Whats your view on Ayn Rand?

nonservator · 2013-05-20T00:46:07+00:00

Rand talked the talk like nobody's business, but failing to walk the walk is what led to most of her personal unhappiness. Especially in terms of her affair with Nathaniel Branden, her vaunted honesty (with herself as well as others) went up in a puff of hamster-driven smoke, followed by implosion when Branden tried to graciously tell her she was now too old for him.

Politikon · 2013-05-20T04:11:20+00:00

A book for 18 year olds to feel smart about

Whisper · 2013-05-20T04:08:42+00:00

I hate her because of her odious personality, hypocrisy, unfair debating tactics, and horrible writing.

Just because I agree with her on many abstract points doesn't make her any less of a horrible obnoxious bitch.

banalredditing · 2013-05-20T01:38:56+00:00

Probably one of the worst pieces of writing to come out of the last millenium.

Between her complete disregard for the equality part of economics, hatred for altruism (selfishness as the highest morality, not self interest) simple and poorly thought out philosophy, and complete lack of empathy, I don't know whether to hate her work on a moral level, or dismiss it as simpleton garbage.

The mormon religion of intellectuals, inconsistent, simplistic, and even she couldn't live up to it, so ultimately an unobtanable pipe dream

mrdizzy · 2013-05-20T04:40:26+00:00

She's a hamster. Bitching about the welfare state while taking advantage of its benifits. If I'm not mistaken, I think she had a deathbed conversion where she gave meaningful praise to Social Security and Medicare. Rightly so, as she took advantage of both.

It's nice to fantasize about her ideas actually working when you're in high school, but eventually you have to grow up and realize that shit doesn't really work that way and humans live in societies. We might as well learn to live with it.

ubercoolhipsterguy · 2013-05-20T00:53:44+00:00

Rand just copied and popularized Nietzsche, badly. Read him instead.

“It is the business of the very few to be independent; it is a privilege of the strong. And whoever attempts it, even with the best right, but without being OBLIGED to do so, proves that he is probably not only strong, but also daring beyond measure. He enters into a labyrinth, he multiplies a thousandfold the dangers which life in itself already brings with it; not the least of which is that no one can see how and where he loses his way, becomes isolated, and is torn piecemeal by some minotaur of conscience. Supposing such a one comes to grief, it is so far from the comprehension of men that they neither feel it, nor sympathize with it. And he cannot any longer go back! He cannot even go back again to the sympathy of men!”

~Beyond Good and Evil
Chapter 2 (The Free Spirit)

I would start with Beyond Good and Evil¹ , then The Gay Science, then Daybreak, then Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Twilight of the idols is his early work and a good prelude, while his other works are supplementary.

1: To fully understand all of the references in this book, you might need to read Schopenhauer's pessimistic work available here and here but you can probably just skip what you don't understand.

EDIT: Also, I second the comment that suggested "How I found freedom in an unfree world." Possibly the best life-advice book I've ever read.

2013-05-20T07:20:27+00:00

I agree with most of her polical conclusions (except she is too pro war) but her reasoning is really bad. There are much better justifications for libertarian politics and ethical egoism (they are different but linked).

Clauderoughly · 2013-05-20T01:08:44+00:00

Play Bioshock, and it'll give you an interesting view to Rand taken to it's logical conclusion.

Rand is mostly bullshit, and most people grow out of being Rand worshipers when they experience the real world.

others run for congress.

rebuildingMyself · 2013-05-20T06:04:32+00:00

I enjoyed her books, but kept it within the realm of fantasy.

orographic · 2013-05-20T19:34:14+00:00

This thread went as well a every other Ayn Rand thread. I have to admit, I am somewhat disappointed. I expected better from TRP.

favours_of_the_moon · 2013-05-20T02:14:24+00:00

My problem is that 1: she doesn't know wtf she's talking about and 2: her IQ is about 80.

Read Max Stirner. He's WAAAAY better. THE EGO AND IT'S OWN.

http://www.amazon.com/Stirner-Cambridge-History-Political-Thought/dp/0521450160/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369016099&sr=1-3&keywords=ego+and+its+own

SupALupRT · 2013-05-20T19:59:49+00:00

Im neutral on her. I think a lot of our countries mediocrity can be traced back to the fact that we don't really punish mediocre people, but reward them. At some point you get too many barnacles on the boat and sink. That being said, people who have lost their job through no fault of their own, crippling sickness not induced from substance abuse or cigarettes should get the help they need.

Those who have no desire to work, serious recurrent drug problems, or just flat out make awful decision after awful decision should be allowed to die. She referred to them as "rotters" I believe, and its a fitting term as they rot away our country.

As long as you tolerate and support mediocrity, that is what you will get.

I do like however how it illustrates how corrupt Washington is, and how crippling big government is. The government absolutely sucks at managing things. I still remember when Obama derped talking about the USPS -- "I mean, if you think about -- if you think about it, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? No, they are. It's the Post Office that's always having problems."

2013-05-21T11:31:45+00:00

I think she identified some really lousy stuff going on, but her own philosophy was rather superifical and two-dimensional. Too much logic, not enough reality check. I believe in experience much more than logic, I don't expect the world to be logical, more of an empiricist than a rationalist, and her strong focus on logic looks delusional to me.

Even A is A is false IMHO in the sense that A, the thing itself, may not be the same as whatever we can perceive, think or say about the thing.

soapjackal · 2013-05-20T09:52:09+00:00

Rand as an author: Shit.

Utter shit.

Boring story, one sided characters, long speeches that replace character development.

We the living is great (but it is more of a dramatized account of her time during the nasty shit in Russia) and I was not entirely displeased with anthem

As a philosopher: Not very original.

And even though I agree with certain points of objectivism ( labels are too constricting but basically I am a market anarchist / voluntaryist / Taoist / stoic/ skeptic) it is very weak as a political or moral philosophy.

Aristotle, nietzsche, Bastiat, to same a few are much better than her

As a person: A hypocrite and crazy woman.

She recognized TRP ideas, but her inability to follow them led her down a lonely path.

However:

Her interviews are great, she keeps her crazy in check, and she breaks down quite a few public conceptions quite well.

Also she was rather successful, she started as a penniless screenwriter and became one of the most highly read authors in the world. I may not like her that much, like Justin bieber, but I respect her effort and relative success.

2013-05-20T19:07:25+00:00

Ayn Rand was a nut case. Anyone who supports what she promoted is absolutely ill informed. It's like how being a "libertarian" is cool for the young kids to be.

Ayn Rand is political garbage.

Title	Whats your view on Ayn Rand?
Author	Ragnar09
Upvotes	3
Comments	48
Date	May 20, 2013 12:33 AM UTC (13 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/TheRedPill
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/1enwjk/whats_your_view_on_ayn_rand/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/TheRedPill/whats-your-view-on-ayn-rand.4468 https://theredarchive.com/post/4468

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