Comments on: Rand disciple spreads her word http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2009/11/16/rand-disciple-spreads-her-word/ Where experience, logic and ideas trump political correctness and the status quo every time Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:28:31 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: dbm http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2009/11/16/rand-disciple-spreads-her-word/comment-page-3/#comment-11713 dbm Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:25:21 +0000 http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/?p=742#comment-11713 Perhaps I should make clear that the way to fight bad ideas is with better ideas, NOT with suppression. Perhaps I should make clear that the way to fight bad ideas is with better ideas, NOT with suppression.

]]> By: dbm http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2009/11/16/rand-disciple-spreads-her-word/comment-page-3/#comment-9742 dbm Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:36:36 +0000 http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/?p=742#comment-9742 Robert Littel December 22nd, 2009 12:32 pm What the world must be saved from is bad ideas - philosophical errors - not any person, group, or movement. Robert Littel

December 22nd, 2009
12:32 pm

What the world must be saved from is bad ideas – philosophical errors – not any person, group, or movement.

]]> By: Robert Littel http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2009/11/16/rand-disciple-spreads-her-word/comment-page-3/#comment-7780 Robert Littel Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:32:42 +0000 http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/?p=742#comment-7780 dbm - It has to be protected from those who are the true leeches, who always find it easier to blame the victim instead of facing reality. I think it is easy to see that it is the small group (about 4000 individuals) that control 1/2 of all the wealth in the country, and who are perpetuating the "ever expanding pie" nonsense, that cannot be maintained indefinitely, are the ones who will bring us down as a nation, not those who are pointing out that the game is rigged to fail. dbm – It has to be protected from those who are the true leeches, who always find it easier to blame the victim instead of facing reality. I think it is easy to see that it is the small group (about 4000 individuals) that control 1/2 of all the wealth in the country, and who are perpetuating the “ever expanding pie” nonsense, that cannot be maintained indefinitely, are the ones who will bring us down as a nation, not those who are pointing out that the game is rigged to fail.

]]> By: dbm http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2009/11/16/rand-disciple-spreads-her-word/comment-page-3/#comment-7720 dbm Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:35:50 +0000 http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/?p=742#comment-7720 Robert Littel December 19th, 2009 2:42 pm "Right-wing" is a very vague, sweeping term. It can be very misleading. I am not involved in any attempt to condemn people as heretics or whatever. You haven't proven anything about Ayn Rand or about me. I agree with you that the world must be saved. What we disagree on is what it must be saved from. Robert Littel

December 19th, 2009
2:42 pm

“Right-wing” is a very vague, sweeping term. It can be very misleading. I am not involved in any attempt to condemn people as heretics or whatever. You haven’t proven anything about Ayn Rand or about me.

I agree with you that the world must be saved. What we disagree on is what it must be saved from.

]]> By: Robert Littel http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2009/11/16/rand-disciple-spreads-her-word/comment-page-3/#comment-7708 Robert Littel Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:42:41 +0000 http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/?p=742#comment-7708 dbm - The entire Right-wing has become more of a dogmatic religion than a political entity, with deviation of any kind considered heresy against accepted doctrine. When it comes to dealing with real problems, flexibility and pragmatism has given away to blind adherence to myths and superstitions that can be easily spoon fed to the ignorant (ex. teabaggers), or just disinterested masses (so-called independent voters who often cluelessly walk into a voting booth not knowing whom they are going to vote for). For those of us who look at the world as something that must be saved, we have a hard time deciding whether it is the ignorant and clueless who are more of a threat, or the devout (like yourself) who are too lazy to make the effort to try, or too selfabsorbed to care. dbm – The entire Right-wing has become more of a dogmatic religion than a political entity, with deviation of any kind considered heresy against accepted doctrine. When it comes to dealing with real problems, flexibility and pragmatism has given away to blind adherence to myths and superstitions that can be easily spoon fed to the ignorant (ex. teabaggers), or just disinterested masses (so-called independent voters who often cluelessly walk into a voting booth not knowing whom they are going to vote for). For those of us who look at the world as something that must be saved, we have a hard time deciding whether it is the ignorant and clueless who are more of a threat, or the devout (like yourself) who are too lazy to make the effort to try, or too selfabsorbed to care.

