If you are not a fan of Ayn Rand, why are you in the Gulch?
Posted by Mamaemma 10 years, 6 months ago to Philosophy
And if someone is a fan of Ayn Rand, does that mean that that person understands and agrees with her philosophy?
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While we're very happy to have you in the Gulch and appreciate your wanting to fully engage, some things in the Gulch (e.g. voting, links in comments) are a privilege, not a right. To get you up to speed as quickly as possible, we've provided two options for earning these privileges.
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Are you ready for a toll booth at every intersection?
Do you actually believe that is cheaper, or even feasible?
"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more."
hold that a member of, say, the Gulch, *must* take
a vow and voluntarily agree to pay for any central
services mutually agreed on by the members, else
they must leave. . this includes maturing children,
say, at 18 or so. . you take part as a member, or bye-bye.
and charity is voluntary, NONE of it handled by
the state. . mutual defense is voluntarily paid by
members. . everything must be voluntary, or it
will not work, long-term. -- j
You cherish the "liberty" of jumping into your car, and driving across town, or to the next town for that matter.
There are decent roads that allow you this cherished "liberty".
You paid compulsory taxes for these roads, and my guess is that you aren't complaining.
Consider the scenario where each individual is only responsible for the road(s) that they need, or want....
Societal living has communal, and compulsive, requirements.
As a victim of Enron I am intimately aware of a company willing to do anything for whatever rings their bell. I just can’t come to a clear understanding of how a Person such as Ken Lay for one, who was a multi millionaire could steal from others. As used to be said about the University of Oklahoma, “How much rice can a Chinaman eat?”
I was thinking before I found this site that this current administration is far too close to her writings as I remembered them. Fifty something years is a long time to remember much of anything, but these books have stayed with me. The major problem we have as I see it is that our Congress will not stand up to Obama and/or are just a collection of boot lickers. They won't honor their oaths and protect this country.
What sticks with me now is how many companies have moved out of our country to another. Maybe not for the same reasons as Ayn wrote about, but the consequences are very close to the same.
I’ve a thick skin, so fire away, but make it mostly educational.
most people do not start from foundations when they develop "beliefs" and so with each new concept they approach, they develop a feeling (hunch) then they go from there often leaving reason behind in the dust. and it's really bad for all of us, when scientists do that.
"Godwin's law applies especially to inappropriate, inordinate, or hyperbolic comparisons of other situations (or one's opponent) with Nazis – often referred to as "playing the Hitler card". The law and its corollaries would not apply to discussions covering known mainstays of Nazi Germany such as genocide, eugenics, or racial superiority, nor, more debatably, to a discussion of other totalitarian regimes or ideologies[citation needed], if that was the explicit topic of conversation, because a Nazi comparison in those circumstances may be appropriate, in effect committing the fallacist's fallacy."
My brother, 3 years my junior, is very smart and very good at his job. He used to be a libertarian and sounded objectivist. I'm pretty sure he read Atlas Shrugged but I wouldn't testify to it in court. But over the last 2 or 3 years he's begun spouting the collectivist line, chiding me for calling the ACA Obamacare, sending me what he considers proof of anthropogenic global warming, sticking up for some collectivist state and federal programs.
The sad part is that when you try to have a conversation with them and lay out a clear, logical, step-by-step argument for or against X, they make leaps of absurdity in the other direction. Even if you say, "For the sake of argument, let's assume A" and they agree - before long they're shouting, "NOT A, NOT A!"
It's always a bit jarring when someone illustrates to you with irrefutable logic and reason something contrary to what you believe. But if you are to remain a rational being, and I don't see any other way to live, then you must adjust your belief. It may be hard and you may have to work at it and remind yourself that what you used to think is wrong, but it has to be done.
So I agree with you, but I wish (against reality) that there were more rational people in the world!
One last thing, you mentioned common sense. I shudder at the phrase. The Timelord sayeth, "I've only ever met two people with a lick of common sense, you and me. And I'm not too goddamned sure about you!" I'm not the first one to express the sentiment, "there's nothing common about common sense (who?)", but I like my sound bite the best. If I could ever see that published in a book of 101 Pithy Sayings then I'd be pretty happy.
I enjoy all the comments and the conversations here, and even "produce" by way of my own comments and thread starters now and then. So in a sense I am a producer of the site, but not in the legal term.
What other reason would there be to be a fan of Ayn Rand? A fan should agree with her philosophy to the extent that he understands it. It's the understanding that can be difficult.
Yes, but dbhalling's use is not Godwin's Law worthy b/c he's just using it to mean being fastidious about something, which to me is fine.
"The grammar nazi calls out every time I confuse less and fewer." is not Godwin worthy for me.
"The nazis began being strict with grammar before they outlawed all dissent" is Godwin's-law worthy.
The think the fastidious-about may have come into the language via Seinfeld and the Soup Nazi.
I know you're just joking. I don't mean to be a Godwin nazi.
"His goal is"
Assigning a malicious goal to me is just an ad hominem insult. It's really nonsense because I'm willing to talk in longer posts or e-mails if something's confusing and you're really interested.
I have guessed at other people's goals on this site, and I don't feel that great about it. Maybe I'm right, but there are a few times when I thought I had guessed someone's goals, and I was wrong.
I remember writing a nasty message (this is IRL) to someone who served with me on a board of an organization. I thought he was undermining something I was trying to do, and I turned out to be 100% wrong. I apologized. He said he felt bad I even thought that. He said he was under an incredible amount of stress with his divorce and business. He supported what I was trying to do. I had been completely wrong. Then he died of a heart attack at age 60 shortly after.
The heart attack part is not at all relevant to this at all, but it's just a little true story from two years ago. My point is I really resist the urge (don't always succeed) to write a narrative explaining others' behavior.
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