Pat Oliphant for August 21, 2012

Alan Greenspan, among others (like all the neocons) worshipped at the alter of the atheist Rand. Stupid “sociology” and stupider “economic theory”.

Where was dtroutma badmouthing atheists? Ayn Rand was an atheist, and espoused reprehensible ideas, but those ideas are not representative of atheists. Still, how anyone could be a follower of the principles of both Ayn Rand and Jesus Christ is beyond me. That’s a SERIOUS disconnect…

Skepticnut: it’s the hypocrisy I dislike, and these guys deserve some “bad-mouthing”.

Forward in the name of greed!

And remember, if she gets preggers, it’s NOT rape

Good likeness of both of them. They deserve each other. But we the people don’t deserve either of them! I like the rape comment. Whoo, a Ryan Rand baby. I wouldn’t even want to imagine it.

I have come to the conclusion that Ayn Rand is so popular with the Tea-Party Republicans for one reason, and one reason only.

..the same reason that kids are into My Little Pony right now, It’s trendy; being a Rand-Fan is the hip thing to do if you’re a right-wiinger.

I base this on the number of self-proclaimed Rand partisans I’ve dealt with who turned out to be completely incapable of having an in-depth discsussion about her life and/or her phliosophy. In every case, their rhetoric swiftly degenerated into broad platitudes and ad-hominems…like the charming fellow who refused to discuss Rand, but instead kept trying to swing the conversation around to his claim that Obama has a Maoist in his cabinet.

John Galt is the Antichrist. The real world rests on the shoulders of people like Eddie Willers.

The general college campus milieu during the years I attended was saturated with political protest and social activism. We were also supposed to have sympathy for the downtrodden. Mostly that involved kids from middle-class families wearing blue jeans and tie-dyed shirts and long hair. Displays of affluence were not cool./ I had an acquaintance in school, a business major, who constantly gushed about Ayn Rand. He didn’t want to save the world. He wanted the Good Life, to become rich and famous. He was also a horny little son of a gun and had three girls going at any one time. So he developed a personal philosophy combining Rand’s with Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Philosophy. /And that man today is … I have no idea. But I think his hybrid philosophy is what Romney and Ryan really need to put them over the top: Greed … AND LUST! It would certainly attract younger voters. But of course R&R are too staid and pious to go for it. /Maybe in 2016.

Ha! I read both when I was 13 14; didn’t take too long before I discarded Ayn Rand but I do recall being intrigued by her ideas.Still enjoyed Tolkien for much longer; I gave up on my 3rd time round reading the trilogy a few years back, too childish. Never did try Atlas Shrugged & Fountainhead again to see what my adult mind thought of them.

Your comment reveals the shallowness of your mind. dtroutma isn’t knocking atheists at all, he’s pointing out that she WAS an atheist and the contradiction this implies for these so called “champions” of Christianity on the looney bin right. I suspect that there is probably a lot more common ground between the right and left than is commonly perceived, but it’s hard to detect because so many on the both sides read on this kind of shallow level.

Thanks Michael. Nice presentation. I tend to suspect that the intricacies of large scale economics are just too difficult to manage and that many of our problems come from individuals or groups that think they have the last word on rational management of society. My guess is that it works out better if we “wing it”, just make adjustments to the status quo based on a common sense and compassion. Our only hope is that we can get past these idealogues (on both sides of the aisle) before one side or the other destroys the planet.

I wouldn’t expect to get an answer on that one eryx. Next thing you’ll hear from him is his accusation that you are a mean spirited “name caller” for asking that question. Gotta love ’em!

I love the Paul Krugman quote. Maureen Dowd recently noted that Ayn Rand is the favorite “philosopher” for those suffering from arrested development. I’ve personally always considered Ayn Rand to be the favorite philosopher for people who aren’t bright enough to understand real philosophers.

Ayn Rand, and her “following” felt/feel that Santa should bring all the gifts to them, then they shoot him. They’ve “earned” all the wealth, just because.

Yeppers.

I am telling you.