]]> By: Robert Littel http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2009/11/16/rand-disciple-spreads-her-word/comment-page-3/#comment-7707 Robert Littel Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:29:16 +0000 http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/?p=742#comment-7707 Enter your comments here Enter your comments here

]]> By: dbm http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2009/11/16/rand-disciple-spreads-her-word/comment-page-3/#comment-7704 dbm Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:48:04 +0000 http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/?p=742#comment-7704 Robert Littel December 18th, 2009 2:17 pm You keep saying that I have made a religion of Ayn Rand's writings and that I am blind to reality, but you offer no evidence of either. I'm not saying government is the enemy. I'm saying it is a tool which has been heavily misused. Robert Littel

December 18th, 2009
2:17 pm

You keep saying that I have made a religion of Ayn Rand’s writings and that I am blind to reality, but you offer no evidence of either.

I’m not saying government is the enemy. I’m saying it is a tool which has been heavily misused.

]]> By: Robert Littel http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2009/11/16/rand-disciple-spreads-her-word/comment-page-3/#comment-7693 Robert Littel Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:17:56 +0000 http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/?p=742#comment-7693 dbm - I don't buy ANY religion and you have clearly made this woman into one of your gods. Like all moral (or philosophical) absolutists, it is dogma that trumps the exigencies of reality, in your mind. I have no tolerance for delusional superstitionism (religion), or your particular doctrinaire deification of Ayn Rand and her rantings. Government is not the enemy, it is the battleground in the tug-o-war used by the rich to enhance their well being at the cost of the individual and it is the tool by which the individual attempts to defend against this elitist control. At any given time it is in the hands of one or the other of these two forces until the rich gain total control (where we are headed now) until those left out, rise up to make a correction (almost always violent). The resulting correction is ALWAYS blamed on the oppressed victims, who are only trying to redress the inequities handed down from above. That is what happens when 4000 individuals control 1/2 of all the wealth and they have a cadre of doctrinaire pseudo-religious automatons like you to do their bidding. They will cut you loose at the first sign of trouble, if you haven't already martyred yourself in service to them already. Grow up, you have bought a pig in a poke. dbm – I don’t buy ANY religion and you have clearly made this woman into one of your gods. Like all moral (or philosophical) absolutists, it is dogma that trumps the exigencies of reality, in your mind. I have no tolerance for delusional superstitionism (religion), or your particular doctrinaire deification of Ayn Rand and her rantings. Government is not the enemy, it is the battleground in the tug-o-war used by the rich to enhance their well being at the cost of the individual and it is the tool by which the individual attempts to defend against this elitist control. At any given time it is in the hands of one or the other of these two forces until the rich gain total control (where we are headed now) until those left out, rise up to make a correction (almost always violent). The resulting correction is ALWAYS blamed on the oppressed victims, who are only trying to redress the inequities handed down from above. That is what happens when 4000 individuals control 1/2 of all the wealth and they have a cadre of doctrinaire pseudo-religious automatons like you to do their bidding. They will cut you loose at the first sign of trouble, if you haven’t already martyred yourself in service to them already. Grow up, you have bought a pig in a poke.

]]> By: dbm http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2009/11/16/rand-disciple-spreads-her-word/comment-page-3/#comment-7645 dbm Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:55:57 +0000 http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/?p=742#comment-7645 Robert Littel December 15th, 2009 5:53 There is a very big difference between going on strike and using government to drain wealth belonging to others. What, specifically, would you suggest that people with massive wealth ought to do? Ayn Rand does not believe in conspiracy theories of any kind, nor do I. It is philosophical errors, not any conspiracy, that have gotten us into this mess. Philosophy is far more powerful than any conspiracy could ever be. Big business gets blamed a lot more than the poor when things go wrong. It is not any one economic group, demographic group, or pressure group that is to blame, but rather the widespread tendency to look too much to government to do things. Widespread anti-business prejudice doesn't help any either. Atlas Shrugged deals with the role of the mind in man's existence, a crucial fundamental issue. It does not purport to be an encyclopedic catalog of everything that was going wrong with our society at the time, let alone what may have gone wrong subsequently. If it has been 45 years since you've "read anything she had to say", then you can't possibly have "read EVERYTHING that she has EVER published". Also, you probably read a greatly altered version of her play that does not do it justice. Robert Littel

December 15th, 2009
5:53

There is a very big difference between going on strike and using government to drain wealth belonging to others.

