Have you ever seen something on the news and said, Wow, that was straight out of Atlas Shrugged?
If you have, describe what it was.
Straight out of Atlas Shrugged
Posts
Total:
52
Most of the news I see these days seems more like it came from The Onion just because of how asinine real life is these days.
The one where Trump allegedly proposed nuking hurricanes to weaken them along with the one where Iran called the administration 'Mentally Retarded' come to mind the most
-->
@Paul
yes, yes I have
“Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with.”
-->
@TheDredPriateRoberts
I am looking for stories from the news. What you have there is not an event from the news it's something else so it will not help me.
-->
@Paul
Can you give me an example?
-->
@Snoopy
No, that's the problem I can't think of any, that's why I'm asking.
-->
@Imabench
Considering most news is fake like the onion, I am not surprised.
Wow, so no one has any ideas?
Is this book so divorced from reality that not a single person can think of anything that relates to it in the real world in any way?
I always liked Atlas Shrugged but disliked her philosophy. It was a weird place to be in.
And yes, I did find it quite divorced from reality.
-->
@Castin
And yet people still think it’s somehow relevant. Why?
-->
@Paul
Because right-wingers believe in it strongly and want to apply it to reality.
-->
@Castin
Why are none of them here fighting for what they believe in?
8 days later
-->
@Paul
Probably because not a lot of us have read it. It is over 1100 pages. On my to-read list, but I think it is more of a libertarian thing to be fair.
-->
@Paul
Essentially the message is that the government will expand, they will give preferential treatment to certain businesses(corporatism), and there will be an ever-growing number of takers and less producers from what I am seeing. That seems to be fairly accurate.
-->
@bmdrocks21
First of all thanks for helping me get past my mental block. I didn't want to read it either so I bought the audio book and I'm glad I did.
In the book the money makers simply refused to work, they went on strike if you will. In a nut shell, the takers were taking all of the incentive out of making money. What I see going on in real life is that the money makers are working harder then ever and making more money then ever. It's not the same situation in fact it's kind of the opposite.
-->
@Paul
Atlas shrugged is a waste of time and isn't a good read and Ayn Rands philosophy is honestly a joke and is delusional.
-->
@Paul
You could look at it that way. However, we bailed out GM, the banks, etc. We subsidize thousands of companies and impose strong regulations. It helps big companies, but it hurts the smaller ones that can't afford to comply or hire accountants to avoid taxes. It is by no means as extreme as what I have heard from the book. That is because, like 1984, it is a cautionary tale. It shows how bad things can end up if you aren't careful.
In terms of the makers stopping. Think of that like how we outsource hundreds of thousands of jobs because of high taxes and fairly strict environmental policies that make it super expensive to set up business here. Those taxes go to our ever-increasing welfare state (takers). So, while the book may seem a bit extreme, it is somewhat accurate and should be considered.
Glad I could help with the mental block. We all get that way occasionally. Let me know what you think when you're done. I will certainly try to read it myself when college grants me some free time. :)
-->
@Pinkfreud08
Have you read her works or read what people said about them?
-->
@Pinkfreud08
That's a superlative critique. Even the most wild of Marx's books on philosophy had some good points.
For instance, you could say Das Capital had some good points under the framework that a person with no capital was unable or institutionally prohibited from getting a loan to acquire capital. Or was systemically unable to trade his labor for capital via wages and savings.
-->
@bmdrocks21
I personally read Atlas Shrugged, watched the movie adaptation, and watched interviews of Ayn Rand on top of reading what others have said about her philosophy.
To be quite frank, her philosophy is very weak, basic, and is a rather unrealistic way of viewing the world.
That's a superlative critique. Even the most wild of Marx's books on philosophy had some good points.
Notice how I never stated her philosophy should be thrown out entirely.
When I stated that it's a waste of time I meant it's a waste of time to read the entire book when her philosophy isn't a decent one, to begin with, and shouldn't be taken seriously.
The only real value I can attribute to her work is that while there are one or two decent points she brings up, the philosophy as a whole is garbage and should only be read for forms of academia to understand why her philosophy is bad in the first place.
-->
@Pinkfreud08
Ok, just curious. I think she is a little too idealistic, myself.
-->
@Pinkfreud08
Fair enough. Most philosophy is bullshit anyway due to the annoying human trait of improvisation.
