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Wednesday, May 18, 2011 - 6:32pmSanction this postReply
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So, what do people here think of this quote from the article:

"That goes double for those like Objectivists and Ayn Rand fans who explicitly advocate a philosophy of reason but can let this fact make them uncritical of their own beliefs because they assume that they have a monopoly on truth."

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Thursday, May 19, 2011 - 12:07amSanction this postReply
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It's heresy, I tell you! Absolute heresy! The man should be ridden out of town on a rail, pilloried in the public square and ostracized from respectable company! If I had a copy of Atlas Shrugged at hand, I'd shake it in vigorous denunciation! ;-)



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Thursday, May 19, 2011 - 4:33amSanction this postReply
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I highly recommend The Future and Its Enemies by Virginia Postrel. An editor at Reason, Postel compares (and contrasts) the Green anti-technology people with the right wing millennarians, including Objectivists, who predict with great enthusiasm the end of civilization. The Greens are somewhat more successful in bringing it about in that they advocate for legislations which governments are only too happy to enact.

Over on MSK's OL, Kat has discovered a book called Going Galt, apparently a rehash of 70s survivalism advice on how to cope with the end of the world brought about by socialism.

On my blog, Necessary Facts (http://necessaryfacts.blogspot.org) I have an essay, Cities that pays tribute to Jane Jacobs. It started as a reply in February to a retreatist post on the "Whiskey and Gunpowder" blog.

Civilization is not going away - nor should we want it to.

Ayn Rand's theory is that human ability depends on volitional reason. Indeed, the choice to think is powerful and productive. However, as Ed Hudgins notes: "Consider the report about Michael Finaldi, the 60-something-year-old head of Tele-Solution, a successful business in New Jersey. One watches with pain as this otherwise solid, responsible, individual... " Ayn Rand's theory is that his unintegrated reasoning ability is betrayed by his mystical beliefs. He must have the ability to reason, we say, because he is a successful businessman. We wring our hands because Bill Gates is not an Objectivist. We villify George Soros even though he earned billions speculating in currencies. We believe that all businessmen can be T.J. Rodgers and Ed Snider -- and should be.

In The Anti-Capitalist Mentality Ludwig von Mises takes on a mixed gang of opponents, including social high brows and authors of pulp fiction, who usually harass each other, but join in complaining about the free market because millions of people made Rex Stout and Agatha Christie wealthy because the authors ripped the lid off high society and showed them to be tawdry and not very clever murderers. Von Mises's point - and mine - is that it does not take brains to be rich, nor should it, any more that it requires any other better sort of moral standing. All you need to do is serve the wants of other people at prices they are willing to pay.

Not only are Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, or any other of the million millionaires not Objectivists, they might not even be practicing volitional consciousness. Have you ever driven home from work, with your mind "some place else"? How did you do that? That's how some people (apparently) navigate commerce. They are not immoral. Morality only applies to volitional beings.

Even if Ayn Rand's psycho-epistemology accurately describes the entrepreneur who does not perceive and understand the taproot of self-interest, what is that to you? If Bill and Melinda Gates want to "give back" what they did not really take in the first place, you can still run Windows. We have to accept the fact that these people probably did read Atlas Shrugged and were not converted. As Ernst Samhaber pointed out in Merchants Make History: A good merchant does not argue religion with his client.


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Thursday, May 19, 2011 - 7:42amSanction this postReply
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I'd posit that there's a difference between the "end of the world" preachers and the "Going Galt" crowd: with the former, it's literal; with the latter, it's not that the world will end, but that their world will end. (Or "our world," or "my world.").

The world, as an entity, may not end, but a way of life could. South Park took a shot at the "Angry Tea Party Patriot" last night, lumping him in with other disenfranchised males in anger management whose anger stems from small dick size. Very clever, because anyone who takes offense, well...fill in the blanks.

Michael may be right, that the union won't collapse overnight. Penn and Teller did an episode of BULLSHIT! dedicated to debunking survivalists and end-of-the-worlders. And yet, they spend a lot of time things they find harmful to their way of life. Ayn Rand is quoted in Ayn Rand Answers as saying it's pointless to worry about the end of the world. This was after she wrote Atlas Shrugged.
 
