy: Who Needs It.
    I was 35 and had just barely survived a contested divorce battle where I watched everything be taken from me by leeches and looters when I was introduced to AR.
    She saved my life.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 5 months ago
    Welcome to the Gulch, Dennis. What is your area of expertise? I am a chemical, biomedical, and materials engineering professor.
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    • Posted by Dennis55 9 years, 5 months ago
      Greetings. I wish I hade more formal higher education. When I was 18 the girl I had been chasing since we were 12 was crazy enough to marry me. Had to go for it. We just celebrated 40 years. So I kind of made my way the hard way. I was lucky to get into Industrial Sales and just finished a tour as National Sales Manager for a national wholesale distributor. I'm 59 and after the meltdown in 08 I will work until full retirement-then for fun as long as I can. I just accepted a position with a local (8 branches) family owned industrial distributor. I'm building a new area for them and mentoring the younger reps. Mostly I'm sleeping in my own bed not airports. When I was 18 and accepted the fact that full time student wasn't for me-I found a book called "The New Business Breed-The Buck Smeller" At that age it had the same impact AS just had on me.
      I spent some time as a member of the Association of Industrial Engineers due to some of the accounts I was calling on.... but that sounds like "soft" engineering compared to your expertise. So I like to think I'm self made-but I'm not done yet. Stay in touch DW
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      • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 5 months ago
        I may have to hire you as my sales director when I start my 3D printing of metals company. I'm not sure if I can wait to start it until after I help build Atlantis for many of us.
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      • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 5 months ago
        Being a professor is my shrug job, albeit a really nice one. I was a partner in a biofuels company before I shrugged.
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        • Posted by Dennis55 9 years, 5 months ago
          I like the term" shrug job" I will bust my hump for this company I'm with. $30 million family owned. Really against the current of monolith giants. But I kind of shrugged. Being a senior manager in a big corporation is pretty bureaucratic. Lot of PC BS and we had profit motive but sanctioning just creeps in. I get up and just bust it and have a blast. But I'm home-I can turn it off if I want to. The big company--14 hour days then hotel, car rental, airport..... start over. .And managing a lot of professionals that were little more than professional moochers. BTW-when you get Atlantis done-I'm pretty good at building sales from scratch.
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          • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 5 months ago
            I work 70 hours per week at my shrug job and love it, too, but I could earn twice as much easily with my own company. I had been capitalizing on liberal guilt by trading environmentally friendly fuel for their cash. When Obama gave most-favored status to solar energy, the ten of us at our small business, all having read AS, decided to shrug and sell our business. It was a good decision.
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            • Posted by Dennis55 9 years, 5 months ago
              I took a 30% pay cut to shrug and I love it. Thanks to progressive taxation my "take home" pay is affected very little. I live in central Illinois-the gov subsidized "ethanol belt"
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              • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 5 months ago
                That area was direct competition for my biofuels company as well. We were turning palm and other wood waste, municipal solid waste, and waste vegetable oil into fuel, energy, and chemicals, preferably the latter. The bioethanol companies were almost all crony crapitalists.
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 9 years, 5 months ago
    Welcome, Dennis! I consider everyone here to be an American patriot. Foreigners who like it here are OK by me also.
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    • Posted by $ jlc 9 years, 5 months ago
      Hmmm, big scaly fella. I would say Patriot or 'lover of freedom'. I do not find a border to be important in this context. (I DO find a physical border important to protect inasmuch as what is inside it is different from the environment. Kinda like a the cytoplasmic membrane of a cell: it controls the difference between what is inside a cell and what is outside it.)

      Jan
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      • Posted by $ allosaur 9 years, 5 months ago
        Secure our borders! Enforce the laws!
        This half Swede, quarter Irish and some kinda French-Canadian mix with God knows what else has nothing against LEGAL immigrants.
        An illegal is an illegal.
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        • Posted by hattrup 9 years, 5 months ago
          Already a new Gulch member (Welcome Dennis55!) runs into a very non-Gulch
          (OK, at least very non-AR) view on "illegals".
          Some here seem to default to an authority fallacy when it comes to foreigners, and how they arrive here in the USA.

