4 ms·

Atlas Shrugged shaped America?

by octonion 11y ago

jsprogrammer 11y ago
Often cited as the second most influential book, after the Bible, by members of congress.
- octonion 11y ago
  That's a new phenomena, and wven so it can hardly be said to have "shaped America". If you disagree, in what ways has it done so?
  - gpvos 11y ago
    The "second most influential" claim originates from 1994, source: http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/books/rand/atlas/faq.html#Q6.4 http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/books/rand/atlas/faq.html#Q6.4 I think big companies have shaped American culture a lot. Here's something from 2002 about Rand's influence, but Googling around easily turns up more: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2002-09-23-ayn-rand_x.htm http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/20...
- gutnor 11y ago
  Yet the Bible is not in the list. Edit: Oh, I get it - the Bible is not written by an American so it cannot make it into the list of American books. Could have used a hint with the downvote.
fit2rule 11y ago
Kicked off entirely new waves of greed and selfishness all over the country, but .. most especially of all .. on Wall Street. I'd say it had an impact, most definitely.
- enraged_camel 11y ago
  Looks like you got downvoted by mindless Randroids. Let me counter that a bit. And yes, Atlas Shrugged has had a tremendously harmful impact on America, specifically its business culture. It's basically The Bible for capitalism, except instead of worshipping god, you worship the so-called "captains of industry" (aka "job creators").
  - fit2rule 11y ago
    I don't think its correct that "capitalism" has its own bible. What happened with the Objectivists, and their big-business, greed-derived purpose, is one thing; capitalism is another. I think what happened is things got absolutely feudal, and as with all forks of human culture, Objectivism took off because it gave people what they wanted, if not what is needed. Cult systems work, which is the reason they persist in the first place, and the Rand'ists had all the ingredients for the cultural revolution they so desired: power, wealth, influence. Capitalism - the positive form of it, which results in prosperity - has been under attack through countless generations for a long time, but it is still the one '-ism' which provides impetus to deliver value, rather than attempts to defeat it. I've seen very little of value in Rand'ian thought - but I can certainly understand the position of anyone who wants to 'get into it', for their own reasons, and get some value from it. Reading such stuff is mental capitalism, after all ..

Atlas Shrugged shaped America?

jsprogrammer 11y ago

Often cited as the second most influential book, after the Bible, by members of congress.

octonion 11y ago
That's a new phenomena, and wven so it can hardly be said to have "shaped America". If you disagree, in what ways has it done so?
- gpvos 11y ago
  The "second most influential" claim originates from 1994, source: http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/books/rand/atlas/faq.html#Q6.4 http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/books/rand/atlas/faq.html#Q6.4 I think big companies have shaped American culture a lot. Here's something from 2002 about Rand's influence, but Googling around easily turns up more: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2002-09-23-ayn-rand_x.htm http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/20...
gutnor 11y ago
Yet the Bible is not in the list. Edit: Oh, I get it - the Bible is not written by an American so it cannot make it into the list of American books. Could have used a hint with the downvote.

fit2rule 11y ago

Kicked off entirely new waves of greed and selfishness all over the country, but .. most especially of all .. on Wall Street. I'd say it had an impact, most definitely.

enraged_camel 11y ago
Looks like you got downvoted by mindless Randroids. Let me counter that a bit. And yes, Atlas Shrugged has had a tremendously harmful impact on America, specifically its business culture. It's basically The Bible for capitalism, except instead of worshipping god, you worship the so-called "captains of industry" (aka "job creators").
- fit2rule 11y ago
  I don't think its correct that "capitalism" has its own bible. What happened with the Objectivists, and their big-business, greed-derived purpose, is one thing; capitalism is another. I think what happened is things got absolutely feudal, and as with all forks of human culture, Objectivism took off because it gave people what they wanted, if not what is needed. Cult systems work, which is the reason they persist in the first place, and the Rand'ists had all the ingredients for the cultural revolution they so desired: power, wealth, influence. Capitalism - the positive form of it, which results in prosperity - has been under attack through countless generations for a long time, but it is still the one '-ism' which provides impetus to deliver value, rather than attempts to defeat it. I've seen very little of value in Rand'ian thought - but I can certainly understand the position of anyone who wants to 'get into it', for their own reasons, and get some value from it. Reading such stuff is mental capitalism, after all ..