What, specifically, would you suggest that people with massive wealth ought to do?

Ayn Rand does not believe in conspiracy theories of any kind, nor do I. It is philosophical errors, not any conspiracy, that have gotten us into this mess. Philosophy is far more powerful than any conspiracy could ever be.

Big business gets blamed a lot more than the poor when things go wrong. It is not any one economic group, demographic group, or pressure group that is to blame, but rather the widespread tendency to look too much to government to do things. Widespread anti-business prejudice doesn’t help any either.

Atlas Shrugged deals with the role of the mind in man’s existence, a crucial fundamental issue. It does not purport to be an encyclopedic catalog of everything that was going wrong with our society at the time, let alone what may have gone wrong subsequently.

If it has been 45 years since you’ve “read anything she had to say”, then you can’t possibly have “read EVERYTHING that she has EVER published”. Also, you probably read a greatly altered version of her play that does not do it justice.

]]> By: Robert Littel http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2009/11/16/rand-disciple-spreads-her-word/comment-page-3/#comment-7614 Robert Littel Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:53:26 +0000 http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/?p=742#comment-7614 dbm - As the world was shutting down and John Galt's mountain hidden camouflaged hide-away became the refuge of those who, "are more able than the rest to protect themselves if proper protection is not available", we see that production and the well being of society became a secondary function to gathering enough for ones-self and sitting out a world gone crazy until they could emerge and establish a new order. That view is not far off from the reality we face, where those with massive wealth are trying to funnel as much of it as they can into their pockets, rather than contributing to fixing societal pressures that are leading us to the edge of collapse. I have no doubt that contingency plans exist for the protection of the rich and their wealth in case of what, without concerted effort they seem not interested in preventing, not because it is a collectivist conspiracy, but because it is easier to run and hide than deal with reality. The forces leading us to disaster are varied and monumental, but not least among them is the acceleration of the process by the selfishness of the ultra rich, in their effort to get as much as they can as fast as they can, and to hell with the consequences. The problems of the world are too large for them to face, so they loot what they can get as fast as they can get it, gutting the world economy and when the collapse occurs, they turn around and blame the poor, always and forever, the perfect victim and fall-guy. Ayn Rand created a fairy-tale reality and you are just gullible enough to swallow it, making you the patsy and probably a willing soldier to man the gates, when the rich need you to protect them from an angry world they were partly responsible for. It has been 45 years since I was a sixteen year old impressed with the scribblings of your heroine, and just as long since I've read anything she had to say, because it became evident, upon reflection and wider exposure to the world, that she wrote nothing but fiction, and bad fiction at that. dbm – As the world was shutting down and John Galt’s mountain hidden camouflaged hide-away became the refuge of those who, “are more able than the rest to protect themselves if proper protection is not available”, we see that production and the well being of society became a secondary function to gathering enough for ones-self and sitting out a world gone crazy until they could emerge and establish a new order. That view is not far off from the reality we face, where those with massive wealth are trying to funnel as much of it as they can into their pockets, rather than contributing to fixing societal pressures that are leading us to the edge of collapse. I have no doubt that contingency plans exist for the protection of the rich and their wealth in case of what, without concerted effort they seem not interested in preventing, not because it is a collectivist conspiracy, but because it is easier to run and hide than deal with reality. The forces leading us to disaster are varied and monumental, but not least among them is the acceleration of the process by the selfishness of the ultra rich, in their effort to get as much as they can as fast as they can, and to hell with the consequences. The problems of the world are too large for them to face, so they loot what they can get as fast as they can get it, gutting the world economy and when the collapse occurs, they turn around and blame the poor, always and forever, the perfect victim and fall-guy. Ayn Rand created a fairy-tale reality and you are just gullible enough to swallow it, making you the patsy and probably a willing soldier to man the gates, when the rich need you to protect them from an angry world they were partly responsible for.

It has been 45 years since I was a sixteen year old impressed with the scribblings of your heroine, and just as long since I’ve read anything she had to say, because it became evident, upon reflection and wider exposure to the world, that she wrote nothing but fiction, and bad fiction at that.

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