          But at least most here may challenge the law when it comes to other personal freedoms, drugs, medicines, taxes, etc. and not resort to dismissing those who disagree with these other laws as criminals and advocate having them jailed.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 9 years, 5 months ago
    Welcome.
    You're in for a treat. You'll be able to communicate with people who actually get it, and they'll learn from you and you'll learn from them.
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  • Posted by $ jlc 9 years, 5 months ago
    Welcome, Dennis. I will enjoy listening to your contributions to our conversations. This is a great place to be able to discuss issues that are not spoken of by most of our contemporary culture.

    Jan
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  • Posted by $ MagicDog 9 years, 5 months ago
    Welcome aboard. Good to see you like AR. How did you like Galt's speech in AS?
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    • Posted by Dennis55 9 years, 5 months ago
      Galt's speech..... Glad you asked. We know critics have called it ponderous, repetitive etc. I honest to goodness tear up every time I read excerpts. I carry it with me. On you tube there is a 3 hour audio of the speech. It's one way to gather non believers. But I think it is such genius that we can't convert folks casually. It's like any other great teaching-the receiver has to be ready. There is not much in 1100 pages of AS I didn't already affirm. BUT changing my routine habits of guilt for achieving etc. is a daily reminder. Benevolence vs. altruism. I'm a giver. But the other day I was thinking how often do I give-because that's me vs. the hammering guilt of the sanction.
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      • Posted by $ Commander 9 years, 5 months ago
        Welcome Dennis! Cheers....to breaking the "conditioning" (guilt). Rand has an essay....a simplicity beyond the complexity of AS...."The Objectivists Ethics".
        You might want to check out D and K Hallings novel too. "The Pendulum of Justice"....WOW!
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      • Posted by $ MagicDog 9 years, 5 months ago
        I am glad to hear that. All I had to say when reading it was" right on, right on, ...". People are badly indoctrinated in the public school system. I try to tell my grandchildren and any kids that will listen to "Think for yourself. Don't let others do your thinking for you. Question everything." The young love to rebel. It is good to see the eyes light up when I tell them to "question everything".
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  • Posted by RevJay4 9 years, 5 months ago
    Welcome, Dennis55. You will enjoy this community and its inhabitants. And, most important, to me, continue to learn from the contributions of its members. Enjoy.
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  • Posted by Dennis55 9 years, 5 months ago
    Hi all-wow, this IS a community. I want to respond and try to keep the "intro" going but it's late. I just want to say that since finishing AS in April I have also devoured-The Fountainhead, Anthem, We The Living, New Intellectual. And a few about AR. Check out subscribing to a few like minded folks on You Tube. From TAS, ARI, and even Penn and Teller. Like I said-it's late-more later; but thank you for the welcome-and the encouragement. D
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  • Posted by $ winterwind 9 years, 5 months ago
    Glad to have you hear, Dennis! Your enthusiasm is refreshing.
    II read AS more than 40 years ago and it is still changing my life for the better. I have it on my tablet and have my hardbound copy sitting by my computer. Sometimes I just dip into it, like diving into a swimming pool on a hot day.
    Definitely read The Fountainhead. Then you can just say
    Howard Roark laughed.
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    • Posted by Dennis55 9 years, 5 months ago
      My favorite line from The Fountainhead -"But I don't think of you". Individual rights AND responsibility. Sounds harsh but like I said I'm more aware of benevolence vs. Altruism.
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  • Posted by jimslag 9 years, 5 months ago
    Hello Dennis, like you, I discovered it later in life. I got the Gulch through a contribution to the first film and evolved through the second and third films. You will enjoy the interactions with other members as I do. I have met some very interesting people here, both through their comments to which I replied and through replies to my comments on things. I congratulate you on making it to the movie (1300, really?). Myself I did not make it due to work and no theater close by (only 95 miles away). But again welcome and best wishes.
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    • Posted by Dennis55 9 years, 5 months ago
      I will explain the 1300 miles. My secret is out. We live in central Illinois. After the film left Chicago and Indianapolis-I could not find it close-anywhere. Then we were able to have a surprise 4 days with our grand daughter in Atlanta. Driving down I'm checking TAS website for theaters and eureka-found it in Snellville GA. So we picked up grand daughter and I told her Grand Pa is taking you to the movies. The group went to an appropriate movie for them-Grand Pa went to Who Is John Galt. 1300 miles-but -nice catch LOL
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