tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post5006806694372651716..comments2023-10-29T05:11:37.677-07:00Comments on Porcupine blog: Ayn Rand ExposedLarry Gambonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965037776214596919noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-36200053328212030562011-04-02T21:45:16.787-07:002011-04-02T21:45:16.787-07:00Crazy lady sure has cast a long shadow over our cr...Crazy lady sure has cast a long shadow over our crazy lady loving province.Mr. Beer N. Hockeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07184518909716677938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-16077361876955709062011-03-28T22:29:26.624-07:002011-03-28T22:29:26.624-07:00Ultimate Philistine, Marx, Bakunin and Proudhon ha...Ultimate Philistine, Marx, Bakunin and Proudhon have been vilified by both the right and liberals for their occasional off-handed racist and anti-Semitic comments. But their prejudices were not integral to their theory and practice. For Rand on the other hand, her contempt for ordinary people and her loathing of democracy were integral parts of her ideology. Furthermore, her way of defeating the concepts or groups she hated was to use the logical fallacy of the straw man. Look only at the quote about the New Left. Her rendition of it is completely unrecognizable to anyone who, like myself, was actually part of that movement. She does the same with “collectivism” and “altruism”. In other words, Rand was an accomplished liar. Where she does say something of interest, it was said long before and many times better by Stirner and Nietzsche. She is a great philosopher and writer for people who don't know philosophy or writing.<br /><br />She was also, as a commentator pointed out, a virulent racist. Here is what she thought about the First Nations:<br /><br />“They didn't have any rights to the land, and there was no reason for anyone to grant them rights which they had not conceived and were not using . . . . What was it that they were fighting for, when they opposed white men on this continent? For their wish to continue a primitive existence, their 'right' to keep part of the earth untouched, unused and not even as property, but just keep everybody out so that you will live practically like an animal, or a few caves above it. Any white person who brings the element of civilization has the right to take over this continent.”Larry Gambonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04965037776214596919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-61873004004347291342011-03-28T21:51:14.023-07:002011-03-28T21:51:14.023-07:00God damn it I wish blogger would let me post carto...God damn it I wish blogger would let me post cartoons in comments. My mind has been working overtime on what would go with the title. Also the "numbering of days" is a great temptation as well.mollymewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10608757779720671118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-48364827936084509422011-03-27T23:44:38.809-07:002011-03-27T23:44:38.809-07:00It's pretty easy - and pathetic - to be this s...It's pretty easy - and pathetic - to be this selective and this out-of-context in one's treatment of a truly first-rate mind. You Rand-haters' days are numbered, because you simply cannot get away with this gross one-sided distortion and not be called on it at every turn - not for long. Whether it's due to ignorance, intellectual laziness, or flat-out malice, it's pathetic bigotry.Ultimate Philosopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04097520862033889365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-44184672549000917092011-03-25T22:19:26.602-07:002011-03-25T22:19:26.602-07:00The man at the top of the intellectual pyramid con...<i><br />The man at the top of the intellectual pyramid contributes the most to all those below him, but gets nothing except his material payment, receiving no intellectual bonus from others to add to the value of his time. The man at the bottom who, left to himself, would starve in his hopeless ineptitude, contributes nothing to those above him, but receives the bonus of all of their brains. Such is the nature of the “competition” between the strong and the weak of the intellect. Such is the pattern of “exploitation” for which you have damned the strong</i><br /><br />How does one get to the top? They do with good schools with scholarships, healthcare that is affordable etc.Frank Partisanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03536211653082893030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-61307007900805180882011-03-25T14:48:22.702-07:002011-03-25T14:48:22.702-07:00Rand was such a joke that I don't see how *any...Rand was such a joke that I don't see how *anyone* on any part of the political/social spectrum can take her seriously.Julia Riber Pitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03006439247714055292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-25329782254722685752011-03-24T18:40:35.437-07:002011-03-24T18:40:35.437-07:00"works purporting to be art were created that..."works purporting to be art were created that were not, in fact, art at all--bearing little or no resemblance to the painting, sculpture, literature, music, or dance that had come before."<br /><br />Isn't that what Howard Roark did? I thought the whole point of her aesthetic philosophy was to stop recreating the past and start fresh. Nice summary. Rand has alot to recommend her, but it's important to pick and choose and dangerous to accept arguments based solely on her authority, as some objectivists seem to.Jadhttp://jad-davis.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-7494213347577760602011-03-24T17:56:00.694-07:002011-03-24T17:56:00.694-07:00Thanks for this, Larry!Thanks for this, Larry!Mike Gogulskihttp://www.nostate.com/noreply@blogger.com