7 ms·
I read this book for the first time, last summer. It was actually a little bit spooky -- OK, very spooky -- to read basically the same thing (metaphorically) i
by gills 18y ago
I read this book for the first time, last summer. It was actually a little bit spooky -- OK, very spooky -- to read basically the same thing (metaphorically) in the book and the news most days of the week.
- unalone 18y agoVery! I had the same experience when I read The Fountainhead for the first time, in the middle of an ego clash happening at my school. It's important, I've found, not to mistake Rand's works for wholesale reality. She makes some incredibly good points, and I love her concept of the virtue of selfishness, but things are more complex than she writes about. She was aware of this too: her books are deliberately overstated in order to drive her points home. The economy, along with people in general, is more complex than headlines might make it seem.
- jonny_noog 18y agoIf more of Rand's proponents were apparently aware of this fact that "things are more complex than she writes about" nor, might I add, are things as absolute, I would have less of a problem with Objectivism.
- unalone 18y agoYeah. The problem, which I still find sad, is that Rand's main message, above the stuff she writes about, is that you should always believe in objective reality, which means picking logic over dogma, and treating the world as a constantly-evolving thing that requires your own thought. Her followers throw out that message more often than not, and follow an incredibly dogmatic belief system that disregards logical statements for catch-phrases.
- nazgulnarsil 18y agosuch is the fate of any popular message. if you would see your ideals widely disseminated you must be prepared to have them so radically misinterpreted that people arrive at beliefs that are diametrically opposed to your original message.
- endtime 18y agoI know what you mean - I felt the same way after reading Age of Tolerance (similar to Atlas Shrugged but specific to contemporary American political issues) and then saw people singing the national anthem in Spanish, but with the words politically modified. I've read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged too, but it was a while ago.
- eru 18y ago> then saw people singing the national anthem in Spanish, Would this be a good or a bad thing?
- Retric 18y agowith the words politically modified
- anewaccountname 18y agoas though it were some sacred canon from god.
- jfoutz 18y agoIt's much stranger seeing people change the words of a drinking song into a national anthem.
- unalone 18y agoWould you recommend Age of Tolerance as a book?