Agreed. I reserve the right to form my own core beliefs. I may take from different philosophies and beliefs but I do not believe in any one thing completely, as they were written. I see this as my first natural right as a human being.

In those cases, they generally look for a scapegoat to blame it on, diverting from the obvious that the accuser should be the accused.

I have a number of friends who reside in Israel, and I never heard the Orthodox referred to as "Saudis." However, your assessment of them seems to be right on target.

There are a few aspects of Objectivism that I disagree with, but like Capitalism, it's not perfect, however, nothing else comes close.

My personal philosophy was already mostly in alignment with Objectivism before I read AS. While I do not agree with objectivism completely it is/was a confirmation that I haven;t not totally lost my mind and that the country/world is screwed instead.

I see this as a 5000 year dichotomy inwhich there are those that made a solid connection to our minds; which I imagine is a result of our brains transception of vibratory energy expressed as thoughts and those that did not. In other words, we have a small percentage of people that only use their brain; which presents many problems. One major problem is the lack in ability to intellectually adapt to new information and a lack of ability to integrate that information.
Now, don't get me wrong...the brain is an amazing thing and is capable of doing most anything necessary for survival; which includes navigating society. One would be hard pressed to tell the difference in day to day situations. The most dramatic clue is blaming any discomfort or complication upon something other than self and a complete lack of ability to adapt, to figure it out or to be accountable for their part in these circumstances.
If you haven't guess already, we are talking about most people that work in, for or with governments.
Most are the worst or the most lacking within our society and incapable of ruling their own behavior.
Precious few are benign and harmless. Those that are harmless do nothing to advance society.
There are many, I suspect, that have a remote chance to become conscious and make that final connection to their own mind and there are many reasons for this.
I will be outlining some of those reasons in my next book, tentatively titled: Conscience...Those that have and those that have not. The only true division with in our society.

I also grew up during the hippy age. I found that their philosophy to be alien to my common sense. It was at this time I read Atlas Shrugged, and have never looked back on Objectivism. So 45 years later I still firmly believe in this philosophy. Life keeps reinforcing that Ayn Rand had it right. You could say that irrefutable evidence only made me even more convinced in the philosophy of Objectivism.

Continuing to vote Democrat for decades doesn't imply an unchanging set of principles. The Democrats don't follow one set of principles for very long, unless it's "do whatever it takes to win elections by fair means or foul."

No, that voting pattern can only be explained by undying loyalty to the liars who run the party. And I can't imagine why anyone non-corrupt could or would have that loyalty.

You think they were stiff necked? You should have met some of the very early Objectivists.

Your story and similar ones are legion. Amazing how influential that book is whether or not people wish to believe it or not.

You'll need to differentiate between man's absolute, and absolutes alone. There are absolutes within the universe which exist whether man has anything to do with them or not. Example: You cannot have 2 mountains without a valley in between.

this is another implication that it takes a "significant emotional event"
to change a person's early value system -- straight from Dr. Morris Massey.
the problem is that millions will not change, even when
they are subjected to the layoffs and high deductibles
and lost freedoms which their choices beget. -- j
.

Thanks. It opened up an insight to a situation that has bothered me for years.

I envy you your relationship with your father.

While generalizations are not considered valid in most cases, Jews are lauded for their business acumen. So, with all of the liberal claptrap put forth, good old Capitalism holds sway.

Love of comic books got my son and I into the publishing business. While I enjoyed the business, my pleasure paled in comparison to his. We published comic books, graphic novels and magazines. The delight he took in doing so, was so gratifying to him that my fun paled in comparison. Over the years, comic books have been a greater influence on succeeding generations than most people care to admit.

Ad astra per aspera.

Many years ago, my #2 son met Barbara Brandon who told him that he was among the first 2nd generation Objectivists that she had met. Of course the phrase in question doesn't apply to you, and many others, who while not being Objectivists per-se, are not concretized in their perceptions. I didn't bring forth the phrase as a scientific explanation so much as a possible reason as to why certain groups seem to be so intransigent in their beliefs.

I grew up in a home with Ayn Rand Objectivists. Time has not changed my mind. Soemtimes you just get it right and experience, reality just keeps telling you you are still on the right page...so to speak.

Strength through adversity. A time honored truism.

Its not embarrassing at all. Whats wrong with comic book characters. I happened to love X-men. The idea of having superpowers really appealed to me, and I came away feeling that each of us has a superpower and its our job in growing up to figure out what it is, and how to use it in our lives. The people who make comic books really just crystallize certain philosophical concepts into characters. Its cool. Maybe we need an AS comic book with Objectivist characters (not identified as such, though) and let the children of today lead us out of this socialism crap.

I read AS much later in life after being confronted with the question "Who is John Galt?" in a philosophical yahoo chat room (before they neutered it). Because I didn't understand I read AS and found it familiar and at the same time transformative.

I never said I didn't. I said as a man approaching 50 its a little embarrassing to admit that I derived main aspects of my values from Comic book heroes and not my mother.

"Give me your children and in four years the seeds I have sown will never be uprooted." - V. I. Lenin
Create an education system that creates non-judgemental children who fit harmoniously in a social peg board and you produce a society where - as now - college students can tell you all about the Kardashians but know nothing of how their government is structured, or why.

I was fortunate enough to grow up with correct principles. What made a difference was that my father actually took the time to explain why they were correct and show examples of people who chose to ignore correct principles. I didn't have to learn by making bad decisions, I could learn by watching others make bad decisions. And I don't regret not learning through poor decision-making one bit. I don't see any reason to try out something I can see is a bad idea just to confirm that it really is a bad idea.