Atlas Shrugged and so did I...

[rgraham666]

Which brings us to one of my favorite books.

 

[SlickTony]

Well said. I have long regarded an obsession with 'reason' as no better than blind adherence to any other dogma. Logic is a tool invented by humans, not a universally pervasive force, IMO. Everything we think we know is merely "in light of current knowledge". It can always change tomorrow with some new discovery.

I can't argue with that. Yet if you think you're in possession of the absolute truth, you have to view that with abhorrence.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Which brings us to one of my favorite books.

Hmmm. I seem to have missed that one. Ought to put it on my list. Thanx, Rob.

 

[rgraham666]

Welcome.

I also recommend The Doubter's Companion: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense and On Equilibrium: Six Qualities of the New Humanism by Mr. Saul as well.

They changed the way I think. If what goes on between my ears is thinking.

 

[NoJo]

I want to see more threads from the OP -- not that I give a shit about Rand, or all that pathetic parochial petty party politics that Americans think is interesting or relavant

 

[SlickTony]

Those all look worth checking out.

 

[rgraham666]

Every time I think of 'The Great Person's Strike' in Atlas Shrugged I wonder, 'Did John Galt clean his own toilets?'

Which brings us to this.

http://www.angryflower.com/atlass.gif

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Every time I think of 'The Great Person's Strike' in Atlas Shrugged I wonder, 'Did John Galt clean his own toilets?'

Which brings us to this.

http://www.angryflower.com/atlass.gif

Dead on! Anyone now not understand why the highest paid occupation in California is plumber? Silicon Valley may be in the doldrums, Hollywood on strike and Sacramento running around in circles screaming that the sky is falling but drains still clog and have to be opened, faucets replaced and so forth. Elites tend to be useless to anyone but themselves.

 

[SlickTony]

Dead on! Anyone now not understand why the highest paid occupation in California is plumber? Silicon Valley may be in the doldrums, Hollywood on strike and Sacramento running around in circles screaming that the sky is falling but drains still clog and have to be opened, faucets replaced and so forth. Elites tend to be useless to anyone but themselves.

Sometimes I think if I had it to do over again, I would consider becoming a plumber, and am sorry my son has zero interest in a plumbing apprenticeship. No one sends their toilet to India.

Looking back over the various uber-competent guys in Rand's books, I retain the impression that they could do for themselves if they had to, and had; both Howard Roark and John Galt had done their share of manual jobs before they became architect and inventor.

As for the majority of young Rand enthusiasts, I don't get that impression of them. Ironically, when people like Mike Millken (the junk bond king) went to prison, people sent them Rand books to give them comfort; as they are probably sending them to the latest lot of financial miscreants. They've missed the point by a country mile, of course. I heard a guy interviewed on the radio the other day who said that private equity firms are going to be the cause of the next financial crisis, and he described the way they operate: buying up relatively healthy companies, mainly because their owners are in some circumstance that makes it seem rational to sell; then the buyers start squeezing the company dry, cutting corners to reduce the quality of the product, pink-slipping employees, until they finally run the place into the ground, after which they sell off the inventory and the plant and pocket the money. Hm--sounds more like the Ayn Rand villains than the heroes. And I wouldn't trust any of these guys to replace a faucet or change out a light bulb in my house, either.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

It's an old, old story. Years ago it was Litten Industries. Now it's "PEF's. Too many assholes with MBA's in finance and not enough real businessmen. I hate to think how many really decent companies have been destroyed by the likes of these vultures.

 

[SlickTony]

You wonder where it's all going to end; surely, someone's going to say "We can't operate like this anymore!" and figure out how to get things turned around. But who can fight against the vast array of lobbyists and bagmen who seem to have the government in their pockets? Here's a frightening thought: maybe they're out there, but the Galting-out has begun already, and the vast majority of medium-smart people will be left to scramble for crumbs and barricade themselves in at night when civil society starts to break down.