I feel her philosophy is contrived ,generally people who are so ' cut n dried ' are doomed to fail. The human condition does not always force altruism but rather by reason can be beneficial to giver and recipiant, not withstanding human behaviour will always have negatives in the mix. I'm alright jack to hell with you..creates a greedy society the quagmire of british politics is currently dealing with such double standard issues.
Ayn Rand - Opinions?
by cappytan 80 Replies latest jw friends
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Magwitch
"This odd little woman is attempting to give a moral sanction to greed and self interest......" Gore Vidal -
FayeDunaway
What I really like about her is her well written literature and her celebration of and passion for the individual vs. mind control societies. Anyone who reads Anthem who has been a witness will identify strongly with it.
What I don't like about her is her crazed selfishness and thoughtlessness toward the disenfranchised.
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Oubliette
I know that her novella, Anthem, has helped at least one young JW wake up and see that he was in a cult!
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cappytan
I'm not an objectivist. I frequently contribute to charitable causes and believe that altruism is a positive thing in the right circumstances.
But, looking back over the last 3 years or so, Atlas Shrugged may very well have been responsible for triggering latent critical thinking thus allowing me to eventually wake up to TTATT.
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Viviane
Anyone who reads Anthem who has been a witness will identify strongly with it.
Interestingly, I found Anthem to be a contrived novella not with a story to tell but with a message that would appeal to idealism of a teenage understanding of the world, incomplete and underdeveloped, lacking experience. It had all the subtlety of a baseball bat to the head, written in a hamfisted and clumsy manner with all the grace of someone attempting to pick coins while wearing a winter gloves.
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millie210
Agree with Village and Viviane -
Crazyguy
Her experiences in life were pretty one sided and that's how she came to her opinions. Pol Pot of Cambodia experiences were also very one sided and his opinions caused the deaths of over 1million people. Just sayin -
FayeDunaway
No one could ever accuse ayn rand of subtlety. Anthem was just what I needed at the right time. Also loved the fountainhead, have yet to read atlas shrugged but that's on the list.
One can enjoy reading an author without agreeing with all of their ideologies.
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cappytan
FayeDunaway: Atlas Shrugged is a really hard (and long) read. Over 1,000 pages, if I recall correctly. But, it helped me to think critically, so I still recommend it to certain people occasionally.
Right now, though, I'm reading The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. Can't very well go around recommending that to my JW friends.