I know, Rome did fall, but hey, now we have Vatican City. So, what's on the tv tonight? Glenn Beck exposing "Spooky Dude," or the breads and circuses of American Idol? Don't know which one to watch? Well, there's always TiVo...


(Edited by Joe Maurone on 5/19, 8:38am)

(Edited by Joe Maurone on 5/20, 5:46am)


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Thursday, May 19, 2011 - 3:49pmSanction this postReply
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Good post, Michael.

Sam


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Friday, May 20, 2011 - 5:25amSanction this postReply
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Yes, good points Michael and Joe.

 

I would say that intelligence in manifest in different ways. Some folks can get rich with little of it, though in a market they need to produce something. But it is only because there are productive entrepreneurs and innovators that a country prospers.

 

By the way, my dissertation focused on Mises so I’m familiar with that fine book.



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Friday, May 20, 2011 - 7:44amSanction this postReply
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As an aside, Facebook has numerous "post rapture" groups now. I noticed that "post rapture looting" has many more members than "post rapture orgy." I am not sure what to make of that.

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Friday, May 20, 2011 - 8:08amSanction this postReply
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"I noticed that "post rapture looting" has many more members than "post rapture orgy." I am not sure what to make of that."

I'm guessing they're thinking, first we grab the party supplies, THEN we have the orgy.

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Friday, May 20, 2011 - 3:58pmSanction this postReply
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My mom brought up an amusingly morbid thought while watching the news discuss the end of the world: All the people who 'disappear' tomorrow are going to thought to have been saved instead of murdered...

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Friday, May 20, 2011 - 11:28pmSanction this postReply
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Brandon,

I don't think that's right. Those who have been saved will ascend into heaven as part of the "rapture." The rest of us are scheduled to "die like flies," according to believers, evidently from earthquakes and cataclysms, and those who are murdered will also probably be in that category. At least that's my understanding. Trying to make sense out of craziness is not the easiest thing to do. :-)


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Saturday, May 21, 2011 - 5:24amSanction this postReply
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I think Jesus pulled a "no show" ... again ... so much for the orgy ...

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Saturday, May 21, 2011 - 5:33amSanction this postReply
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Luke,
You're impatient.  It's not until 6:00 PM; Eastern time, I believe.  But, is it daylight savings time or standard time?  Is that in the bible?

So, eat, drink, and be merry ...


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Saturday, May 21, 2011 - 6:06amSanction this postReply
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... and beam Harry.

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Saturday, May 21, 2011 - 3:28pmSanction this postReply
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Very clever, Sam Erica! 



(God bless Sam Erica, our "new director.")


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Sunday, May 22, 2011 - 7:18amSanction this postReply
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Hello down there

Hey guys, the rapture actually happened and I was one of the ones that was swooped up to heaven. Apparently, my early stint as a devout Christian was enough to get me through the Pearly Gates. I was really very sad about it at first, until I found out that in heaven they also have internet. In fact, they've got high-speed T1 lines running up here for as far as the eye can see! And, on top of that, the service is free -- just like the food and lodging! Anyway, it looks like I'm going to be able to keep up with you guys done there for a long time, perhaps for eternity.

Friends forever,

Ed

(Edited by Ed Thompson on 5/22, 9:06am)


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Sunday, May 22, 2011 - 1:25pmSanction this postReply
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Clearly the "Macho Man" Randy Savage saved us from the rapture



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Sunday, May 22, 2011 - 9:08pmSanction this postReply
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John Armaos, that was terrible of you!

Ooooooh yeeeaaaahhhh!

:-)

Ed


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Monday, May 23, 2011 - 5:39amSanction this postReply
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Hey up there, Ed.
Maybe it's me, I don't know, but with all of "your type" up there, it seems a lot better down here.
Just saying.


Post 18

Monday, May 23, 2011 - 6:18amSanction this postReply
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Glenn,

You ought to have a little sympathy for someone who's been confined to heaven.

Ed

(Edited by Ed Thompson on 5/23, 6:21am)


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Monday, May 23, 2011 - 8:05amSanction this postReply
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if heaven is everything ye wanted and then some, how are ye 'confined'?

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