Ayn Rand is dead. Liberals will miss her.

[Celista]

Just once I'd like to read a political article focused on the subject matter itself, where the leanings of the author isn't screaming at me through every phrase and assertion.

Your best bet would be academic journals. The piece in the OP is pure opinion without much redeeming value.

[May90]

I take it you haven't read Atlas Shrugged. In a farcical way, it praises stepping on other people's heads to gain success.

Plus the conservative brand has always endorsed this. Whether YOU do or not is irrelevant. When it's brought up that businesses are exploiting their workers and something needs to be done about it, the conservative response is always to claim that those workers are just lazy and if they're not pulling themselves up by their bootstraps then they deserve nothing.

See, you are using the language such as "deserve". That's what Rand's ideology was about abandoning: these subjective moral concepts. In most people's world, there are two dimensions of looking at the achievements: personal one, and moral one. Trump is personally successful, but morally despicable. Benazir Bhutto was personally unsuccessful, but morally respectable. Bill Gate is both personally successful and morally respectable. A serial killer spending his life in jail is both personally unsuccessful and morally despicable.

Rand argued that, since morals are inherently subjective, they shouldn't be seen as a dimension in this context, since every person sees this dimension in a different way. As such, she said, if you have a lot of money, you are successful; if you don't, you are not, and that's it. She didn't say the poor deserved nothing, she was against the whole concept of "deserving": she said the poor were where they are because they couldn't get up higher, but they should always try to get up higher regardless. Much like a CM Chess player might not have a realistic shot at becoming the champion of the world, but he/she still should put in an effort to get there.

Sure, it is a pretty idealistic concept, and I don't necessarily agree with it - but it still deserves a consideration, if only to gain another perspective on the economy, societal and personal.

Atlas Shrugged was simply an extreme demonstration of her ideas; I don't think this is what she wanted the society to really be, and if you listen to her interviews or read her free texts, you will see that she definitely didn't treat others with such disdain.

thats an interesting take on it. what would you say the new paradigm is?

That would counter the rise of the nationalism and xenophobia? I would suggest a pragmatic intellectual support of globalist ideas. Not just "globalism is good because it is unavoidable and because it brings people together", which is a pretty shallow narrative - but a deep ideology behind globalism bringing a lot of benefits long-term. For one, I think globalism encourages competition, much like Rand's market encouraged competition (although, to the extent she advocated for it, perhaps it discouraged it ultimately), so that would be a solid base to build the ideology on.

[Deleted]

This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force

comments and critics on ayn rand books are the funniest stuff ever to read

[alexw]

Where the hell do you get off thinking you can say shit that is this untrue?

Ummmm the president?

[Kaleredar]

Same as it's been, misinterpreting or just making up what Ayn Rand said to suite whatever agenda they have.

Oh I'm pretty sure they were more or less clear on what Ayn Rand meant by her books.


I think their main mistake was thinking that Ayn Rand's lessons were worth listening to or following.

[Hisholyness]

You have to ask? The right voted Trump into office.

And, about the before it was cool part. Well, the right has been godawul for the last 8 years. Lost sanity when Obama became president. And was well on the way to that ever since Reagan brought the evangelicals into politics.

Stop following me to different threads Elba, shit is creepy

[Rennadrel]

It's funny, regressive Liberals are the epitome of Anthem, a totalitarian state where you aren't allowed free thought and must follow the rules.

[Super Kami Dende]

Please, let's hear your explanation as to why you feel that way.

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Nothing is more condescending than telling someone they aren't treated differently based on gender, race or sexual orientation/pretending the problem doesn't exist because you're not affected by it personally.

Please tell me oh Wise one, what Rights Men have that Women do not.

[starlord]

It's funny, regressive Liberals are the epitome of Anthem, a totalitarian state where you aren't allowed free thought and must follow the rules.

i suppose you could make an argument for that, but trumpsters use just as much or more groupthink.

so perhaps its not really a liberal or conservative problem, but an american one.

[Celista]

Please tell me oh Wise one, what Rights Men have that Women do not.

Are you telling me that all people treat everyone equally no matter their race/gender/sexual orientation/SES/whatever?

And please, no flowery language. Just here to enlighten. You may simply refer to me as Celista, your Lord and Savior.

[Super Kami Dende]

Are you telling me that all people treat everyone equally no matter their race/gender/sexual orientation/SES/whatever?

Nope, but you always seem to try and make a point that it is only Conservatives that treat people different and not Humans as a whole.

But, legally? Men and Women are treated the same. In Western Countries at least.

[Total Crica]

"Grab her by the pussy!"

- Donald J. Trump, President.

He is a conservative from the past. He is not a new generation conservative.

[NED funded]

That's a system that works wonders. In the short term. For a few individuals.

Because what we have is the result of that system doesn't mean we wouldn't have it as well with another one.
Also what you say about innovation dropping is blatantly false. Russia went from a peasant society to a nuclear superpower during its communist period and is a failing economy nowadays under capitalism (i'm not pro communism).

Now, in that system that works, please tell me about the widespread deforestation, climate change, child labor in suicide nets factories, poverty and unaffordable healthcare/education...

There has been no system more succesful at lifting people out of poverty than capitalism. The latter is the result of human development rather than of capitalism, yes its not perfect and the negative consequences should be adressed by the state. The USSR has quite a lot of ecological disasters.

[Zython]

Can't we just shoot both libertarians and fascists into the sun?

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It's funny, regressive Liberals are the epitome of Anthem, a totalitarian state where you aren't allowed free thought and must follow the rules.

"How DARE those regressive leftists shame me for wanting to murder Muslims, Mexicans and Jews."

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Please tell me oh Wise one, what Rights Men have that Women do not.

Well, for one thing, to use the bathroom of their gender.

[JohnBrown1917]

Ayn Rand was a liberal to the extreme, hardly fits together with modern American conservatives.

[Zython]

Where did she say to screw everyone else? Bootstrapping is not the same thing as screwing others.

Probably at the points where the main character rapes the female lead.

[Deleted]

Can't we just shoot both libertarians and fascists into the sun?

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"How DARE those regressive leftists shame me for wanting to murder Muslims, Mexicans and Jews."

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Well, for one thing, to use the bathroom of their gender.

Yeah Killallwhitemen!

Incidentally didn't a progressive just get arrested in connection to sending bomb threats towards Jews?

[Mormolyce]

There's nothing new about the alt-right. The racist, misogynistic, proto-fascist fringe has always been there, it's just that until now it was afraid to show its face in public. Conservatism with a veneer of intellectualism like the kind espoused by modern Rand supporters (who Rand herself probably would've despised) was just a trojan horse for these assholes.

[Zython]

Yeah Killallwhitemen!

The fact that you conflate NOT killing non-white people with killing white people shows the precise problem.

[starlord]

There's nothing new about the alt-right. The racist, misogynistic, proto-fascist fringe has always been there, it's just that until now it was afraid to show its face in public. Conservatism with a veneer of intellectualism like the kind espoused by modern Rand supporters (who Rand herself probably would've despised) was just a trojan horse for these assholes.

the question is though, where will things go from here?