-->
@bmdrocks21
The money makers take more (several orders of magnitude more) than the takers ever could. The story is fiction, but you want to treat it like reality. Unfortunately it's not reality or even realistic. Basing your real life world philosophy on a fictional story only makes you the occupant of a fantasy world.
-->
@Paul
Well, if you look at any remaining Democrat candidate, you'll see what I mean(Poor Tulsi. :/). They are promising darn near free everything. Free healthcare, free college, etc. How do they pay for that? By raising taxes. Who pays a disproportionate amount of taxes? The makers. I'm not saying that we are anywhere near the convoluted reality of the book. But a few terms of candidates like that would sure get us close. I don't live in the fantasy world of a book. I want to stay as far away from it as possible.
-->
@bmdrocks21
Who you going to vote for in 2020?
-->
@bmdrocks21
So, you see yourself as a Hank Rearden or a John Galt do you? You see the government and people on public assistance as the retched takers? I don't really need to explain what's wrong with that.
-->
@Paul
What do the money makers seize by force?The money makers take more...
-->
@Paul
Since we are discussing fiction, I believe all attempts to equalize wealth are best described by the story "the goose that laid the golden eggs"
I want to get across to you that once, America was full of "Geese" who laid Golden Eggs. Individuals who rose, out of whatever circumstance they were in, to contribute whatever eggs they laid to support their families, their employees, and their communities. It was a country full of these Geese that created a thriving, successful, creative, superior manner of existence for all of us. The government allowed these Geese to prosper and, thereby, a lot of golden eggs arrived. This formula worked fine until the government started meddling and stealing the eggs. And that stealing began in the 1920′s with the Roosevelts. Wanting more, the government gradually has and is now in the process of killing the Geese.
Now, in the case of a cake recipe, when it fails, you throw it out and start over with a recipe that you know works. In the case of catastrophic policies, when they fail, you throw them out and start over with policies that are tried and true, that you know will work. In the case of bureaucrats and politicians, when they are ruining the country and tearing apart the fabric of common sense, you speak up to them and throw them out. In the case of teachers who are teaching anti-American, anti-family, anti-reason to our children, you should step up and demand they get out of our school system. When the government continues to pile on, day after day, un-constitutional laws and the use of force against our freedoms, families, and businesses, you need to yell at the top of your lungs, “Stop it already!!!”
Obama and the Socialists in government are killing the Goose that laid the golden eggs. A few of us have been yelling at them to stop. A few of us are trying very hard to enlighten the indoctrinated. But the indoctrinated don’t want to listen. They want to get part of those golden eggs that they didn’t earn, so they are happy to let Obama kill the goose on their behalf. And there are those who have been seduced into thinking that life is so unfair that Obama is salvation for some misplaced collective guilt. They actually think that when the goose is dead, there will be any eggs to grab. They are seduced by the lyrical lies of the politically powered machine that is going to be dining on that goose until every shred of the flesh is gone. And then what?
How do I come to this strange analogy between the Goose with Golden Eggs and the Government? I heard Barrack Obama’s speech at Notre Dame on May 17, 2009. I listened to him admonish his audience to give up “self-interest,” to reject “crass materialism and greed.” At which point, I thought, this guy is co-opting the language to suit his own desire of greed to kill the goose. I also thought to myself that he is talking to college students who, because of socialist government policies, now hardly have opportunities to find jobs except in the government sector. Think of yourself as a graduating college senior and the message you get from the President of the United States is this: Forget your own self-interest, forget your aims to gain financial independence, forget your desires to live in a nice house surrounded by useful furnishings, forget your wish to support your own family, put aside any ideas you have had to succeed in commercial endeavors…..your goals are now only righteous on behalf of the government and what the government wants from you is to support IT. This President is telling the graduating class of Notre Dame that their only worth is collective, to give to those who do not produce. Only dead Geese allowed in this country. Plucked to death and then necks wrung for roasting.
So, if you were a gosling, growing up dreaming of laying golden eggs, you might as well forget it now. You have been deemed a “greedy, selfish, materialistic Goose and your eggs belong to the government bureaucrats. Your Goose is cooked. In Obama’s world, you exist for his benefit…to produce eggs for his collective healthcare, his collective manufacturing of cars and transportation, his collective energy system, his collective education system, his collective mortgage, and banking system, his collective everything.