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HAHAHA Check this out! (Atlas Shrugged is the worst book ever!)

Posted by $ Markus_Katabri 1 year, 10 months ago to Humor
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Except from Mr. Turnbull’s rant:
These acolytes called themselves “Objectivists,” because they believed in a race of super-humans, of which Rand was the most perfect, who supposedly had the ability to objectively perceive the universe around them. Naturally, the Objectivists believe that they themselves are among these super-humans.

Surrounded by devotees who worshipped at her feet, Ayn Rand became convinced that anyone who disagreed with her about literally anything—for example, someone who didn’t share her preference for Rachmaninoff over Mozart or vanilla ice cream over chocolate ice cream—was evil and deserved to die.

Smoking cigarettes; worshipping Ayn Rand; praising Atlas Shrugged; and taking part in an assortment of bizarre, vaguely Klingon sex rituals are similarly considered to be morally obligatory. Objectivist women are required to worship Objectivist men, the men worship Ayn Rand, and Ayn Rand herself worshipped John Galt.
SOURCE URL: https://hmturnbull.com/opinion/atlas-shrugged/


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    Posted by freedomforall 1 year, 10 months ago
    I don't have to read this extended drivel to recognize another statist projecting their faults as propaganda for kleptocracy and against meritocracy.
    But I'd defend the author's right to publish his rubbish. Would the author support censorship of my opinions?
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    • Posted by $ 1 year, 10 months ago
      I believe he would! Absolutely.
      It’s frightening the forces we are actually up against. The blatantly hypocrisy is almost a moot point anymore. It’s just an accepted fact.
      It’s kind of ironic that to the people who claim to loathe money and wealth.....it’s actually the ONLY thing that REALLY matters. To the Brocialists anyway. They break everything down to the haves and have nots. Deep down I believe the identity politics game is actually just a political tool to motivate their “useful idiot” class to spill blood “for the cause”. If it’s money they want....fine.....let’s just print more and watch what happens. I’m sure quality of life will improve for them.......(yes I’m again being sarcastic please don’t tar and feather me)
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      • Posted by $ rainman0720 1 year, 10 months ago
        To your point about the haves vs. the have nots: When Obummer gave craploads of money to General Motors, he did it with the almost-demand that they eliminate all but two of their divisions. The two he wanted them to keep? Cadillac and Chevrolet. If there was ever a better example of haves and have nots, I don't think I've seen it.
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  • Posted by VetteGuy 1 year, 10 months ago
    This guy is living in upside-down world. Accusing AR of being like Stalin? From his hyperbolic rants, one would assume his personal heroes must be Trudeau, Fauci, Joe Biden and AOC.

    Me thinks he dost protest too much. Maybe he sees Jim Taggart when he looks in the mirror.
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  • Posted by $ 1 year, 10 months ago
    If someone could please direct me to the “vaguely Klingon sex rituals” that we are apparently “morally obligated” to be taking part in I’d be most appreciative.
    Is this satire? Because in this Clown World I truly cannot tell anymore. This wacky Canuck needs to go fry up some more back bacon and just keep boosting.
    XD XD XD ROFLMGDAO XD XD XD
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    • Posted by $ gharkness 1 year, 10 months ago
      Thank you! I was beginning to wonder if ANYBODY was going t notice this!! I wanna know what we are supposed to be doing!! (I mean, my FRIEND wants to know... of course)
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  • Posted by mhubb 1 year, 10 months ago
    wonder what his view on "1984" would be
    or
    Brave New World
    or
    Frankenstein (and the desire of some to bring back dinosaurs and create genetic edited humans)
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    • Posted by $ 1 year, 10 months ago
      One of us should ask.

      As he expounds further he pretty much makes our argument for us. In typical collectivist fashion he defines people by economic class.
      “ In the last few years, rich business-owners have begun to disappear without a trace. This is a problem for the world of Atlas Shrugged, as Ayn Rand conceived of rich people as the only ones capable of innovation or even basic competence. This means that the world is falling apart without their unique genius.” —-Turnbull

      It’s not just the “rich” who are competent. That was never Ayn’s point. John Galt himself was not “rich”. He was simply competent. Taxes were not the sole reason for the strike. It was theft. Both material and intellectual.
      Given the existence of a “guy” like Sam Brinton in Biden’s bureaucracy I’d say we have a pretty good example of the collectivist incompetence (and theft) that’s been promoted and is currently ruling the day.
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    • Posted by bobbitchen34 1 year, 10 months ago
      I think there are parts of Farenheit 451 he might like.
      It is an appreciable task to actually read Atlas Shrugged or even Fountain Head. I don't think this dolt actually did read either.
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  • Posted by $ blarman 1 year, 10 months ago
    Hehe. It's not too hard to read this and laugh. Describing Rand as "crazy, narcissistic, and on a mountain of amphetamines" is an interesting way to start a book critique, because there's no backup for this anywhere in the rest of the piece. The author is trying to prejudice the ignorant reader rather than present the piece and draw sustainable conclusions.

