4 ms·

Someone whose philosophy can be summed up in a Depeche Mode song is probably not the brightest light in the history of western civilization.

gibsonf1 19y ago
Or could it be, in being able to essentialize a message in elevator-pitch fashion, that a person actually really knows what they're talking about?
- davidw 19y ago
  Would that John Galt had been able to deliver an elevator pitch, rather than a 90 page rant:-)
  - gwenhwyfaer 19y ago
    Would that Ayn Rand had gone into banking rather than writing...
curi 19y ago
but it can't be, that's why she wrote a number of lengthy books instead of just one song.
- gwenhwyfaer 19y ago
  That's one explanation, and possibly not the best...
uuilly 19y ago
The Fountainhead was written in 1943. Depeche Mode saw it's first success in 1981. If even one of the best economic minds in 2045 cite Depeche Mode as their influence then you have a point. 2007 - 1943 = 64 1981 + 64 = 2045
- brianmckenzie 19y ago
  You're taking what I said waaay too literally. But if we're gonna go there (and this is all in jest), I see it like this: in 1981 Depeche Mode were a bunch of drama-whoring junkies with Casio keyboards, yet they managed to express the same basic ideas in far fewer words, plus a catchy euro-pop beat. I appreciate some aspects of Ayn Rand's thought, but find her books a chore to read. Alan Greenspan considers Ayn Rand a major influence? It's an interesting factoid, but falls far short of implying causality. I could make another Depeche Mode reference here, but it would be extremely tasteless. When Greenspan and his ilk characterize people as 'parasites', I parse that as 'anyone who gets between me and the forests of money to which I am entitled'. I might see where he's coming from, but his rhetoric is needlessly violent.
  - randallsquared 19y ago
    "Direct influence" may be too mild; Greenspan was one of her "inner circle" of followers.

gibsonf1 19y ago

Or could it be, in being able to essentialize a message in elevator-pitch fashion, that a person actually really knows what they're talking about?

davidw 19y ago
Would that John Galt had been able to deliver an elevator pitch, rather than a 90 page rant:-)
- gwenhwyfaer 19y ago
  Would that Ayn Rand had gone into banking rather than writing...

curi 19y ago

but it can't be, that's why she wrote a number of lengthy books instead of just one song.

gwenhwyfaer 19y ago
That's one explanation, and possibly not the best...

uuilly 19y ago

The Fountainhead was written in 1943. Depeche Mode saw it's first success in 1981. If even one of the best economic minds in 2045 cite Depeche Mode as their influence then you have a point. 2007 - 1943 = 64 1981 + 64 = 2045

brianmckenzie 19y ago
You're taking what I said waaay too literally. But if we're gonna go there (and this is all in jest), I see it like this: in 1981 Depeche Mode were a bunch of drama-whoring junkies with Casio keyboards, yet they managed to express the same basic ideas in far fewer words, plus a catchy euro-pop beat. I appreciate some aspects of Ayn Rand's thought, but find her books a chore to read. Alan Greenspan considers Ayn Rand a major influence? It's an interesting factoid, but falls far short of implying causality. I could make another Depeche Mode reference here, but it would be extremely tasteless. When Greenspan and his ilk characterize people as 'parasites', I parse that as 'anyone who gets between me and the forests of money to which I am entitled'. I might see where he's coming from, but his rhetoric is needlessly violent.
- randallsquared 19y ago
  "Direct influence" may be too mild; Greenspan was one of her "inner circle" of followers.