Who is John Galt?

[Mcbard]

Very much so. Rand fans are a deplorable bunch.

[Resheph]

Originally Posted by Mcbard [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Very much so. Rand fans are a deplorable bunch.

I never read Ayn Rand because the crap I've heard about her books... wasn't she the woman that basically said 'everyone is a leech and people need to think about themselves, only themselves and screw the rest of the world'?

[SupaflyIRL]

insurance is socialism

[Resheph]

Originally Posted by August [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You find the term offensive, I find it comforting. Word choice doesn't take away the fact that it is a social program designed to keep people off the streets when they fall on hard times.

I could launch into a diatribe about social security and the difference between socialized medicine and a purely privatized medical world, but it's not worth it.

You seem to be looking to want to take offense to things. I'm just noting that almost everyone can and should, like you pointed out, use government assistance when it is applicable.

Nah, I think we misunderstood each other is all. Sorry about that. I blame it on all the politics lately railing against people who actually use the system they put money into for it's intended purpose.

Originally Posted by SupaflyIRL [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

insurance is socialism

If you don't like it feel free to move to another country, have fun finding one that has no taxes and no social support system whatsoever but still lets you lead a relatively decent life.

[SupaflyIRL]

Originally Posted by Resheph [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If you don't like it feel free to move to another country, have fun finding one that has no taxes and no social support system whatsoever but still lets you lead a relatively decent life.

i stated a simple fact, not a judgement or opinion

[fadetree]

Ayn had some good points. There is a kind of slavery imposed by institutional 'altrusim', and I think she makes a valid point that very rarely gets made, for fear of being branded as someone who selfishly hates people across the board. If you teach a hungry man to fish, you free him, but if you just give him a fish every day, then you enslave him. If you do it on purpose, you're a government [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] Government handouts, when done in an indiscriminant manner, financed by extorted money, do more to foster dependence than they do anything else.

But I do think Objectivism takes it too far...not all altrusim is evil, and there's no point in having a society if you don't have some kind of safety netting. People do need help, and I still get value from helping them, even if it is second hand by the government using my money. I don't believe that idealized Mankind is all there is and that it's somehow an end in itself.

So I take some of her points as valid, but I find Objectivism as an ethical (?) system to be too extreme.

[Grahm]

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Hitchens]

Even Murray Rothbard knew Ayn Rand lead a cult full of weirdos.