5 ms·
I have the pleasure of living in a pretty "red" part of the country, and everyone I know who is a self-described libertarian (or otherwise worships at the altar
by ryandrake 2y ago
I have the pleasure of living in a pretty "red" part of the country, and everyone I know who is a self-described libertarian (or otherwise worships at the altar of self-sufficiency) lives utterly dependent on societal systems. They're on Medicare, Disability or Social Security, live in neighborhoods with solid public services, rely on the rule of law for protection from crime, and enjoy clean air and drinking water, safe food and medicine, that they only have access to due to strong environmental and safety regulations. They were the first ones to freak out on Social Media during COVID when they had to actually rely on themselves for a bit.
As someone else put it on Twitter, they are like house cats: absolutely convinced of their fierce independence while utterly dependent on a system they don't appreciate or understand.
- thrance 2y agoIt took thousands of years of technical and social progress to produce people that think they can survive alone.
- jonfw 2y agoAyn Rand didn't write novels about homesteading- none of the characters in her books are self sufficient. I don't think that participation in society as it exists should prevent anybody from holding their philosophy of choice.
- jplusequalt 2y agoYou're right, Ayn Rand wrote about a fantastical world, full of make believe people and things.
- jonfw 2y agoAKA fiction
- slater 2y agoAlways a good time to remember this fantastic quote: “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."
- os2warpman 2y ago[flagged]
- alabastervlog 2y agoHer non-fiction isn't any more rigorous or convincing, incidentally.
- richardanaya 2y agoAs someone who has read most of her non-fiction. I thoroughly disagree.
- jplusequalt 2y agoRead some better authors, jfc.
- glenstein 2y agoLove it or hate it, her novels, over and over again could set generations of young minds on fire, which her essays could never do. I think it's fair to say the non-fiction was a lot worse.
- glenstein 2y ago>Ayn Rand didn't write novels about homesteading Galt's Gulch seems to fit that description. >none of the characters in her books are self sufficient. I think they were in the sense that they, within the fiction of the books, had irreplaceable economic skills that made them fortunes. They were (again just in the logic of the books), more than pulling their weight. Doesn't mean I agree with it as a system but I can see the internal consistency in this respect at least.
- int_19h 2y agoAside from Galt's Gulch, there's also Dagny's brief stint on her own, during which she more or less magically automates everything that needs to be done.
- TeaBrain 2y agoAlso, in Anthem, the two main characters end up living self-sufficiently in secluded wilderness.
- cryptonector 2y agoYes, it's all magical for her heroes. There was no homesteading in the gulch or whatever. There was only magical abundance and sterile happiness.
- garciasn 2y agoCognitive dissonance, lack of critical thought, and self-introspection is an outcome of the Conservative push for education elimination. This is exactly why Conservatives feel educators are evil; they work to enable the ideals/traits in individuals which run counter to what’s most successful for following Conservative ideology.
- jonfw 2y agoDo you feel that the department of education is responsible for your ability to think critically? Do you feel that it would be impossible to think critically without the department of education? Do you feel that folks from other countries, who grew up without our illustrious department of education, lack critical thought?
- garciasn 2y agoYou literally put words in my mouth; I said nothing about the DoE.
- jonfw 2y ago> Conservative push for education elimination. I assumed this was a reference for the conservative push to eliminate the DOE. Or do you believe that conservatives actually want to eliminate the abstract concept of education?
- garciasn 2y agoThey are openly attacking university and public school educators; calling them liberal agitators with agendas which indoctrinate students to ideologies counter to Conservative values.
- techpineapple 2y ago> Or do you believe that conservatives actually want to eliminate the abstract concept of education? What do you mean by conservatives? Do you mean my fellow citizens in arms, or certain people who happen to hold power right now?
- AnotherGoodName 2y agoAyn Rand herself was on social security too fwiw. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ayn-rand-social-security/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ayn-rand-social-security/
- dmitrygr 2y ago"In her later years"....well, yeah! I will structure my finances that way too. I get money stolen from me yearly by force for "SS TAX", and i surely plan to get every cent back out of it that i can. I will not get even 10% back, but that is better than 0
- surgical_fire 2y agoThis is not how it works. Did you ever use the streets in front of your house? Ever went to a public park? Ever relied on police to protect your property? Ever needed the help of public health services? Firefighters? It's funny that you get money stole from you (while you certainly use a ton on infrastructure society provides), but never once considered leaving it behind and go live as a hunter gatherer in some remote place. After all, you are posting here.
- grandempire 2y agoHow much of the budget is police, parks, and roads? When the budget is questioned the response is always the most popular examples and ignore everything else. When was the last time you used a sociology research grant? Or an ICBM?
- jeltz 2y agoThe reason we pay for ICMBs is to prevent warmongers like Putin from invading countries which would be bad for the whole global economy. So you get advantage from ICMBs all the time indirectly.
- grandempire 2y ago
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- loki49152 2y agoThat's not entirely their fault. Those programs were designed and instituted to make as many people as possible dependent on them so they would become a captured voting bloc.