Not until I came here did I ever hear about this ugly looking bitch,(no offense to the ladies here on Current) If she lived in a "world of fiction", then we all know the rest of the right wing of the political spectrum is right now living in a "world of fiction".
The sad part about this is that we the masses cannot take any more of the laws that the right are trying to shove down our throats.
The ray gun "kill the beast" idea must be put to rest and fast or we are all doomed to suffer.

it's amazing how the views differ between groups on the rich and the poor, the government and taxation, etc.

The left typically views themselves as the guardians and care-takers of those who cannot do for themselves, i.e. the poor and the elderly.

The right views themselves as a governing body separate of society. "Society can take care of itself." "The Markets can take care of themselves" "Those who cannot do for themselves are parasites, and should stop being lazy." They feel that society functions better when everyone is an individual, and only helps themselves. Make your own food, have your own business, be your own doctor, etc. This ideology worked great when we were hunter/gatherers. However, as families grew, the tasks could be separated to benefit all. Not everyone in the tribe was a hunter, a farmer, a chief, and a medicine man. They were one or another.

What they need to learn is that those who cannot do for themselves, are not parasites (mostly). We have a symbiotic relationship with each other. Should we run out of poor people, then there would be no one for the rich to make money from. Should we run out of rich people, there would be no one to hire the poor.
Should the rich be allowed to control everything, they will starve the poor.
Should the poor be allowed to control everything, there will be no excess.

We need each other. However we also need safe-guards to protect both sides.
That is where government steps in. We must protect the poor from being exploited by the rich...and we must protect the rich from themselves (and the wrath of the poor).
This is why and equal tax system is so important.
Yes, it is a transfer of wealth, however if those above ensured that the basic needs of their employees such as: shelter, health care, food, transportation, retirement, etc. -If those were already being met and exceeded by employers then there would be no need to transfer the wealth. Currently, they take no responsibility to anyone but to their share-holders, investors, and their own greed.

If there is no one with money to buy your goods, then your goods will not sell, and your services no longer needed.
Be socially responsible.

What next, a cult built around Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer? How about Harry Potter! This reminds me of L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology any on?

Being Libertarian minded does not automatically equal Ayn Rand worship.Some of her views I agree with ,some I disagree with...for instance her view on Zen ,she was completely talking out of her ass...I also find her books extremely boring and think most people buy them to put on shelves to show others they have them.Her interviews with Phil Donahue are pretty good though, especially when she talks about atheism.

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Ayn Rand is a function of her personal fears, and there is no discernible intelligence in her ranting.

I've been an avid Rand fan since I first discovered Anthem by recommendation from my ex. The entire libertarian philosophy is not only bass-ackwards, but impossible to maintain as the invisible hand of a driving economy would not allow the virtue of self-interest to be disabled. Adam Smith once stated that he has met no man capable of serving the needs of a nation who has not once served the needs of himself, and this stands true of all humans... We are weak when we are not invested in sustaining ourselves, and through sustaining ourselves we provide benefit into the society with passion. One meaningless cashier job after another may be your thing, but it is your way of meeting your needs and chances are you are one hell of a cashier as a result of doing a job that actually satisfies you.

Taxation is the most fickle libertarian nonsense around. Taxation is a requirement in order to facilitate the protections that even libertarians require. Without taxation, their assets would be forced out of their hands by every able man and woman they meet. Without taxation, the poor majority has no voice with which to act from, and is instead the victim always. Without taxation for protections, social economic inequality rises, quickly leading to economic collapse as fewer and fewer people are able to participate. If you don't want to pay taxes, kill yourself and make sure the remains cannot be found... The only place you can avoid taxation in the world is by being everywhere and nowhere.

And the third is just plain ridiculous. The idea that a market will regulate itself is not illogical, but a free enterprise is not what we have in this country and we will never have it. Businesses will always push the limits in an effort to acquire as much profit as humanly possible; and when their proposals land them in serious debt, at the risk of foreclosure, they will violate the rules of free enterprise and beg the same people who they fucked out of house and home to bail the company out or risk losing even the underpaid part-time employment for 600 people the company continues to offer in America. They will then revert to arguing that they have no tax responsibility and should be given additional breaks and incentives because "[they] create jobs"... Well, I haven't seen a damn job yet in my neighborhood since January 1st, and I'm running out of places to beg for money for another month. If they're so good at regulating themselves, where is the job I've spent five months, numerous phone calls, résumés and applications, e-mails, questionnaires, surveys, phone tests, drug and background check agreements, and willingness on my part to restrict or even rescind my right to use tobacco products on my own time if my employer doesn't like smokers, trying to get?

Parasites are beings that take from others and give nothing in return. GE made extensive use of the extensive and other public resources in the United States last year and yet paid no taxes.

Let's shrug those corporate thieves!

