'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years.

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
126
Pure misguided ideology.

If anyone questions my frequent accusations of ideology by key right-wing groups:

Some years ago when I worked at the libertarian Cato Institute, we used to label any new hire who had not yet read "Atlas Shrugged" a "virgin." Being conversant in Ayn Rand's classic novel about the economic carnage caused by big government run amok was practically a job requirement.
 

Xenon14

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
2,065
0
0
Pure misguided ideology.

If anyone questions my frequent accusations of ideology by key right-wing groups:

Wow, I didn't expected blanket statements like this to be deployed in the opening act. You, sir, are a true thinker. Bravo.
 

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
70,696
6,257
126
Good idea, also make Night of the Dead required viewing for every bureaucrat in the EPA/FDA.
 

LumbergTech

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2005
3,622
1
0
this again.......sigh..everyone put on your ponchos..theres going to be an old fashioned right wing circle jerk
 
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fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
87,672
54,665
136
Anyone who has actually read the book and thinks that we are living in such a time is the same kind of person who must think that we're living on Dune because they saw a worm in the dirt.

There would be one plus to the world emulating Atlas Shrugged though, maybe in this iteration the characters and dialogue wouldn't sound like they were written by a 6th grader.
 

Macamus Prime

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2011
3,108
0
0
A correction is needed.

For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.

It should read:
For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Rich people involved in politics invariably respond to crises that affect their wealth) -- that in most cases they themselves created (such as outsourcing American jobs, but allow for prices to rise and cooking up crappy investment products based off of toxic debt) -- by spawning new government programs, laws, regulations and bail outs for their friends back in the "private" sector. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the rich people involved in politics to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.

The greedy capitalist overlords of America has been fucking over this country since it was announced by Regan we need to give them the steering wheel of this nation's economy.

Prior to that, Nixon showed that privatized healthcare is one of the new gold rushes of America. Since then, people looking to get some help, to literally live - are charged up the ass and placed into debt. While the HMOs rake in billions of profits each year and STILL deny you what you are paying for.

Now, I know what you are thinking, you dethawed racist inbred peice of shit McCarthy-ite; and no, the solution is not communism. The solution is to give the basics back to the people. Right now, you can't survive the way things are set up. This reality has been totally ingnored by those in power.

And, when you get your fucking head caved in, because you want to "stand up" for what you think is the real American way - maybe then, maybe then as your skull is being shattered you will realize you've been fighting and screaming for the wrong side. Not that its wrong because it opposes and oppresses the people you hate and fear. Its wrong because they were using you all along; they set you up, to eat that intial blow and hopefully they have enough time to run away someplace safe with all their money.

Enjoy being cannon fodder for the rich, asshole.
 

Painman

Diamond Member
Feb 27, 2000
3,728
29
86
Originally posted by: Anonymous

"If you're 15 years old and don't believe in the teachings of Ayn Rand, there's something wrong with you"

"If you're 25 years old and still believe in the teachings of Ayn Rand, there's something even more wrong with you"

...
 

yllus

Elite Member & Lifer
Aug 20, 2000
20,577
432
126
The scene is eerily similar to an event late last year when six bank presidents were summoned by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to Washington, and then shuttled into a conference room and told, in effect, that they could not leave until they collectively signed a document handing over percentages of their future profits to the government. The Treasury folks insisted that this shakedown, too, was all in "the public interest."

I believe this 'shakedown' actually Paulson saying, "We're going to lend you a bunch of money so you don't destroy the world's economy. In return, you're going to give us X% of every profit you turn until you pay the government back. You and I both know this is your only option."

The opinion piece is full of nonsense. Ironically by penning trash ideological pieces like this, the author is furthering the cause of the rich destroying themselves (and us), not hindering it.
 

ShawnD1

Lifer
May 24, 2003
15,987
2
81
Good idea, also make Night of the Dead required viewing for every bureaucrat in the EPA/FDA.
I think you mean ATF. Zombie movies in general showcase how important it is to own a gun. It's not just criminals and police and shit you need to be afraid of. Sometimes zombies need to be gunned down too.


