Galt's Gulch

The Boy on the Bicycle: Nathaniel Branden 1930--2014

Posted by Vinay 9 years, 4 months ago to Philosophy
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He made grave errors in the first half of his life. But Joel Wade only met him at his best and knew him for 35 years till his death. He remembers the best of him.
SOURCE URL: http://www.thesavvystreet.com/the-courage-to-face-a-lifetime-nathaniel-branden-1930-2014/

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  • Posted by Herb7734 9 years, 4 months ago
    What a warm tribute to a complex man. I have always felt bad, perhaps even embarrassed about the way he was treated by the Rand "collective." While their loyalty to A.R. can be understood, their seeming hatred of the man who put Objectivism into a coherent form seemed way over the top. Probably it was the fear of the wrath of Rand that fostered that attitude. He indeed was the boy on the bicycle, all grown up.
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    • Posted by johnpe1 9 years, 4 months ago
      Herb, I was 19 when Rand and Branden split, and
      I still feel the animosity -- in my bones. . it seemed
      to me that Branden had taken advantage of Rand
      in a conniving way, like a frat boy takes advantage
      of a bookish girl. . I just must unlearn that. . it's such
      a hill to climb!!! -- j

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      • Posted by Herb7734 9 years, 4 months ago
        Actually, it was quite the other way around. There are some profound moral lessons here, but I'm not up to relating them.
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        • Posted by johnpe1 9 years, 4 months ago
          she was the sorority girl taking advantage of the
          frat boy in her spare time? . and then, he decided
          to capitalize on her fame for his advantage?
          life contains so many elaborate twists ... ! -- j

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          • Posted by Herb7734 9 years, 4 months ago
            Nope.
            He did exactly what I would (should) have done. After reading the Fountainhead, he sent her a letter that impressed her to where she invited him and his girlfriend (Barbara) to meet with him at their home. It was years later, after he got his degree, got married, was pursuing a Masters degree, and he was starting in practice and organizing Objectivism through the Branden Institute that the affair started. Things are never B&W except in fiction.
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  • Posted by term2 9 years, 4 months ago
    We dont have to be underwater in a pool to make the promise to "give up our problems. We could do it today, right now, completely on our own. The problems really do kill us, often slowly but relentlessly. We should promise to just give them up.
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  • Posted by PURB 9 years, 4 months ago
    When "official" Objectivist literature quoted Branden without attributing the quote to him, it struck me as the desire to have Rearden Metal without Rearden.
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