All Comments

  • Posted by wiggys 12 years, 2 months ago
    I PROUDLY STATE THAT I AM AN ACHEVER AND HAVE EXPERIENCED THE HATRED, DISTAIN ETC OF THOSE BOTH IN MY BUSINESS AND USERS OF PRODUCTS THAT ARE CLAIMED TO BE EQUAL TO MINE. I LET IS ROLL OFF OF MY BACK AS WATER RUNS DOW A DUCKS BACK. I DO NOT APPOLOGIZE FOR ONE ASPECT OF WHAT I HAVE DONE. AYN RAND WAS CORRECT ONE MORE TIME IN HER ASSESSMENT OF WHAT SHE OBSERVED!
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Comment hidden due to member score or comment score too low. View Comment
  • Posted by Robbie53024 12 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I disagree. The "correct" achievers flaunt it openly. Oprah, Soros, Michael Moore, Bill Gates, Jon Stewart, Al Gore (if you can say that he has been successful and not just a looter) - none of them are criticized for their success and "excessive" compensation/wealth. But be a capitalist or libertarian and you are lionized. Even those who otherwise meet the criterion - ethnicity, gender, status as oppressed, such as Clarence Thomas, Condi Rice, or Marco Rubio.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by iroseland 12 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    from what I have seen achievement these days is not shrugged at, it is actively hated. The achievers who toe the party line are trying to trick the haters into ignoring their success. So far, the appears to mostly work.. Its just sad that anyone would need to approach things that way.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Comment hidden due to member score or comment score too low. View Comment
  • Posted by Robbie53024 12 years, 2 months ago
    I have a problem with this particular quote, though not the underlying sentiment.

    I agree that holding those that loot from others in order to distribute to still others is often held up as virtuous instead of the thief that they really are. But charity itself is not evil. Even AR herself said that she had no problem with an individual that chooses of their own free will to provide charity. She didn't see it as a reason to place them above any other person.

    I also don't think that the world merely shrugs at achievement. Increasingly, it depends on the political philosophy of the individual achiever. Progressive (socialist/collectivist) achievers are held up for great lauds - actors, bankers, industrialists - so long as they tout the party line. Achievers who do not spout those philosophies are scorned and ridiculed. This was less pronounced when Ms. Rand made this quote, but certainly not absent.
    Reply | Permalink  

  • Comment hidden. Undo