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 : Evolution -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: 2MAR$ who wrote (23377)	3/23/2012 7:12:45 AM
From: Brumar89	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 69300

Wow. It's amazing what you get when you combine semi-literacy with an arrogant attitude: What we have is a failure to communicate & a ritualized entrenched war between mindets still today that reaches all over the world between fundies & those with freer will usually defined by those with broader education & those that don't . This level of writing would identify the writer as one of "those that don't," though one suspects he may think "broader education" means liberation from basic grammer and logic. This of course goes all the way back but there wouldn't be any debated of course if God &/or Jesus would just show themselves ? But none the less the single most powerful corporation in the world with almost epic sustained social influence upon the changing attitudinal paradyne shift .. Trying to spell paradigm just chased the rest of the idea he started to express away.

To: 2MAR$ who wrote (23377)	3/23/2012 9:45:25 AM
From: Solon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 69300

"...between fundies & those with freer will usually defined by those with broader education & those that don't ." You are quite right. Much of it derives from an anti-intellectualism rooted in biblical nonsense. It is a form of "WISHCRAFT"! ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM Americans are suspicious of and resent intellectuals, even while benefiting from their output. This negativity goes back to the Puritans. They had a piety that deemed us all "worthless sinners" and rejected anyone being puffed up with their own merit (Romans 12:3, Ephesians 2:8-9). The notion that we are justified by faith alone creates a spiritual egalitarianism that undervalues any personal distinction like braininess, which in terms of salvation is irrelevant (I Cor. 1:20, II Cor. 11:3). Intellectuals have been disparaged as "eggheads," "nerds" and "pointy-headed." The real hate comes from the fact that intellectuals often reject and, even worse, contradict people's precious traditional attitudes and theological views. It's no wonder that in America, many people traditionally "don't cotton to none of that fancy book-learnin'." A large percentage of the population in early America was illiterate, and if not for the desire to read the Bible, they would have been happy to remain that way. Americans are not at all embarrassed to flatly deny scientific fact when it contradicts their personal preferences. This is especially so when it comes to a conflict between science and religion. In such case, the science must be wrong, so that religion - which need not prove anything - can remain "true." It's a form of "wishcraft." atheistsforhumanrights.org

To: 2MAR$ who wrote (23377)	3/24/2012 2:45:32 PM
From: average joe	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 69300

Lululemon Athletica Combines Ayn Rand and Yoga By IAN AUSTEN OTTAWA — Lululemon Athletica, the retailer of yoga pants and hoodies, has long decorated shopping bags with slogans that appear to have been lifted from self-help books. But this month its bags have asked a question that some may find more provocative: “Who is John Galt?” The question is the opening line of “ Atlas Shrugged,” the novel by Ayn Rand that was published in 1957. Followers of Rand’s free market philosophy, which promotes the idea of individuals living for their self-interest and dismisses altruism, sometimes use the question to signal their allegiance. Galt would not likely have proclaimed, as Lululemon’s bags once did, that “what we do to the earth, we do to ourselves.” Nor does the online reaction to the campaign suggest that many Lululemon shoppers are fans of Rand’s philosophy, known as Objectivism. “I was so shocked by being handed this bag today at your Portland, Ore., store that I literally WALKED BACK to return this horrific bag,” one customer wrote on Lululemon’s blog. “In this political and economic climate, I find it baffling that your company would choose such an inflammatory and offensive statement.” The blog also contains posts from people, many of whom indicate they are Lululemon shoppers, praising the company for promoting Rand’s ideas. The company, which is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has declined all media requests for comment about the campaign. But in its blog, the company said that Dennis J. Wilson, the company’s founder and chairman, first read “Atlas Shrugged” when he was 18 years old. “Only later, looking back, did he realize the impact the book’s ideology had on his quest to elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness (it is not coincidental that this is Lululemon’s company vision),” the blog post stated, adding: “Our bags are visual reminders for ourselves to live a life we love and conquer the epidemic of mediocrity. We all have a John Galt inside of us, cheering us on. How are we going to live lives we love?” Mr. Wilson, who goes by the name Chip, has plenty of company in the world of business and finance. Many chief executives have cited the book’s influence on their lives, though, unlike Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, they tend to keep their enthusiasm largely to themselves. Niraj Dawar, a professor of marketing at Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, speculated that Mr. Wilson might view the bags as an act of “corporate social responsibility.” But Professor Dawar, who also wrote about the issue on his blog, wondered if the shareholders of Lululemon agreed with Mr. Wilson’s fondness for “Atlas Shrugged” and asked if Mr. Wilson could demonstrate that the campaign would improve the company’s financial performance. “Chip Wilson’s philosophy may not be shared by customers, and there’s little room for these customers to engage in debate, so some of them will express their opinions by walking away,” Professor Dawar said. Cristina Chalmers said that she did not believe there were many Rand enthusiasts among the readers of Lulumum, a blog devoted to Lululemon fashions, which she produces at her home in Coquitlam, British Columbia. Her post about the campaign provoked an unusually large number of comments, most of which eventually vanished because of a software problem, she said. Mrs. Chalmers said she had not read “Atlas Shrugged,” but was disappointed by the company using customers to spread its ideological message through their shopping bags. She said that continuing to distribute those bags at the same time that Occupy protests were spreading worldwide was a poor idea. But Mrs. Chalmers does not think John Galt will cause a significant number of people to go looking elsewhere for hoodies. “No, it’s a poor man’s luxury brand,” she said. nytimes.com