    Further, he tries to label Objectivism as a cult of personality but its pretty clear that the author never bothered to actually read any of Rand's scholarly work or listen to any of her interviews because I'm pretty sure she told the interviewer - if not in words than certainly in sentiment - that she disdains toadies and sycophants, i.e. looters, as she would smallpox.

    The author even tries to make comparisons of himself to Alex Jones in claiming a Randian fixation with Star Trek. This one is pretty hilarious because the most famous "mating ritual" of Klingons it that the males recite poetry while the females hurl heavy objects at the male petitioner. No mention that Klingons mated exclusively and for life... It's clear that this guy doesn't even know his basic sci-fi!

    He goes on after that, however, to attempt guilt by association by saying Orange Man Bad and then asserting "some" Trump fans are also Objectivists. It's sad and laughable - just like those who tried to say that Trump supporters were the KKK totally ignoring that the KKK was started and funded entirely by DEMOCRATS.

    He then goes on to supposedly show his intellectual prowess in noting that Atlas held up the sky, but utterly fails to comprehend that the reason the sky had to be held up (in Greek Mythology) was so the world wasn't crushed by it! The author pwns himself here!

    The author then attempts to superimpose Jim Taggart's "uncaring" attitudes as merely Rand's portrayal instead of reality. I mean, seriously. Did this guy even try? He's outing himself right here as a communist sympathizer!

    In a rather ham-handed attempt to criticize the length of AS, he mistakenly writes that AS is longer than both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings combined. A paperback of AS comes in at about 1192 pages. LOTR comes in at 1137 by itself... Another fail.

    The author then goes on to identify that Jim Taggart doesn't really enjoy life (accurate) and that this somehow empowers the Objectivists to do whatever they want. Uh... A -> !B. He also neglects to mention that the Industrialists do nothing illegal - they simply refuse to do anything. What's even funnier here is that he doesn't even realize that he's taking the side of the government in implying that those who have Shrugged have a responsibility to remain enslaved! [eye roll]. He is making the entire point of the book!

    And someone please correct me, but I don't remember anything about Nathaniel Taggart from the book. I'm pretty sure I would have remembered if he had "murdered a State Legislator" or "pimped out his wife" as collateral for a loan.

    It's at this point that I just had to give up, because it's pretty clear that the guy skimmed the book and read into it his own version of fantasy. Among the more fantastic lines and accusations:
    Dagny threatened to kill anyone who stood in her way.
    Ragnar was plundering government ships sent with "aid."
    D'Anconia raped Dagny and Objectivism condones rape.
    D'Anconia had rigged the living quarters to kill his workers.
    That Hank Reardon is uncaring toward his wife and brother.
    Dagny has better taste in jewelry than Lillian Reardon.
    Dagny's initial test of the John Galt line ignores the safety of population centers.
    Hank and Dagny have rough sex and Hank disdains Dagny afterward.
    "the ordinary humans are working on their latest evil plan to hold billionaires accountable for their selfish, harmful actions."
    "under Objectivism, ordinary humans are expected to toil under their billionaire employers and accept work as its own reward."

    I can go on and on, but it's all just so over-the-top. It's as if this guy was writing this while on PCP. The author attempts to turn a phrase, but just ends up turning over his own bull - all green and squishy and pungent.
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    • Posted by Lucky 1 year, 10 months ago
      Good review.

      From memory, Nat Taggart does get a mention, facts and rumors about him are given, some good some not. Readers make their own judgments about Nat Taggart based on the rumors and the achievements.
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    • Posted by LibertyBelle 1 year, 10 months ago
      d'Anconia did not rape Dagny; as the scene was written in the book I read, it say that Dagny thought she must escape; but then, it was she who pulled his head down, and the process continued.
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    • Posted by $ 25n56il4 1 year, 10 months ago
      I admire you for reading as much as you did, I'm not sure I got beyond the first two paragraphs. AS was a real literary work of art in my estimation. I understood what AR was saying. And I've re-read it many times.
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  • Posted by CaptainKirk 1 year, 10 months ago
    Converted to English for you:

    Normal Women are attracted to Normal Men.

