Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Moderate Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zonder who wrote (1259)	5/14/2003 10:43:28 AM
From: Coz	Respond to of 20773

I would strongly urge anyone who has not read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” to pick up a copy and read it just to see how completely absurd, ludicrous, and self-indulgent its premise is. One thing that I find particularly amusing is the notion it sets forth that all the factories in the U.S. shut down because the evil Liberals have crushed peoples’ desire to make profits. The end of the book is a real hoot when all the worlds’ industrialists run away to a hidden valley where they can freely worship the dollar bill as a religious symbol. They novel has great comedic value. In reality, this nations factories are all shutting down because the conservatives are relocating them to third world countries where they can pay slave wages and often use child labor to increase the corporate profits. This may have worked well at the beginning until the masses started losing their chance for future in this country, but the effects are the same as Rand’s book--millions of formerly productive American workers forced into a deteriorating standard of life while the richest 2% of Americans enjoy an ever more opulent existence. And with the conservative agenda to destroy public schools, remove all controls over business activity, gut environmental laws, have a de facto death penalty for the old and infirm by making health insurance something only affordable to the emerging upper class, and cutting down all safety nets which would otherwise help Americans rebuild their lives, thus the process of third-worldization begins at our doorstep. It looks to me that the conservative dream is not to run away to a hidden place and build a world where they do all the grunt work--it appears more that they wish to have in the United States more of what they find in China and Vietnam. A repressed dirt poor population that lives in caves at night and comes out in the day to work at ultramodern facilities assembling goods they will never be able to afford for themselves in order to service the new oligarchy. I may not agree with Ayn Rand, but I can see that although much of her success was through lucky breaks, she clearly did have a brilliant mind. I truly wish she were still alive today as I would love to know what she had to say about the direction our country is currently taking. I always had a feeling that part of her Objectivism was that those at the top of industry would recognize, respect and reward their workers and understand that employees should share the rewards from their labors which made possible the dreams of the innovators. Judging by the mass migration of industry to slave wage countries, it would seem that valuing the work and dedication of employees carries no particular weight with many of today’s industrialists and the captains of industry feel the rewards from the success of their enterprises should settle only in their own wallets. If this were not so, then the average CEO would not make over 500 times what the average employee makes. Forty years ago before the reintroduction of this era of laissez faire that ratio was more like 50/1. The wealthy were way ahead of the workers then, but at least the workers could enjoy and share in an improving lifestyle. --Coz

To: zonder who wrote (1259)	5/14/2003 11:56:31 AM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20773

The kindest, most compassionate, charitable, forgiving, and loving people that I have met in life, admit that they have their own best interests in mind. Their attitudes and behaviors reflect a long term goal of reaching nirvana, being seen as righteous by a heavenly God, reaping what they have sown, etc. Likewise the most corrupt and destructive people that I have met in life expect to succeed at having their personal desires met through accumulated wealth, influence, and power. "Far from it, her philosophy proclaims the virtues of selfishness." It just is....