1 Hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving Day!

2

i too am re-reading AS and am doing an 18hr shift Thanksgiving Eve (8a-midnight)

and the asskicker....?

I get to come back to work 8am Thanksgiving Day for 8 hrs

Then home for the holiday feast: frozen pizza, bag o' Fritos and diet coke

it occurs to me there are people who have NO job to go to, and cant even afford a frozen pizza...

that I have these things, is what I am thankful for.

3 I'm at the 'rents and my brother and sister in law are coming over along with two of their friends.  My mom and I did the major cooking today so tomorrow is just throwing stuff in to heat up and doing the turkey.  It's going to be grand.

Until the fighting starts.  I give it 20 minutes. 

4 Dude, Atlas Shrugged is really long. And nothing happens. And Galt's big speech ruins the flow of the book. There has to be a better conservative novel. 

5 Enjoy what you have, and be thankful you have it.

For me, in-laws first (which will include the "you are a loser" sneers from them), then my folks for evening shift.

Like Barry, I am grateful that I have a job to go to come Monday, and that my former employer made me a conditional offer to return, sometime in the next 18 months. Bummer is that this time, it's at the DC HQ, and my wife is not wild about relocating. But if an opening would appear for back home, I can apply for it and get first look.

6

Posted by: Daniel Ruwe at November 26, 2008 11:54

I couldn't put to down.  It took me about a month to read the first 200 pages because I was in school when I started it, but I read the other 1000 in like two weeks. 

I did skim past most of that giant speech, though.

7

I'm looking at getting "The Watchmen" (yes my library has the complete version, and yours likely does too) to re-introduce myself to it, also, I'm looking at getting "Masquerade" by satterthwait, I'm also interested in grabbing something random from Elizabeth moon, and seeing if my library or one of the other ones, has picked up a copy of 1635.

It's been a long time, and haven't found my copy of "Warbirds" which is one of my favorite books, but I might pursue that as well, but, of course, this being a holiday, that won't likely happen till monday.

8 I'll be sitting on my ass and drinking, surprisingly enough.  Oh, and giving thanks for things.  Then, turkey with mom and dad and my brother.  Good times.

9 Yes, the giant speech is a conservative/libertarian buzzkill in Atlas Shrugged, but I just fast-forwarded a bit through it when I listened to it on tape on a cross-country drive!

For a shortened version of her ideas from AS in novella form, go with Anthem.  If you want to be inspired to do almost anything as an individual, read The Fountainhead.  Again, I cheated and used books-on-tape for both, but no fast-forwarding this time.

Happy Turkey Day!  Can't wait to see my Lions get clobbered by the Titans tomorrow morning (I'm a Michigan transplant in Berserkley, CA).

10 Huh.  Am I really the only conservative who hates Ayn Rand and thinks that Objectivism is a morally bankrupt philosophy?

And on that note...wait...On a completely different note, Happy Thanksgiving!

11

Posted by: Mrs. Peel at November 27, 2008 09:39 AM

I don't agree with it all (for example, whenever she talks about religion) and I don't think it's a workable philosophy in the whole.  Example: how does one live only for oneself when one has children?  Not doable.  But I think when it comes to presenting the idea that business and capitalism are good, that excellence is something to strive for (rather than being ashamed of), and groupthink is a disaster, she and Atlas have few equals.

12 Am I really the only conservative who hates Ayn Rand and thinks that Objectivism is a morally bankrupt philosophy?

No, you're not. These days I just grind my teeth and keep it to myself when people bring up their Randian fetish. If you say something, they get pissy.

13

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at November 27, 2008 11:21 AM

That's it, you're BANNED. 

14 "Huh.  Am I really the only conservative who hates Ayn Rand and thinks that Objectivism is a morally bankrupt philosophy?"

No.

And Happy Thanksgiving.

15

Pure objectivism is morally lacking.  Incorporating it rather than embracing it, i.e. not feeling obliged to give every extra penny you have to those who can't/won't provide for themselves but instead recognizing that it's good to give a helping hand, as long as we're able to *choose* the hand we're helping, is not morally bankrupt.  The problem is, if Rand had advocated moderation, her work wouldn't have been inspiring or notable. 

Embracing any single philosophy wholesale is a mistake, in my not-so-humble opinion.

16 I agree with all the Rand dissenters.  She was an atheist, hated religion for the most part, and maybe took individualism to a level that can feel like groupthink in some of her writings.  That being said, there are some striking parallels in the premise behind Atlas Shrugged and what Obama would like to do if he didn't have a bad economy to deal with (or hopefully not in spite of it).  And Fountainhead inspired me as an individual, but I always squirmed a little when it came to the totally messed up relationships in that book (same with Atlas Shrugged).

Off to eat turkey!

17 I'll second Joel D's recommendation of Anthem. It's a very quick read, and fascnating.

But I don't remember it being a more succinct statement of the principles in Atlas Shrugged. It reminded me more of Brave New World. Both books were scary as hell.

Also, glad to see I'm not the only one to skip over John Galt's speech. I wonder if anyone other than Rand herself has ever read it all the way through!

18 If you want a bunch of preachy monologues, you should just google wickedpinto, or even better, christoph.

19

  Wicked, I know I make fun of your stream of consciousness writing style at times, but I would NEVER mention "wickedpinto" and "christoph" in the same sentence.  That's comparing a big clumsy puppy who can't help it when he makes a mess to a Canadian douchebag who likes to pontificate on EVERY issue. 

  I'll bet christoph probably thinks that only fags use longbows, and the English at Agincourt used M1 Garands and "fire and maneuver" tactics to overpower the French.

20 Ayn Rand is like marijuana.  It's a starter drug for classic liberal conservatism.

21 "Anthem" is available as a free audio book.

http://librivox.org/anthem-by-ayn-rand/

22 Atlas Shrugged has the most awesome collection of enemies of capitalism EVAH. I'm serial.

23 "Ayn Rand is like marijuana.  It's a starter drug for classic liberal conservatism."

This is brilliant.