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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years, 7 months ago
    ", lots of wealthy people embrace Ayn Rand because she retroactively transforms wealthy people into self-made saints"
    The hero of the Fountainhead was a hero for rejecting money-making opportunities in favor of staying true to what he believes.
    The main protagonists of Atlas Shrugged are wealthy, but certainly not all its heros are wealthy. Cheryl was specifically described as not wealthy. When she discovers her husbands wealth wasn't earned honestly, she has no interest in it. The guy who gives Dagny that whole narrative about how the motor company failed was not described as wealthy.

    OTOH, some of the antagonists in both books are wealthy.
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    • Posted by $ stargeezer 10 years, 7 months ago
      There are "wealthy" people everywhere you go. I don't let a persons bank account impress me - I'm excited when I see a person take his cash (and friends and family normally) and builds a terrific product that everybody needs. Are they Saints? Not likely, but they make good neighbors.

      I think the real truth that you see in AS is that some people can survive no matter what the circumstances that prevail. Wealth can help ease the transition - give one the ability to acquire tools and equipment they need for survival in a untamed world. It will also provide opportunity for education - time to acquire skills that will be needed for survival.

      I've given this all a lot of thought since I am a striker myself. I have been working to this end myself. Arms, tools, machinery and skills - any person who can master these things and skills will survive the coming collapse.

      As for wealth, it's where you find it. For some, a lowly position and a simple life is heaven - I won't argue it's not. For others, a headlong flight up the corporate ladder is the key that will unlock the door to their "valley". Either path provides challenges and rewards. Either path will provide the tools and meet the needs that each group has.

      Some worry that there were no bricklayers in AR's vision of the valley, but they were there. A bricklayer need not be blind to the rewards of objectivism. In fact I contend that a laborer or craftsman of any kind would find the goals of objectivist thought to be a kindred spirit. Would find the concept of preforming the chores not solely for the wages contracted, but also for the self satisfaction of having done a job to the utmost of their ability. Gaining pride in the completion of a job not just done, but well done.

      So then we get to these naysayers that poo-poo the notion of using kickstart as way to gauge support and enthusiasm - are they still dragging their jaw in the dirt over what has happened in just a few days? You bet they are. THEY don't understand why they keep being wrong about this "little movie".(as they refer to AS).

      Collectivist can't understand us, just as we have trouble believing they can really believe what "THEY" say they believe.
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  • Posted by $ winterwind 10 years, 7 months ago
    I slogged thru the comments and it was so obvious that it's an in-crowd circle jerk that I just couldn't say anything, not even

    "You gang of lowest-common-denominator imbeciles who obviously would not be either willing or able to recognize, let alone understand individuality, logical thinking, or ability, even with public assistance, you deserve the world you're going to get. My complaint is that I DON'T, but you want it so much that I may be stuck with it until it implodes. Soon, I hope."

    ooooh, wait. I can say THAT.
    let's see what happens!
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