Mike Wallace Ayn Rand Interview

[road kill]

There is an old saying, "if one isn't part of the solution than one is part of the problem". Then, there is "doing the same thing expecting different results is crazy".

And that is the status quo in GOP and Dem politics today. And, I didn't imply that most on this sub forum are dumb, you did. It brings up the other old saying, "that we get the government we deserve" because of a dumbed down electorate. It is why we have Obama and had Bush43. It is why our monetray system, Domestic & Forign Policy, banking, and politicains are so corrupt and inadequate!

Any "Old Sayings" about doing nothing and expecting accolades??
You know, like being in Congress 20+ years and passing nothing???

RK

[Franco]

Any "Old Sayings" about doing nothing and expecting accolades??
You know, like being in Congress 20+ years and passing nothing???

RK

Heck, he is the one that has tried to enlighten and reform Congress!!!

Have you seen the Approval Ratings for Congress lately? We wouldn't be in this financial and leadership abysis had they understood the message!

[Gerry Clinchy]

Just remember, if you commit any act of kindness to a friend, family member, or society at large, through some act of charity, be sure that you can justify it as something you did in your own self interest, so no one can hang an act of altruism around your neck.


Gerry can you explain how this can be made compatible with Christian beliefs?

Did you answer the question before you asked it, Buzz?

I see in Rand's philosophy an elevation of an individual's worth ... I see the same thing in Christian belief, the value of each individual in God's eyes.

The fact that her insights into what the outcome is when wealth and success are "redistributed" by force are as worth noting as her personal philosophy, I think.

Perhaps it was her selfishness credo that prevented people from acknowledging what she had to offer pragmatically? Today, someone might be more PC and say "self-esteem" instead of "selfish". She was not a perfect person, nor are most of the rest of us.

[Uncle Bill]

If we are purely ideological across the board, then we aren't thinking.

I read Atlas Shrugged before it was as well-known as it is today (around 1969?). I could see how her virtue of selfishness was atheistic, but yet could also see how one could make it compatible with Christian beliefs.

And it's kind of hard to deny that what she wrote in Atlas Shrugged back in the early 50s was not an accurate prognostication of what has happened in our US society today. Remarkably accurate. She did have a great insight.

She had also written a smaller, previous book about how communism was a failure in the Soviet Union. I think that was "We The People". That was not something anyone else was predicting back then.

I'll piggy-back on your post, as I'm also a huge fan of Ayn Rand...AND A CHRISTIAN...that Buzz seems to believe is incongruous.

Rather than including my beliefs and views on this subject in this post, I'll just stick to conversing with you on your comments.

We The Living, was written in 1934 and published in 1936. It was an autobiographical of sorts, where she saw herself as an individual pitted against the totalitarian state of Russia. That principle was repeated throughout her writings...she "preached", almost, rugged individualism and the need for reason.

You are so correct in your observation of Atlas Shrugged being prescient. What our nation is going through with the Obama Regime, the OWS and SFN crowd, the PC society and all the other pathetic mind-boggling antics of this oligarchy, it's difficult to comprehend how we are going to keep this country from becoming another Greece.

While Atlas Shrugged wasn't published until 1957, I think she wrote it in the 40's. I was surprised to find she had written Anthem in the late 30's, but it wasn't published until 1946. She had probably developed more following by that time, after The Fountainhead was published (1943) and was going to be made into a movie, which it was in 1949. That was when I read the book, and I really wanted to see that movie, but it never came to our small town theater.

It has always been my view, as a partial answer to those not understanding how a Christian could embrace Ayn Rand's philosophy, her use of the term 'altruism' could be reasonably replaced by 'welfarism', especially when she was having her characters slammed by the SFN crowd of that era. I believe it came from her history of living through her years under Communism and that Marxist form of collectivism...kinda like what Obama wants the USA to follow.

I'm in hopes of responding to this thread in the near future. I recall being asked a similar question by an atheist friend of mine when we were both reading Atlas Shrugged in 1959 while we were stationed in Germany. I might be able to remember some of my comments then, but don't hold your breath as I can disremember if I had breakfast.

UB

[Gerry Clinchy]

I think that a lot of people miss the fact that Atlas Shrugged also showed respect for all levels of workers. Can't remember the names of all the characters since it's been a long while since I read the book (the second time) ...

There was a young man who was a loyal, hard-working employee of the railroad who did his job & did it well. He did not have the natural talents to do what Dagny or Reardon or Galt could do, but his contribution of his honest work was also given value.

Fountainhead had already been a movie when I read the book. After reading Atlas, I figured that it would never become a movie because nobody would want to publicize the theory of equal opportunity, but unequal ability &, therefore, unequal reward.

Not all of our dogs will have the ability to become FCs, no matter how good the trainer. Not all humans will be equal to an Einstein. Yet there is value in each life. Christians accept those facts. So did Ayn Rand. A person of faith may believe their natural endowments are God-given. I guess Ayn simply believed it was the luck of the draw. But within both perspectives, there is merit & value in making the most of whatever those endowments may be.

[Uncle Bill]

[quote=Gerry Clinchy;951857]



Fountainhead had already been a movie when I read the book. After reading Atlas, I figured that it would never become a movie because nobody would want to publicize the theory of equal opportunity, but unequal ability &, therefore, unequal reward.


[quote]

I have the DVD of the first half of the movie of Atlas Shrugged. The second half is in production. I hope I'm around to view it.

If your interested: http://blog.atlasshruggedmovie.com/2...fficially.html

Best Regards,

UB

[Gerry Clinchy]

I recall that the Atlas movie was debuted in only select markets & rather small theaters. Not one of those openings that get multi-million-dollar opening sales like Hunger Games.

Didn't know it was on DVD though.

[Buzz]

I thought that this was a good place to post this link.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...JujT_blog.html

[Franco]

I thought that this was a good place to post this link.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...JujT_blog.html

With so many religious groups and churches involved with politics, I say it is time we start taxing them all!

[Buzz]

With so many religious groups and churches involved with politics, I say it is time we start taxing them all!

Franco, I know where you are coming from, and I might even agree on this.

But it chaps my arse that conservatives jump up and down and point to the church's position when it supports their criticism of something like Obamacare on the contraception issue. But this kind of thing flies completely under their radar.

I'm trying to think of a good word here...