(05-18-2011 01:35 PM)captain_solo Wrote: (05-18-2011 08:43 AM)libresansdieu Wrote: Joke aside, I'm not a big Rand fan. It's like the pop version of Nietzsche.
It does have that smell about it.
My main issues with Rand are that her basic premise is not well constructed.
-Her connection of Mysticism with Totalitarianism. Its basically the worst broad brushing of all time. Clearly with certain religions the connection is there, but its the underlying philosophy of force motivation that connects them, not something more foundational like her unproven conflation of Divinity and Society as the unjust standard of value.
-She believes there is no separation between body and soul/spirit - leads to an extreme anti-gnosticism that while I appreciate on many levels, is taken too far in her syllogism.
-Reasonable and rational approaches can result in a faith based belief system that recognizes the inherent value of man and a proper view of benefit and cost in both physical goods and in spirit as Rand proposes, without the damage to the fabric of society done by making the rugged individualist the most moral being. It is immoral to force someone to care for others, it is not immoral to choose voluntarily to do so. This primary flaw creates much of the problem with her basic philosophy, by blowing apart one false system of values (the socialist/looter) and replacing it with another that is on just as tenuous ground. (of course this is as result of the inherent problem with Atheism/Humanism - difficulty in explaining the source)
Reading Atlas Shrugged one will have two responses in the year 2011
1. This cannot have been written in the 1950's, it sounds too much like 2009
2. The current ruling class must be using this book as a guide for how to destroy our economy and society
In the words of Jeffrey Gitomer - "To summarize Atlas Shrugged - the entrepreneurs win".
Post: #21
