Hola moose,
I've not read much of Ayn Rand, so I have little to base my comments on. But it seems to me that she was an advocate of staunch individualism. This is a nutty sort of philosophy, because humans are basically herd animals who prosper in groups. Why do we have a community such as SI? Because, each of us, acting as a Randian individual in the battle for investment survival would be cut to shreds by the organized mafias of Wall Street. Then, regard the success of the Standard Oil company in the late 19th Century. Was Rockefeller a great individualist? Exactly the opposite. He was a great team player. He collected some of the smartest men of his age and they collectively won the game. Almost all individualists who attempted to compete against the Standard Oil combine ended up being bought out or destroyed. Individuality doesn't pay.
Holy shark-infested waters, Batman, I wouldn't let any of your liberal or democrat friends hear you say that.
Hehe, part of the joy of being an actor in the theatre of the absurd, we can say whatever we want. I probably have equal disdain for the politically correct liberal as I do for the latter day John Bircher. They're both wrong, too partisan and ineffectual in dealing with reality.
I would say you sound like a Libertarian
I keep tell ya moose, anarchism and libertarianism are very closely aligned on the "Circle of Political Belief". I simply have a healthy skepticism about all institutions that try to cram down their will on the rest of us. Yet, I fear unbridled capitalism because it is driven, like the California natural gas market today, by rapacious speculation and dishonesty. Where I seek the balance is a system that protects society from the rape & pillage crowd and still allows us the opportunity to speak our mind and whoop it up every now and then without, as Menchen put it, the Puritanical fear that someone somewhere is actually enjoying life.
Ciao, Ray |
