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To: benwood who wrote (103021)	5/5/2009 1:07:54 PM
From: Paul Kern	Respond to of 110194

My dad mentioned this book a couple times. I wouldn't mind positive or neutral or scathing comments -- short & sweet. Probably OK to read it if you're mature, intellectually developed, well educated, and over 35.

To: benwood who wrote (103021)	5/5/2009 1:08:13 PM
From: Tommaso	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 110194

I once heard Ayn Rand live on a radio call-in show (Boston area). She was quite bitchy.

To: benwood who wrote (103021)	5/5/2009 1:20:46 PM
From: Little Joe	Respond to of 110194

Odds are you will love her or hate her. She uses her Novel as a medium to convey the tenants of her philosophy, which is very liberterian and pro-capitalistic. I, for one, have read it several times, though not in the last ten years. lj

To: benwood who wrote (103021)	5/5/2009 4:02:00 PM
From: GST	12 Recommendations Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 110194

I love Ayn Rand -- I am just the same as her -- I feel superior to most all other people and detest the fact that I have to share the world with morons and other lesser life forms -- and of course anybody who works for the government is by definition a lower life form. Ayn paints vivid images of the horror and contempt that all naturally superior people feel when they are lowered to the level of living amongst mere mortals and having to tolerate them as if they mattered. If only we superior people were able to be completely free of all the mediocre people and their petty foolishness -- then the world would be fit for our greatness. Tis a shame.

To: benwood who wrote (103021)	5/5/2009 5:49:30 PM
From: Robin Plunder	3 Recommendations Respond to of 110194

"My dad mentioned this book a couple times. I wouldn't mind positive or neutral or scathing comments -- short & sweet. I remember Ayn Rand's work being talked about at times, but don't recall the gist of those comments." Most of the problems we have today are due to the use of poor thinking habits..eg, most of us have not understood the nature of money (fiat vs real), have not understood the nature of derivatives (credit default swaps have not been backed by loss reserves), the limits to ability to sustain debt in an economy (4x debt to gdp today vs ~1.8 x debt to GDP in 1929)...and probably many other examples that folks here can think of, related to our political system and economy. The most fundamental achievement of Ayn Rand was to show how knowledge is derived from observation of this world...an antidote to faith-based money, faith-based ethics, faith-based politics, faith-based knowledge. If we practice sound methods of thought, we can avoid many of the difficulties we are currently experiencing...in the absence of sound methods of thought...we have the chaos that we are currently experiencing... rp

To: benwood who wrote (103021)	5/5/2009 6:51:44 PM
From: FreedomForAll	8 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

Rand escaped soviet Russia and as a result had great praise for free markets (which is not the same as capitalism.) Atlas Shrugged was chosen on an internet poll in late 1999 as the most influential book of the 20th century. In it, Rand correctly predicted the rape of the country by bureaucrats and unproductive commercial interests supporting them. It's remarkable how many of today's events are predicted in this 1957 book. I judge Rand by her writing, not by disagreements she may have had with others or how she did interviews. She is well known because of her writing primarily. Rand tried to teach people how to think rationally, and I don't know anyone who does so all the time. Just read The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957)and decide for yourself. Both are fascinating books with great characters and good plots.