Steve Leser on Ayn Rand and the Objectivist Hoax

[stevenleser]

Run time: 09:36 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjQeeRn6kW0   Posted on YouTube: April 21, 2011 By YouTube Member: sleser001 Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: April 21, 2011 By DU Member: stevenleser Views on DU: 1370

 
Little known information about the origin of the characters in some of Ayn Rand's most famous books and other odd information about Rand in the wake of the release of the movie based on the book Atlas Shrugged. Commentary by Steve Leser of Democrats for Progress.

Your opinions welcome!

[stevenleser]

1. If you like this video, please comment on youtube, the Randians I am sure will be

posting their hate in short order.

[Old and In the Way]

2. Excellent presentation!

Liked that you worked in the hypocrisy angle along with the Hickman expose....something few Rand admirers know about her.

Really, is this not a philosophy of anti-socialism? Growing up, the term "anti-social behavior" was ascribed to criminals and deviants. The whole Atlas Shrugged concept is a joke. Sure, a few people can become immensely wealthy in our society and become Masters of the Universe....but that's not a social blueprint for a functioning society. Even fewer gain this wealth entirely on their own, without good fortune/luck, or a sizable trust fund to start. They may have the great ideas...but they don't build them. It's the coordinated works of many that make the monuments, the products, the infrastructure happen.

Randianism is pure fantasy. A fairy tale for emotionally stunted people. Fact is, were all governments to disappear from this Earth tomorrow, the anti-socialist/objectivist/rugged individualist/libertarians will be in the greatest mortal danger. They won't be able to adapt and survive without learning to value the concepts of sharing, interdependence, and community. Put another way, can a country or society even exist if every person is a committed anti-socialists?

[Jack Rabbit]

13. You hit the nail on the head

Randianism is pure fantasy. A fairy tale for emotionally stunted people. Fact is, were all governments to disappear from this Earth tomorrow, the anti-socialist/objectivist/rugged individualist/libertarians will be in the greatest mortal danger. They won't be able to adapt and survive without learning to value the concepts of sharing, interdependence, and community. Put another way, can a country or society even exist if every person is a committed anti-socialists?

I don't really want to call it anti-socialism, because objectivism goes beyond the opposition to socialism to an opposition of society, that is to say the very idea or concept of society. As said another famous Ayn Rand-influenced thinker, Margaret Thatcher, "There is no such thing as society."

This denial of society is ridiculous. The human race survived in a state of nature (where, it should be emphasized, there is no such thing as either private property or capitalism), not just because man was an aggressive, acquisitive individual creative enough to pick up a rock and throw it at a hungry predator, but because that same creative individual reached out to other members of his species and formed permanent bonds that are not simply sexual. Society is a very real thing and it is found in the nature of human beings.

This is not to say that capitalism is abhorrent in its conception. If you want to argue that, you'll have to look beyond anthropological evidence. Rather, it is to say that Ayn Rand's concept of humanity as individuals who owe nothing to each other and that the successful are the strong individuals who manifest themselves as modern industrial tyrants is abhorrent and fundamentally false.

[sabrina 1]

3. I hope this gets a lot of attention. I find it outrageous that

people like Greenspan eg, ran this country's finances into the ground based on Rand's ideas. What was it about her that anyone could have taken seriously?

I have not read her books, but I've read a great deal about HER, and I see nothing at all about her that explains the power she achieved in this country. Even before learning about her fascination for the serial killer, I thought she sounded like a very disturbed individual, probably due to the trauma of her childhood. And to think she was allowed to inject her insane ideas into the economic policies of this country. And why is Greenspan never questioned about his association with her?

I think the Republican fascination with her has a lot to do with needing some verification that they are right in their opinion that selfishness and greed are the 'right' way to be.

Great presentation. I will check it out on Utube. I'm sure the freepers will find it sooner or later.

[unblock]

4. what makes her ideas so appealing is simple: it's a cover for greed

when you're espousing a philosophy that calls for hard work and sacrifice that demands you suffer with little reward, you need a pretty compelling story.

but when you're esponsing a philosophy that permits adherents to be greedy and selfish and accumulate vast wealth AND feel like they're doing the socially responsible thing at the same time, you don't need much to make it sound extremely appealing.

it's a philosophy people WANT to believe in.

[sabrina 1]

10. Yes, she gave the greedy and compassionless

permission to go ahead and do what they wanted to. Sad that she was not just rejected totally. It shows how many wanted to believe, which in itself says a lot about this country.

[unblock]

11. i think she was a rather minor cult figure until reagan made greed fashionable.

[Prof Lester]

5. Whine Rant is an intelligence test

And a handy one too. Anyone who goes for Whine Rant's sadistic hooey is clearly too stupid to be listened to. For example, this character Ron Paul.. Which brings up another point: how come these Rantians all go into government?? By their own logic (see how generous I can afford to be? Calling their gibberish 'logic'. ;-) ) government is parasitical. Yet all of these skunks want to get on the life time plan, sucking the big ol' fat tit of government for years and years, then drawing a big pension for the rest of their lives. Instead of doing something 'productive, innovative, creative' blah blah blah like their goddess Whine Rant would demand of them. What a joke! See what I mean? They're too stupid to see the contradiction. And/or too dishonest. No wonder goons who dig Whine Rant also go for Nietzsche, Marquis de Sade, Hitler, Machiavelli, Plato, etc., etc. A lot of discussion goes into the "Authoritarian" mindset.. but I think a great deal of it is just plain old stupidity.

[TheUnspeakable]

6. k&r

[forty6]

7. K+R more DU people need to comment on the Youtube site.

[Duppers]

8. indeed!

[felix_numinous]

9. K&R Thank you for posting--I wish we could post this on RW sites

since they are the ones badly in need of understanding!

That the RW is deluded enough to base their philosophy on a sick fantasy novel, and cult leader should be enough to end their careers. Tragically, few Republican teabaggers will be able to understand the novel, or even read it to fully understand it. They will be fed a handful of quotes taken out of context and believe they understand Rand.

It will be up to us to spread the truth far and wide, and hope to awaken more and more people.

Peace.

[stevenleser]

12. I'm getting ready to tweet it to the major conservative #words. Hope you all back me up!

The nasty comments on youtube are about to begin! But I think it is worth it to be in their faces regarding Rand's issues.