Just told a young Libertarian "You live in a personal Norway"

[JanMichael]

No real reply from the mousy sorta nice kid who's parents pay for his medical insurance, college and condo- I imagine food too...He really is a nice kid but doesn't seem to grasp that in a real dog eat dog economic system he's a milkbone at best.

Oh well I suppose we all harbor irrational fantasies. Even nice kids with Ayn Rand ideas planted firmly in cheek.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. You might expect a college student to be taken with Rand.

It's only if they still take that rot seriously after they graduate that you have to start worrying about them.

[ghostsofgiants]

2. Yeah, a dude I know used to be a diehard Randite.

He's since come to his senses.

I couldn't stand her to begin with, and as my university education progressed, I hated her more and more, haha.

[harmonicon]

3. really?

I had to read that shit when I was like 15 or 16 and spotted it as complete bullshit even then. If a college student likes Rand, that's a kid for whom college will do nothing.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. I was being charitable.

Actually I never got around to reading any of that claptrap until I was (I think) a college freshman (maybe I was a bit slow). I thought it was boring and silly at the time -- as I recall, it was "Atlas Shrugged" -- but I never gave it any further thought until years later, when I started running into "Libertarians" who worshiped at the altar of Rand even though they were wayyyy too old. Meaning they were over 18.

[Danger Mouse]

5. I had to read one of her garbage books in 9th grade and I hated her ever afterwards.

I was NEVER taken with Rand, even as a college student.

[realisticphish]

6. a lot of conservatives

seem to embrace rand as the anti-liberal philosopher, when in fact she's just a moron

[harmonicon]

9. shit, is there a dalek avatar now?!

I want someone to make the old (Tom Baker era) Doctor Who logo as an avatar. Maybe I should break down and spend $5 just so I can have it, but I'd rather have cigarettes or pizza.

[realisticphish]

10. no, i made it

and i'm a donor, so neener neener :P

hey, it's only one fewer pack, or one medium instead of large, it's worth having a geek messiah as your avatar :D

[Danger Mouse]

4. Ayn Rand: philosophy for drooling morons too stupid even for Kant.

[Lyric]

8. Ah, Ayn Rand. Philosophy for those who want a "logical" prop to justify

their innate selfishness and greed.

I've thought about entering the ridiculous essay contests on the topic of her books, just for the sake of winning, so I could then turn around and say that "My essay was bullshit and so is Ayn Rand."

[Brigid]

11. Wait till that kid hits the real world.

If he ever does. I read both "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead," mostly so that no one could say I didn't give her a fair shake before dismissing "objectivism" as just so much crap. Reading those books was the biggest waste of time ever -- except that at least I know where the Randites are coming from.

[cemaphonic]

12. Anyone here read "Sewer, Gas and Electric?"

It's a pretty funny send-up of Rand's philosophy and fiction that reads like "The Illuminatus Trilogy" would, if it were written by someone half-sane (which is to say, better written, but less entertaining.)

Among other things, the book features a simulacrum of Rand housed in a lamp, that is continually forced to endure the company and assistance of a bunch of liberals, which infuriates her to no end, but hey, she's a lamp, so what can she do?