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Seems like the author satirically argues against Objectivism by putting up lack of charity and generosity as a straw man characterization to attack. He complete
by redbar0n 4y ago
Seems like the author satirically argues against Objectivism by putting up lack of charity and generosity as a straw man characterization to attack. He completely ignores the fact that taxation is collected irrespective of goodwill attitude, and under the threat of force (violence/jail).
I frankly would have hoped the argument was not a straw man and that he argued against the actual essence of the philosophy of Objectivism. Instead of taking the cheap way out to argue against a mere peripheral unfortunate potential consequence of it (when taken to an extreme).
- bennysonething 4y agoCame here to say the same thing, gave up reading article after half way through when it became apparent it was a straw man.
- undoware 4y agoA "straw man" is a variety of argument. This makes no argument; it is satire -- a caricature -- as has been repeatedly pointed out; hence, it cannot be a straw man. Now, this is not to say that it might not blamelessly strike you as unfunny; in this case, though, you may want to reword your comment as "not funny IMO". Shrugs I liked it
- bennysonething 4y ago
- bananarchist 4y agoThis isn't an argument it's a comical story, but no one has ever mistaken an objectivist for having a sense of humor, so I don't know why I'm surprised by this response.
- bennysonething 4y agoIt's a self righteous rant trying to disguise itself as a comical story. Fails due to lack of laughs.
- bananarchist 4y agoYou shoulda been in the room where I was reading it. Uncharted chortles. I guess humor is _sub_jective tho...
- benj111 4y agoHow many Objectivists does it take to change a lightbulb?
- redbar0n 4y agoBut it seems you have mistaken me for an Objectivist. I was hoping for a good satire of Objectivism, one that really hit the nail on the head.
- bananarchist 4y agoMy mistake. Personally I always smash my thumb whenever I swing a hammer.
- jhbadger 4y agoThen play Bioshock.
- redbar0n 4y agoOh my, it’s on my to-play list, so this might just inspire me to buy it!
- thedrexster 4y agoHere's another strong, strong recommendation you do so :D
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- aaron695 4y ago
- benj111 4y agoThe tag line is "daily humour every day since 1998" It is, as you point out, satire. It is a quite common device in satire to set up a less than accurate scenario, in order to highlight a single failing. It isn't aiming to be a well balanced essay on the pros and cons of anything.
- redbar0n 4y agoYeah, but there is good satire (which hits the mark, even remotely), and there’s bad satire.
- gota 4y agoMy dear comrade; you are publicly and repeatedly complaining about something not being funny. That is never a good sign of dettachment. No one will ever believe you are not offended by the article because everyone knows that, if it were the case, you'd simply not have posted (much less replied several times) Let us chill and drink some delicious juice made out of these misterious fruits of our labor
- redbar0n 4y agoI’m not complaining that it wasn’t funny. I’m belaboring that it was vacuous and disappointing. I want good satire that hits something and has a punch!
- skinnymuch 4y agoI don’t think the specifics of why you’re complaining is the point of the commenter you responded to. It’s that you’re complaining so much. Note the parent comment brought up you not being offended or deattached.
- redbar0n 4y agoI made a single legitimate criticism of the article. I’m no objectivist, as mentioned in another reply thread. The parent comment did actually assume I took offense from the article or is particularly attached to it, both of which is false. My only attachment here is to clearing up false speculation about my motive.
- Yaa101 4y agoNah, the author is just really sad that poor Johanna will never have any real friends...
- moomin 4y agoYou're getting heavily dunked on here, but personally I think your parody of an Ayn Rand fan is even more on point than the author's.