Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Am I the only one here who has not read Ayn Rand?

Ayn Rand's orbit has never strayed into my interest field. Would feel like a waste of time, would rather watch paint dry.

All I know about her so far is the way her values are portrayed in the three part movie of Atlas Shrugged. Unless the producer/director completely twisted the authors values (very possible), your portrayal is far off base.

The issue presented in the movie is not with altruism. The issue is with theft of property, proceeds, and intellect to be stolen by an aristocracy with some small portion given back to the peasants. (A system America is rapidly descending into. Accelerated hard by Obama)

Altruism is fine, as long as it is voluntary!

Did the author not pay taxes her entire life? Including payment into Social Security and Medicare? How then would it be hypocritical for her to receive back some small portion of her forced contributions?

If this is the definition of objectivist:
I am proud to be included in this group.

There are many lessons to be learned from fiction.

Even the most ardent Bible believer will tell us many portions are fiction and meant to be understood as fiction as they are there to teach a lesson. Parables??????

My portrayal was being generous, frankly. "Ayn Rand's" Objectivism goes FAR beyond that little "rationality quote". It is not hard to find information on the fullness of her "values".

Before accusing me of being a "Marxist" for pointing out her corrupt philosophy, perhaps you should endeavor to find out exactly what it was.

I made no accusations what so ever. I did ask a question. So you do not have to look up the previous post for yourself, here it is.

oh, please.

Interesting further reading here":https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ayn-rand/#Altr

As TRH stated earlier, I also can find little to disagree with.

Altruism as defined by Rand could easily equate with the "white guilt" we find in America today, and employed so successfully by the left.

We see where that form of altruism is getting us.

You seem to be trying to justify some of what you are beginning to discover about her. Just continue to study, and listen to her in her own words, and if you still find yourself in agreement with her, then so be it. But realize that her philosophy and positions share nothing with those of Christianity, nor with those of America's Founders.

You seem to be an educated person, and probably a Christian, based on your responses. I agree with your conclusion on objectivism, for both moral reasons and because some of the conclusions she draws in her academic works aren’t even fully supported by her own writings. However, it doesn’t mean that her writings are worthless, especially the fiction. As you probably know, she grew up in Russia during the Bolshevik revolution. Her family’s business was seized and she lived through Lenin’s forced indoctrination of Russian society. The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are worth reading for her observations and insights on collectivism, capitalism, the role of government, the dangers of compromise between good and evil, and the value of individual liberties. Try reading abridged versions of those books the way you would read Orwell, and you may gain at least some appreciation for their popularity.

Justification? Absolutely not!

There are many valuable philosophies in the world other than that of Christ. Many great civilizations have been built on principles other than Judeo/Christian/Islam.

Some of those societies even predate Abraham.

2 Thessalonians 3:10

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you: that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

I should say Ms. Rand's position is rather similar.

How shallow your investigation of "Ayn Rand"....

It is best to read her with her lexicon on objectivism near by.

Is there anyone here that hasn't re-read Ayn Rand more than once should have been the question.

I have that book, along with a few others of her political works.

Stophei, I've had social security taken from my paycheck for over the last 50 years. The government said it was for my benefit , but they have looted and pillaged the whole system for political gain and pork projects. Now I am old enough to collect my benefits that I earned by paying for them all these years, I will. Ayn Rand probably had to pay them also and wanted her benefits. I fault no one for wanting their ss benefits that have had to pay them all their working life. My problem with ss is a Gov't who wants to give away my benefits to someone who never paid for theirs every payday or ever earned them. What I read from Ayn Rand was simple " what do or did you bring to the table?" Productivity is the basis of a satisfying life. Being free to choose how to be productive and earn our way is what makes the US the greatest country on the planet.mb

I confess that of all the things I've read, I've never read Ayn Rand. She can't be all bate, though. She flushed ignorant bigots like Stickfight out of he swamp.

I read her for the first time in 9th grade when a friend recommended that I read Anthem. Have since read all of her books.

Back in the late 80’s while driving through a town, saw a sign that the local theater company was performing her only play and changed my plans so I could attend. The play is about a trial and was written with 2 endings based on the verdict reached by audience members that were randomly selected to be the jury. IIRC it was the first play ever written with 2 endings.

For those that have not read her works, I recommend - For The New Intellectual - it has excerpts from all of her works with an explanation of the characters and circumstances in which the dialogue is presented. In each case the excerpt is in some way a summation statement of a major theme/tenet of the book. Those from Anthem, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are especially worth reading in depth.

I read all her books - Fountainhead, Shrugged, We the Living, Anthem, Objectivist Epistemology, The Virtue of Selfishness, etc. before i was out of my teens. A bunch of her "Ayn Rand Letters." I even have a copy of her "Art of Non-fiction." (My old man was the real life Don Draper. He had all that stuff and got me into her early, though not so early as he got me into guns and shooting .)

I was wildly impressed with her when i was 16. Which i think makes total sense.