Full moral certainty. Yes and Yes.

Txs k.

Hello khalling,
I reject statism regardless of what camp it comes from. Though I believe men are quite fallible, I would not use that to justify capitalism. Capitalism is best because it is moral. If one considers themselves a conservative and defends the old practices because it is the best system, not because it is old, perhaps they are not conservatives by Rand's general definition. It is a fine distinction, but I think some self proclaimed conservatives of today do so. Time frame- 8:53 Rand: "Such, unfortunately, are a great many of today's conservatives." From this quote I infer that Rand would acknowledge that "some" are exceptions. Certainly many others still fit Rand's general definition/characterization and are no better than the progressives that reject the old simply because it is old. They believe change/progress can only come by rejecting the old, which is to reject the intellect of our founders and their accomplishments.
Compromise on principle is evil. "There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil." Galt's speech.
Regards,
O.A.

Excellent video K, thanks for posting it.

Points up why I dislike both political sides.

Like the song from an old James Bond movie, "Nobody Does It Better." Of course, when Ms. Rand speaks, one assumes her listeners can understand her. I'm not talking about her accent. I would be willing to bet that if a group of liberals were listening to that, at least 50% would flunk a test based on it. But, she was talking to conservatives. The question is, how many of them would understand her? Some would tune out when she talked about religion. Then, the very idea of taking full responsibility for their stance and doing it without relying on their parents, the past or anything but their own intellectual capacity is a hard sell, especially in this day and age. I doubt that she would even bother with this little expository talk which in a few minutes, summed up the entire motivation for the promotion of Capitalism.

Why it is, that so many people don't understand this simple truth is beyond me? Thanks for sharing!

Despite the great merits of capitalism, it seems to me that Rand shoots herself in the foot at the beginning of this one, because her statement about the reasons for the country's founding is BS and everybody knows it. The Founders were followers of the Scottish Enlightenment, and even inserted statements of faith, just like those she rejects, in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

I am not saying that her reasoning is wrong. Only that it wasn't the Founders' reasoning.

I like the idea of full moral certainty. But I would go on to use economic reasoning to show why capitalism is superior.

WOW! Things haven't changed at all!

Ben & Jerry (of ice cream fame) on TV this morning sound like a Bernie Sanders ad. Onewonders how they can have such a business and yet have so little understanding.

Thanks khalling for providing that old film of Ayn Rand being ignored by too many.
That should be run on the big screen at every GOP convention.

This is a great set of arguments.

Was there actually a turning point in the republican party from faith-based capitalism? Was this how the republicans were taken over by the religious?

I have always found that thinking is the hardest activity. Ayn Rand demands that I think constantly. It is so tiring and if I can't rely on some givens I'm not sure I have the strength to live on a day to day basis. Why won't that woman let me rest?