Article in the OP is terrible because it assumes business and government don't like each other. In reality, it's the exact opposite. As a business, you bribe politicians to crush your opposition. It's widely believed that marijuana/hemp was made illegal by lobby groups representing plastics, cotton, and other materials at the time. Shit like putting ethanol in gasoline is to buy votes in states that grow corn. Companies with their cocks balls deep in solar and wind power lobby to tax the shit out of anything that generates CO2 in order to make their own power source cheaper than the competition. Laws are rarely made to serve the public interest.
 

JockoJohnson

Golden Member
May 20, 2009
1,417
60
91
Originally posted by: Anonymous

"If you're 15 years old and don't believe in the teachings of Ayn Rand, there's something wrong with you"

"If you're 25 years old and still believe in the teachings of Ayn Rand, there's something even more wrong with you"

...

Hey, look at me, I can use quotes too and generalize all people (and this one isn't by Anonymous):

“Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.” (Winston Churchill)
 

ayabe

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2005
7,449
0
0
I keep waiting for all the bootstrappers to "Go Galt" but it never happens.
 
Oct 30, 2004
11,442
32
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I tend to agree with Macamus Prime's post. Our nation definitely has problems, but they're being caused primarily by free market principles run amuck.
 

werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
463
126
Hey, look at me, I can use quotes too and generalize all people (and this one isn't by Anonymous):

“Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.” (Winston Churchill)
Churchill for the win, as usual.

Though I'd hate to be forced to read "Atlas Shrugged". It may have some valid concepts, but I find her writing simply too atrocious to suffer.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
87,672
54,665
136

First

Lifer
Jun 3, 2002
10,518
271
136
Originally posted by: Anonymous

"If you're 15 years old and don't believe in the teachings of Ayn Rand, there's something wrong with you"

"If you're 25 years old and still believe in the teachings of Ayn Rand, there's something even more wrong with you"

...

Ha, this.
 

thraashman

Lifer
Apr 10, 2000
11,112
1,587
126
Funny thing is Ayn Rand and her objectivist laissez faire capitalism concepts were shown to have some pretty damn serious flaws with how the financial sector just fucked the world economy because no one was looking close enough or regulating them enough.
 

werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
463
126
You guys both realize that Winston Churchill never said that, right?

http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/speeches/quotations/quotes-falsely-attributed

Maybe some people should do a little reading about their quotes before they proudly proclaim their source.
I'm aware that it is contested whether he ever said it and that the general sentiment certainly isn't original to him. It's also amusing that your link is rather disingenuous, saying in its denial of the quote that Churchill was a Liberal at 35 without mentioning that he later was once again a Conservative.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
87,672
54,665
136
I'm aware that it is contested whether he ever said it and that the general sentiment certainly isn't original to him. It's also amusing that your link is rather disingenuous, saying in its denial of the quote that Churchill was a Liberal at 35 without mentioning that he later was once again a Conservative.

You think the Winston Churchill center is trying to be disingenuous about the politics of Winston Churchill?? Jesus dude, give the conspiracy theories a break for a minute. What he was later in life is completely irrelevant, his ideology is mentioned in relation to the accuracy of the quote and nothing more. It is a quotation by Francois Guisot: "Not to be a republican at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof of want of head."

It's not 'contested', there's simply zero evidence he ever said it, and plenty of evidence it was said by someone else. By that logic it's 'contested' whether or not I gave the Gettysburg Address.
 

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
13,306
3
0
Funny thing is Ayn Rand and her objectivist laissez faire capitalism concepts were shown to have some pretty damn serious flaws with how the financial sector just fucked the world economy because no one was looking close enough or regulating them enough.
And yet somehow they bend this to mean that if they were even less regulated we'd all be better off. It's so naive about human nature, that's the problem. Simple, like a child's view of the world.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
87,672
54,665
136
And yet somehow they bend this to mean that if they were even less regulated we'd all be better off. It's so naive about human nature, that's the problem. Simple, like a child's view of the world.

It's just the old view that conservatism can never fail, it can only be failed.

If there's ever a problem that conservatism has either caused or not solved, the answer is always that you just weren't conservative enough.