    Normal Men think highly of High Thinking Women (Rand), who values someone based on their work, not their "victimhood status"

    And to attack these people, lets include "Cigarette Smoking"... Something DOCTORS used to advertise in Rands era, and I would guess modern day "Randians" are far less likely to do than the "regular" brain-washed vaping morons paying $$$ to be lectured by such a modern day progressive as the author who wrote the Drivel you refer to.

    ie, lets turn people off from reading Rand, lest she ignite another fire, inside another future communist that PREVENTS them from going all Collectivist. (Notice how he never PROPERLY uses the COLLECTIVIST term... Because it hits too close to home!) [He tries to use it in terms of Science, Sharing and Community... No, these are TAKERS, not sharers. They share in YOUR production, never sharing THEIR production... He glosses over this]
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  • Posted by $ 25n56il4 1 year, 10 months ago
    This review of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead tells me this person is so jealous he can't be believed. Anyone taking this slant on Ayn Rand's writings is stupid beyond belief. She just said it like it is. Reality hurts doesn't it? I bet this person is a Democrat. I was on the phone until 2 a. m this morning with a friend who is very important in the Democrat party. He blew their entire theory all to hell. He says they are all nuts! N
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  • Posted by mshupe 1 year, 10 months ago
    When was this review written? Is there anything in it not written 60 years ago?
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    • Posted by lrshultis 1 year, 10 months ago
      No, but just another way of saying:
      "From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard, from painful necessity, commanding: “To a gas chamber–go!”
      from the ex communist becoming a Buckley Jr. conservative Whittager Chamber's "Big Sister is Watching" review of AS for National Review in 1957. Buckley apparently refused to read AS himself as too atheistic.
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  • Posted by Lucky 1 year, 10 months ago
    I read it. Why the criticism? It is what the msm is full of everyday. Like vaccines and killer viruses, Russia, Putin, Trump, saving the planet.

    A few words from the story are used to present the opposite of the theme intended by Rand. The writer in getting so much of Atlas Shrugged wrong has skimmed over it without reading. Errors are not from ignorance but are clearly deliberate.
    A few of the gross errors (lies)-
    Jim Taggert as a hero, all those on the train deserved to die, Dagny driving the train dangerously, Hank being callous, misrepresentation of CherrylBrookes and Eddie, Francisco's mission, and etc.

    Altho' the Klingon sex rituals are an enticement, remember that Klingon came later.
    The description of Libertarianism is of course quite wrong, no mention is made of important differences with Objectivism.
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    • Posted by lrshultis 1 year, 10 months ago
      Like Wolfgang Pauli said about a paper from a student being "so wrong that it is not even wrong" because it did not have anything to do with the AS that I have read over the last 55 years.
      His idea of the finest literature seems to be "The Lord of the Rings".
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  • Posted by JohnRandALL 1 year, 10 months ago
    I have yet to meet a Canadian I like. People have been attacking Ayn Rand forever. They are so fearful that her ideas might catch hold ........ and thankfully they are ...... look at this website!
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    • Posted by $ splumb 1 year, 10 months ago
      My mom's side are Canadian, and although they are very nice people, they're thoroughly brainwashed.
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      • Posted by Snakecane 1 year, 10 months ago
        Please don't paint all Canadians with the brush presented by this goofball. That, as you well know, is just collectivism. (There were some black people involved in the black lives matter riots, and, you know, what do you expect? You know how black people are.) Have you forgotten the Truckers' Convoy? Up here in Alberta we have a burning resentment of Turdoh and his WEF/Marxist politics. A lot of us are talking an independent free enterprise state. I read Atlas Shrugged five times and The Fountainhead three times along with whatever else I could find written by Rand.
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        • Posted by $ splumb 1 year, 10 months ago
          True, Albertans are certainly independent thinkers, for the most part.
          What with the oil and cattle industries, I think of it as Canada's Texas. :-)

          Unfortunately, Canada has the same problem as the US. Coastal elite provinces who have enough voters to rule over the rest of the country.

          My family are all in Ontario, and although they don't like Trudeau, there aren't any conservatives. Not that it matters, the Conservatives in Ontario are a disaster too.
          They usually vote Green.
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  • Posted by $ Thoritsu 1 year, 10 months ago
    Very entertaining.

