'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years • Hacker News Board

Re: 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

#31

Post by ellyagg » Sat, Jan 10, 2009, 4:51 AM UTC

olefoo wrote: post #5

jules wrote: post #3

> readers rated "Atlas" as the second-most influential book in their lives, behind only the Bible.

And for many of the same reasons, it gives a sense of surety in an uncertain world, it provides a sense of tribal belonging and ready-made membership in a like-minded community. That said, I find it somewhat creepy to base one's life around a work of fiction.

God, that's kind of despicable. I'm no Objectivist, but there's a big freaking difference between a work of superstition and one of reason and logic. Whether you agree with Rand's premises, you must have had no exposure to her writing if you don't recognize her brilliance. She's not all right, but she's not wrong about everything either: The government confiscates citizens' money at the point of a gun.

Re: 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

#32

Post by ellyagg » Sat, Jan 10, 2009, 4:56 AM UTC

GavinB wrote: post #6

Absolutism: Simple. Satisfying. Wrong.

Well, you have to realize that up until Ayn Rand, the only popular absolutism was Marxism. People were pretty excited to have an absolutism that promoted striving for excellence rather than striving for grey sameness.

Re: 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

#33

Post by jorgeortiz85 » Sat, Jan 10, 2009, 5:00 AM UTC

bstadil wrote: post #27

jeeringmole wrote: post #2

Ah, yes.... The collectivists controlled the Presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives and used their power to regulate the credit derivatives market out of existence. How much better things would have been if the Chairman of the Federal Reserve had heard of Objectivism! Even the off-hand pop culture references are crapulous: "A Confederacy of Dunces" surely counts as a "classic novel of recent decades…

"Chairman of the Federal Reserve had heard of Objectivism!" FYI Greenspan was a friend of Ayn Rand and was part of her inner circles. http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/greenspan-time.html

Yes, I think that was intended to be part of the irony.

Re: 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

#34

Post by jhancock » Sat, Jan 10, 2009, 5:01 AM UTC

sometimes I won't click on a link simply because to do so may encourage writing more content of its nature. this is one of those times ;)

Re: 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

#35

Post by Eliezer » Sat, Jan 10, 2009, 5:01 AM UTC

bstadil wrote: post #27

jeeringmole wrote: post #2

Ah, yes.... The collectivists controlled the Presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives and used their power to regulate the credit derivatives market out of existence. How much better things would have been if the Chairman of the Federal Reserve had heard of Objectivism! Even the off-hand pop culture references are crapulous: "A Confederacy of Dunces" surely counts as a "classic novel of recent decades…

"Chairman of the Federal Reserve had heard of Objectivism!" FYI Greenspan was a friend of Ayn Rand and was part of her inner circles. http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/greenspan-time.html

He knows that; that's the joke.

Re: 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

#36

Post by unalone » Sat, Jan 10, 2009, 5:01 AM UTC

walterk wrote: post #24

joe_bleau wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree that she respected manual labor: after all, the heroic Howard Roark character worked in a granite quarry for a time in "The Fountainhead".

Don't forget the philosopher who made burgers.

Or the physicist who worked as a low-level railroad operator.

I hate that most of the detractors of Atlas Shrugged misread the message. There are things to criticize, but the ones that do get criticized (Ayn Rand is a Nazi, she ignores the common laborer, she dares include a pirate as a character) are the ones that don't really matter regarding the main theme/are entirely wrong.

Re: 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

#37

Post by maxharris » Sat, Jan 10, 2009, 5:02 AM UTC

bstadil wrote: post #27

jeeringmole wrote: post #2

Ah, yes.... The collectivists controlled the Presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives and used their power to regulate the credit derivatives market out of existence. How much better things would have been if the Chairman of the Federal Reserve had heard of Objectivism! Even the off-hand pop culture references are crapulous: "A Confederacy of Dunces" surely counts as a "classic novel of recent decades…

"Chairman of the Federal Reserve had heard of Objectivism!" FYI Greenspan was a friend of Ayn Rand and was part of her inner circles. http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/greenspan-time.html

Greenspan turned his back on Objectivism during the 70s.

Re: 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

#38

Post by Eliezer » Sat, Jan 10, 2009, 5:03 AM UTC

nomoresecrets wrote: post #12

http://www.angryflower.com/atlass.gif

Comic author noted afterward that he hadn't actually read the book, wasn't aware that Rearden had (in the ficton) invented the metal himself, etc.

Re: 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

#39

Post by unalone » Sat, Jan 10, 2009, 5:04 AM UTC

dgordon wrote: post #8

jeeringmole wrote: post #2

Ah, yes.... The collectivists controlled the Presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives and used their power to regulate the credit derivatives market out of existence. How much better things would have been if the Chairman of the Federal Reserve had heard of Objectivism! Even the off-hand pop culture references are crapulous: "A Confederacy of Dunces" surely counts as a "classic novel of recent decades…

You're right about A Confederacy of Dunces, but it seems to me that Ayn Rand wasn't exactly going for funny. But I am, so -- uh-oh, I said "it seems to me." Better dodge that falling giant copy of Atlas Shrugged that's aimed for my head.

Ayn Rand thought she had something important to say about society. And I've seen interviews with her on the media, where she's seemingly invited in just to be mocked and called greedy. So frankly, I think she had - and still has - a point.

I think the writer's being over-the-top, but I also think that the bailout is going vastly over-the-top and I think that Obama's plan to continue it isn't helping things at all.

Re: 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

#40

Post by bstadil » Sat, Jan 10, 2009, 5:05 AM UTC

Eliezer wrote: post #35

bstadil wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Chairman of the Federal Reserve had heard of Objectivism!" FYI Greenspan was a friend of Ayn Rand and was part of her inner circles. http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/greenspan-time.html

He knows that; that's the joke.

I kind of suspected that but not sure plus most of the HN readers unlikely to know this somewhat obscure piece of information. Hence the comment.