Thom Hartmann: Paul Ryan's end point is an Ayn Rand Utopia & he knows it

[thomhartmann]

Gary Weiss, author, Ayn Rand Nation: The Hidden Struggle for America's Soul," joins Thom Hartmann. Paul Ryan may have introduced a budget that destroys the middle-class - but his ideas aren't new. So where did he get all his crazy ideas about giving tax cuts to billionaires - eliminating Medicare - and robbing schoolkids of an education? Here's what Congressman Paul Ryan said about Ayn Rand.

The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT TV & FSTV "live" 9pm and 11pm check www.thomhartmann.com/tv for local listings

[Ken Burch]

1. But...does Ryan know

That Ayn Rand's books were all...uh...fiction?

[chervilant]

2. Oh, puh-leeze!

Ayn Rand gave greedy people 'fashionable' justifications for accumulating wealth, and rejecting 'concern' for others--which requires self-sacrifice and compromise.

That so many people--and, now, so many politicians-- embrace her bizarre 'philosophy' is of far greater concern. Are more of us tending towards the sociopathy manifest in Ayn Rand's world view?

[Douglas Carpenter]

3. knr

[advancedatheist]

4. What really bothers Thom & other progressives about Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand, despite her nuttiness and confusions, did come up with one powerful & practical idea: That society's highest-earning people don't have to put up with this "giving back" nonsense in the modern world, when they can view governments like competing hotels, and shop around for the ones which offer to treat them better than the ones run by progressive confiscators. This shows a practical way to enact the fictional strike of "the men of the mind" in Rand's novel.

For example, Peyton Manning decided to avoid funding progressivism in California when he chose to play the for Denver Broncos instead of the California 49ers. The decision saved him a fortune in taxes:

http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/03/manning-saved-millions-in-taxes-by-opting-for-denver-over-sf.html

Similarly, Tiger Woods, who grew up in California, saved another fortune by moving to Florida, which doesn't have a state income tax.

And many of China's new millionaires reportedly plan to get citizenship in other countries and move their fortunes out of China, before the Chinese government sends men with assaults rifles to pay them a visit with demands that they "give back."

In other words, Rand glimpsed at a key weakness in progressives' ability to bully and exploit the people they depend on to fund their utopian schemes: The victims can simply move beyond their reach, and take their money with them.

[seabeyond]

5. you leave out the part the taxes are had one way or another.

higher sales tax, higher property tax

that calif doesnt have

which hurt the poor/middle class people more than the rich....

[denverbill]

6. Then why did Manning opt for Denver instead of Florida, which has no income tax?

God you libertarians are stupid fucks.