    This is about as useful as a free-person arguing Marx and his followers were the "worst" because of poor personal hygiene.
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  • Posted by $ splumb 1 year, 10 months ago
    If Rand's works were really as awful as he believes them to be, why give the books oxygen?
    He should keep his mouth shut and tout leftie books instead.

    Truth is, he knows deep down she was right, and he's scared people will read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and begin to think for themselves.

    You know what they say, the more flak you're taking, the closer you are to the target.
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  • Posted by fairbro 1 year, 10 months ago
    Poor guy has descended down into a labyrinthine rabbithole with so many Left turns, he is hopelessly lost forever...his spaceship was last sighted, spinning out of control, in overdrive, rocketing past Pluto...
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  • Posted by $ pixelate 1 year, 10 months ago
    Once again, this silly lad is gaslighting... it's what many critics of Ayn Rand and Objectivism do -- and they do it with a lack of self-awareness. Call it broad brush, but I do tend to associate my level of affinity with another individual in terms of that individuals views of Ayn Rand's writings -- both fiction and non-fiction.
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 1 year, 10 months ago
    So me dino is super-human? That must be why my moniker, apex predator of North America during the Jurassic Period, had way better looking arms than T-Rex of the Cretaceous Period.
    Wait, a dino ain't even human~never mind super-human. And they are extinct.
    Never mind. I can't even be as silly as H. M. Turnbull's bull.
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  • Posted by $ DriveTrain 1 year, 10 months ago
    Actually this should be an encouraging sign - that the opponents of objectivism have nothing better to offer by way of debate than an unintentionally-comical pack of hyperbolic misrepresentations and ad hominem slurs.

    The fact that few of Rand's detractors are willing to offer anything of intellectual substance in rebuttal to any given point of her philosophy is not lost on newbies curious about that philosophy. I'm thinking the wild, shrill and frequently hysterical diatribes - none of them with any kind of basis in rationality - can serve to encourage people to read her work. Once that happens it's game over for the detractors, because Rand's work speaks for itself to anyone willing to listen. And that scares the hell out of her detractors. Hence the hyperbole, the shrill rants, the misrepresentations and the hysteria.
    .
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  • Posted by teri-amborn 1 year, 10 months ago
    It never ceases to amaze me that people unthinkingly claim to know what others think, say and do while deliberately misunderstanding in order to establish their critical narrative.
    How narcissistic.
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  • Posted by $ 1 year, 10 months ago
    To be fair his roasting of Game of Thrones is pretty spot on. But again we have the hypocrisy of being able to recognize tyranny in literature yet being complete oblivious to it when it’s coming at you with a syringe and saying “Shhhh shhh shhh just let this happen.”
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  • Posted by bubah1mau 1 year, 10 months ago
    A cheap hit piece, only peripherally grounded in reality, that edifies/exonerates all statists and collectivists who want to dismiss the greatest, most revolutionary philosopher and ethicist of the 20th century without even reading a single page from any of her works.
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  • Posted by GaryL 1 year, 10 months ago
    I didn't know of any of these traits I am supposed to harbor. Guess I have to change my outlook on living and have a "FRANK" discussion with my wife. :-))
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  • Posted by $ Radio_Randy 1 year, 10 months ago
    Well, I say "Congratulations" to His Majesty's Turnbull and his 153 followers. I really liked his posts explaining the Lord of The Rings trilogy...don't think I ever would've got it, without his help.

    Atlas Shrugged...you either really love it, or really hate it.
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    • Posted by Dobrien 1 year, 10 months ago
      If they hate it , it is because checking their premises indicates all of their shortfalls and worse to them. So they get clever they lie ,twist distort and pervert to smear the truth or the messenger.. Same boring story for the shitbags.
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  • Posted by fairbro 1 year, 10 months ago
    This is a guy who has spent way too much time in the social sciences department of the local elitist university. He probably read "The Territorial Imperative" by Robert Ardrey, at an impressionable age, and never recovered, poor fellow.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 1 year, 10 months ago
    "This is why we all need to understand what makes our Enemy tick."
    Anyone who thinks this review sounds reasonable should read Atlas Shrugged, if only to understand what their Enemy with a capital E thinks. They will be surprised.
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  • Posted by Dobrien 1 year, 10 months ago
    Super human here, with the same needs as Joe blow. The nihilistic attitude of brocialists makes me want to punch them in the face, of course only in self defense. This turd can’t understand the basic principals of objectivism , let alone sovereignty.
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