Unfortunately, all that perversion is the promised change that progressives can believe in.

I am proud of what America stands for, but I separate that completely from what it has been perverted to become.

I support the idealism of the Founding Fathers and their recognition of natural rights - especially that the origin of natural rights is NOT government itself.

I support the "rugged individualism" version of America - not the United Welfare States of America.

I support a healthy skepticism in government control of anything - not the false hope politicians banter on about.

I support strict adherence to the rule of law - not pardons and special treatment for political motive.

Very nicely put.

Thanks Eye. Let us know if you get any comments.

Posted that to Facebook immediately!

if this quote could go viral it would be great.
thank you,

It was true then, and truer today.

I define "guilt" as the emotional response I get when I violate my own values. If one does not know his own values, he will be used by others until he is used up.

Did anyone see that the poll reported on Fox News this morning that 60% of liberals are not proud of their country?

I used to be proud of America until about 2008 (TARP). Definitely since 2009 I have a hard time singing the national anthem. I used to be very proud of America. Well, now ... not so much.

that is good

Amen

Fair enough. I don't feel guilt. I have nothing to feel guilty about.

Ayn Rand's view of Christianity on this point is based on an incorrect and now antiquated view of Christianity. Christians would say that the body and mind are engaged in deadly conflict, but both are in deadly conflict with different types of evil rather than with each other. The body and consciousness should not be in conflict with each other. When they are, this indeed is a contradiction to be avoided. The nature of the body and the conscience are not opposite nor incompatible, but living a moral, non-contradictory life is challenging (regardless of whether one is religious, atheist, or agnostic). The biggest argument that Christians should have with the above AR claim is "to benefit one is to injure the other". If Christians follow the concept that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, then their bodies must be treated with utmost respect just like all other aspects of their humanity. I am quite sure that some in this audience will reject the concept of a "Holy Spirit", but that is an argument for a different thread.

One must master all aspects of oneself so that one can live a non-contradictory life. AR's characters illustrated quite well how susceptible humans can be to compromising one's values if they live a life of contradiction (ex. Rearden, Keating, Wynand).

Regarding what richrobinson says about the "hopeless misfit", that is AR's view of Christianity. That is not what Christianity professes. Christians will agree that there is a struggle, but it is a struggle between two living aspects of one's humanity. As examples, acts of murder, theft, licentiousness, etc. require both one's body and one's mind and will have consequences on both. A Christian's life is not the battle between a corpse and a ghost. Rather it is a battle between the values that one professes and the reality that, in one aspect or another, sometimes one does not live up to those values. Regardless of one's metaphysics and epistemology, all of us have to fight the battle against hypocrisy. When we are hypocritical, we open ourselves up to attack.

ah, j, your upbringing...let it GO. there is always readjusting, reworking and reconsidering. that's a part of personal and business life. guilt, need not apply. re-examine the premises. it's not easy. I think I am always right ;) until one of you hands me a check the premises card

There certainly should not be guilt in the Gulch, but would it not be appropriate for someone to feel guilt if he/she did something that contradicted his/her Galtish values? Regardless, there should never be a case when someone lays a guilt trip on someone else.

there is no guilt in the gulch. meaningless, useless, destructive, irrational...

duty sounds like something I didn't sign up for, but someone is guilting me into...

straight from Galt's mouth to your ears :)

lol. just a bit

Thanks Star. If only more Americans understood.

Awesome Rich! Thank you for this. It seems I saw it some time ago, some place else, but could not remember the exact quote.

This is another reason we were given the 2nd Amendment and the true duty of citizens was empowered by it.

I saw it on a website without the reference or picture of Paine. I clipped it from here:
http://www.quoteswave.com/picture-quotes...

This really needs to be on a t-shirt, too. Where is it from? Could we use it? Zazzle is darn easy and quick, too.