how atlas shrugged by ayn rand changed my life

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I can't make it through her prose, but like her negative attitude to state control and people's lives being run by The Man. She advocated free love when it wasn't fashionable, a bit of a hippy chick really.

However, one of her biggest acolytes was Greenspan. The very same Chairman of the Federal Reserve who has done perhaps more than anyone to reduce people's freedoms by dragging them into the slavery of debt and the banking system. If she inspired people like him I've no time for her thinking.

But to be honest, I don't really know what to say to you. Rand deserves no respect.

In philosophy I'm also a nihilist, I don't see an inherent meaning to life or value to it, it just happens and we make the best of it, no gods no kings no design.

And there are Christians out there that preach intolerance and warmongering. There are sexist Taoists seeking out immortality. The list goes on. Just because someone claims to follow a certain way doesn't mean they actually stay true to the teachings.

Greed and selfishness is NOT what Ayn Rand was talking about.

I am not an Objectivist myself. I feel that, on many points, Rand made quite a bit of sense. On others, she was dead wrong. I don't like people bashing a particular way of living through misconception, and spreading that misconception.

I liked the symbolism and underlying philosophical themes of her book Anthem and her philosophies generally resonate quite a bit with me. I'm getting pretty excited to read Atlas Shrugged, now.

I agree. I want to make it clear that I am not discriminating against those who base their life on the fictional writings of Ayn Rand. I have equal disdain for followers of all religions based off of books written before they were born.

Since when were legitimate and mainstream the same thing?



Awesome book.

exactly my view on it. s**t happens and just because it happens doesnt give it a meaning. Meaning and Value are simply Human Constructs. Chaos is the true master of existence after all.

Does anyone think this movie is an adequate substitute for reading the book? 1,200+ pages seems awfully long...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480239/

Last edited by swbluto on 08 May 2011, 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I have to agree with this.

What I got from Rand was totally not the same thing that the Tea Party got from it. I understood "selfishness" to mean being true to yourself and not bending to the will of everyone around you. This was enlightening to me, because my whole life I had done the latter. But everyone seems to just jump on the negative definition of selfishness and say how horrible it is. Well, I agree, if that's what you're talking about. But Rand was not against helping other people at all, because doing so makes you feel good, and that is selfish.

I've not read Rand, but I've seen the ideas of many writers being misinterpreted, and then that group's actions and interpretation of the writing can rub off onto general perception of the work. Like Hitler and Nietzsche, for example.

Okay, but you're forgetting that there are autistics who are artistic and humanistic. Haven't you met all the artists and musicians on this site? Haven't you read some of the discussions on altruism and relationships? I'm a musician and a music teacher, and I'm about to go to med school. I can tell you with complete honesty that I'm not interested in the money. My top goal in life is to become a doctor for the International Red Cross.

Many aspies have strong altruistic tendencies that make up for our lack of intuitive emotional understanding, and I'm definitely one of them. Humans are social animals, and like many other animals, a social function that has helped us to survive is our altruism. You see this all the time with other species, especially primates; so "society's programming" is there for a reason and it would be very detrimental to our survival as the human species if we all were to simply reject it. Even the most successful spectrumites are loners, but their discoveries and talents contributed to humanity and they held a very important role in society. Therefore I agree with your therapists, and with Temple Grandin, and basically any other successful autistic. I want to be like them, so I'm going to go with their philosophy.

I've got humanistic views, which don't prevent me to reject some social norms. Nowaday being humanistic can mean more and more being rebel toward society institutions, Ayn Rand not being completely stranger to it.

You know, one of the things I liked about Terry Goodkind's books is that it points out that helping others also helps you. Not just psychologically (making you feel good), but from a practical standpoint, it can benefit you as well.

I read Anthem, Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged all in a month. I went through a phase where I was obsessed with Objectivism (not in the sense that I necessarily believed in it, but that I was fascinated by it). I then read a biography on Ayn Rand (Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right). It sort of cleared some things up for me that I hadn't really realized in the first readings, and I also learned more about how she came to believe what she did.

I think people who claim that she's a super conservative aren't looking closely enough at her ideology. Republican politicians in America (this is specific to the USA, I guess) have a Christian ideology that Rand absolutely rejects. She's a complete atheist, and her ideas border on anarchist (though she does believe in some government, for protection). Libertarians are more likely to agree with Rand than Tea Party candidates. What I liked about Ayn Rand's Objectivism was that, unlike the Republican Party, there are no contradictions. The underlying politics: let people do what they want, as long as they are not hurting others (limit big government) and reward them for being productive citizens. The Republican party seemingly believe this, but then why do they protest gay marriage? Abortion? (For some: Muslims?) [Granted, I'm pretty sure Rand would have been personally against homosexuality, since she's so obsessed with the whole strong woman/stronger man theme in her books].

That being said, politically, she's also a nut. I absolutely don't think anyone should take Rand's word for gospel. The world under Rand's ideology would be a cold place, and while I think it might be a fairly "productive" world, I don't think it would be a very fair one. Heck, she even opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because it impinged on the rights of store owners (though she was personally opposed to racism).

What I like about Ayn Rand, and what I've taken away from that phase I went through in high school was her ideas on individualism, productivity and self-assurance. She did empower me, in a way, to do better in school and to keep my head up when I was sick. Being different is extremely difficult, and Ayn Rand has helped me redefine myself outside of the label that others have given me. Granted, I still have a long way to go, but Rand is inspiring. I would just read cautiously, and I don't think you can take her too seriously.

sorry. I didn't mean to double post.

Last edited by Aether on 24 May 2011, 2:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.