"Libertarianism is a political philosophy that upholds individual liberty, especially freedom of expression and action.[1] Libertarianism includes diverse beliefs and organizations—all advocate either the minimization or the elimination of the state, and the goal of maximizing individual liberty and freedom." Wickipedia.

I read Ayn Rand in Jr. HS and was thrilled because her books suited my adolescent notions of the way the world should work (and gave me arguments to geared to convince my parents why I was ENTITLED to my own personal anarchy.) I haven't been an adolescent for a long time and my folks remained unmoved, but during the interim I've learned that if you dance to the tune, you will always have to pay the piper - one way or another.

We, Americans, demand things without really understanding what we're about to get : we demand change and vote for specimens like Rick Scott (FL) or Scott Walker(WI); we demand smaller government and scream like little bitches for the Corps of Army Engineers and FEMA for rescue when storms wash away the beach in front of our homes, or try bringing a fruitless lawsuit against the DOT when our Lexus breaks an axle in a pothole on a city street or highway.

Taxes are as big an imposition to us in America as they were in ancient Egypt; just imagine, the third oldest profession after motherhood and prostitution - tax collection. Problem is, those who pay taxes are not always those who reap the benefits. And, if you doubt this take a look at what GE and your oil companies reap in profits and what they pay in taxes. These are, as my friend Arizona_Huey put it, "libertarians of convenience". They are "fiscal conservatives" in print only, and lying robber barons in reality, grabbing as much as they can so they can buy the legislation which will make them even richer. It's our choice; We can get a country run according to the philosophy of Atlas Shrugged, the Bible or we can vote for those who will try to uphold the US Constitution?

This is the Reps idol. They follow this bitch like she is some noted economist. Rand isn't. I've read enough articles about her and the bottom line is she thought the rich should inherit the earth. The Reps I clean for read "Atlas Shrugged." They read this because they want to justify their attitudes of superiority. Paul Ryan is a Ayn Rand disciple. Colbert showed a segment of an interview Rand did with Mike Wallace. Like Scott Walker, her eyes looked everywhere but at Mike Wallace. Why do you think Rand Paul's first name IS Rand? Nuff said.

You can't argue theories based on natural selection to extreme right wingers. They beleive in creationism and divine fate.

That said, I've always thought it interesting that the Right-wingers takes libertarianism to such extremes considering the fact that they don't usually beleive in evolution through natural selection. I can see the arguement that we are weakening the human gene pool since the worst people seem to have the most children, but they don't beleive that either. Either the laws of individual superiority work best left alone or they need to be tweaked . People need to make up their mind.

Isn't it nice to know that the TeaParty is based on a work of fiction. Just like Scientology is based on books by L. Ron Hubbard.

Good article!

it has been my experience in my 41 years that most of this Cult's followers are NOT self-employeed but work for others.

and the ironic part of it is that they fail to see that fallacy in their life style.

she also equated democracy to a dictatorship.

Christ she looks scary, if that would've been my mom, I would've had a lot of explaining to do to the other kids!

Good find, thanks.

Excellent post Almibry, voted up! You have forgotten a subsection of humanity however, sociopaths, which encompass most conservatives, and Wall Street "businessman", who habitually act in one interest, themselves.

Libertarian philosophy is very attractive to the elite. They don't need any of the support systems that taxation and government are intended to create, so they belittle the importance of the institutions.

Find me a poor, minority libertarian, and I'll show you a complete idiot.

taxes are robbery

Rand and the Objectivists are an interesting bunch. One thing is for sure, you can never win an argument with them. They have counter arguments prepared for every attack on their philosophy that they can repeat by memory. The irony is they are all about the individualism but they act like a cult with a singular mind.

Though as a literary work it has some points to be made if taken as hyperbole -- though that wasn't Rand's intention.

You can break down the flaws in her arguments anyway you like, but the author sums it up in the first sentence:
"Ayn Rand lived in a world of fiction..."

'nuf sed

Excellent analysis in this article. Thanks for posting it Almibry!

"Rand puts forward the libertarian principle that no social purpose justifies forcing an individual to be a resource for another. In other words, taxation for the public good is wrong. There is no recognition that her heroes in Atlas Shrugged are rich and powerful and thus are able to dictate the terms on which others work for them; in other words they can “force” their workers to become a resource for them. Thus libertarianism has, at its core, a fundamental contradiction. Coercion by government is bad; but coercion by the rich and powerful “producers” is good.

The rich and powerful also rely on society for many of the goods of civilization, which are created through the cooperative efforts of all. Despite the arguments of Rand and the libertarians none of us can opt out of our need for society and its governing institutions."

The above quote coupled with her belief that, William Edward Hickman, a mass murderer was "The Perfect Man."

I'd be willing to go out on a limb and say the Ayn Rand was INsane.

Interesting read Al...but I still can't decide who has the worse taste in hats, Rand or Queen Elizabeth... +^d