4 ms·

As expected my favourite book Atlas Shrugged is in this list. It sad that her ideas is quite unpopular among general public. And as a consequence Europe and ev

As expected my favourite book Atlas Shrugged is in this list. It sad that her ideas is quite unpopular among general public. And as a consequence Europe and even US go towards socialism these days.

octonion 11y ago
Ah, yes, the masses are stupid parasites and the elite few (of whom of course the reader fantasizes he belongs to) are responsible for all that's good in the world. I wonder why people have a problem with it.
- adventured 11y ago
  Rand never indicates the American masses (your word, not hers) are stupid parasites, nothing even remotely of the sort in fact. She describes the masses as being devoured and harmed by the parasites, which are feeding off of them. This is true in Atlas Shrugged, Anthem, We The Living, and in her ~60 years of non-fiction writings. If you've read her books, it's impossible to have missed this, she's extraordinarily clear about it and goes to great lengths to spell it out for the reader step by step, both in terms of ideology and in real world effects.
  - inscrutablemike 11y ago
    You, who have actually read her work and given it an honest moment's thought, have been down voted by people who don't viciously know far more than you do about her work without the humdrum necessity of actually having read it.
ild 11y ago
It sad that her ideas are too popular among general public. And as a consequence US and even Europe go towards something unpalatable these days.
WildUtah 11y ago
Miss Rand's ethics and politics are far more widely influential than in 1957, both among intellectuals and the general public. Entrepreneurialism, startup culture, modern self-esteem, and individualism have prospered along with the cultural changes Rand was a part of far beyond what seemed possible when that book was written. And the Western nations are nowhere near socialism. In the 1950s tax rates topped out around 90%, banks had a stranglehold on capital guaranteed by state run cartels, and you needed a license from a state mandated monopoly to even connect to a telecom network which they would grant rarely at their pleasure if they liked what you might do with it. You couldn't carry money through most countries in person or via a bank and trade often required renting a politician to get permission. People forget how good they have it today.

As expected my favourite book Atlas Shrugged is in this list. It sad that her ideas is quite unpopular among general public. And as a consequence Europe and even US go towards socialism these days.

octonion 11y ago

Ah, yes, the masses are stupid parasites and the elite few (of whom of course the reader fantasizes he belongs to) are responsible for all that's good in the world. I wonder why people have a problem with it.

adventured 11y ago
Rand never indicates the American masses (your word, not hers) are stupid parasites, nothing even remotely of the sort in fact. She describes the masses as being devoured and harmed by the parasites, which are feeding off of them. This is true in Atlas Shrugged, Anthem, We The Living, and in her ~60 years of non-fiction writings. If you've read her books, it's impossible to have missed this, she's extraordinarily clear about it and goes to great lengths to spell it out for the reader step by step, both in terms of ideology and in real world effects.
- inscrutablemike 11y ago
  You, who have actually read her work and given it an honest moment's thought, have been down voted by people who don't viciously know far more than you do about her work without the humdrum necessity of actually having read it.

ild 11y ago

It sad that her ideas are too popular among general public. And as a consequence US and even Europe go towards something unpalatable these days.

WildUtah 11y ago

Miss Rand's ethics and politics are far more widely influential than in 1957, both among intellectuals and the general public. Entrepreneurialism, startup culture, modern self-esteem, and individualism have prospered along with the cultural changes Rand was a part of far beyond what seemed possible when that book was written. And the Western nations are nowhere near socialism. In the 1950s tax rates topped out around 90%, banks had a stranglehold on capital guaranteed by state run cartels, and you needed a license from a state mandated monopoly to even connect to a telecom network which they would grant rarely at their pleasure if they liked what you might do with it. You couldn't carry money through most countries in person or via a bank and trade often required renting a politician to get permission. People forget how good they have it today.