Galt's Gulch

"Obama Says Ayn Rand Is For Teens"

Posted by jmlesniewski 12 years, 5 months ago to Politics
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President Obama weighed in on Ayn Rand in a recent Rolling Stones article...

"Ayn Rand is one of those things that a lot of us, when we were 17 or 18 and feeling misunderstood, we'd pick up. Then, as we get older, we realize that a world in which we're only thinking about ourselves and not thinking about anybody else ... is a pretty narrow vision."

Read more here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeedpolitics...
SOURCE URL: http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeedpolitics/obama-says-ayn-rand-is-for-teens

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  • Posted by hedo59 12 years, 5 months ago
    Guitarist, to think that Obama is one that stays to the truth is simply difficult to believe. He lies about everything that he says. For example he just stated that "we leave no one behind" when talking about the storm in New York, try telling that to the 2 navy seals left alone to die at the hands of al queda in Benghazi while the president refuses to send help to them. Obama and his policies are exactly what Ayn Rand wrote about in "Atlas Shrugged". Can you not see this?
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  • Posted by freedomforall 12 years, 5 months ago
    OTOH, maybe its a good idea. All teens should study The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged taught by an Objectivist professor. Forget Silas Marner and Oliver Twist. Teach something that will improve their world for the rest of their lives and the lives of their children.
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  • Posted by radical 12 years, 5 months ago
    Obama is for teens - those who don't understand economics, individualism, the Constitution, or the Declaration of Independence.
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  • Posted by Realist 12 years, 5 months ago
    We all must realize that 90% of politicians are only in the game to line their own pockets and secure THEIR future - no concern for anyone else. Obama is a disaster - Romney deserves a chance to be logical and honest. There is nothing to lose, he can't be worse than the current one.
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  • Posted by Guitarist 12 years, 5 months ago
    I don't know that he will anymore than Romney, but he is more rational than Romney so its a better chance. As far as "winning a war" being all important, that is a sad comment, completely illogical, and obviously from someone who has not suffered losses from stupid wars. Try Vietnam- we are still paying for it, and it gave us 2 of the worst Presidents in history, Johnson and Nixon. Very short-sighted comments from someone who portends to be an objectivist. But, even Ayn blew it on Vietnam. Can't be right on everything.
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    • Posted by jstagner 12 years, 5 months ago
      I don't mean to pick on you, Guitarist, but your comments strike me as funny. In intelligent discussion, it is good practice to back up a claim after making it. The claim that Obama is more rational than Romney is, frankly, irrational. Just for kicks, I'd love to hear your reasoning behind that.
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  • Posted by sappho333 12 years, 4 months ago
    Ayn Rand's thinking has guided my life for many years. She affirms what I believe in my heart to live and succeed in life. I used to drive from Reno to San Francisco for her lectures on objectiveism.
    I met N. Brannan several times. I've read most of what she has written, WE THE LIVING touched me deeply.

    Atlas Shrugged was my map of living, I'm a UC Berkeley grade. (journalism)
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  • Posted by WWJGD 12 years, 4 months ago
    You hear this a LOT. It mostly comes from people who read Atlas Shrugged in high school...

    ... for the sex scenes.

    And never understood what the novel is about.

    And still don't.
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  • Posted by plusaf 12 years, 5 months ago
    ... yep, spoken as a true socialist might put it.... I was born in 1945 and was introduced to Atlas around 1970. It changed my life perceptions more than any book I'd read up 'til then.

    Back then, we also had the joke, "What's the defiinition of a Conservative?.....
    a) A Liberal who's just been mugged., and
    b) A Liberal who's just made it into the 50% tax bracket...

    Wake up, O...
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  • Posted by Guitarist 12 years, 5 months ago
    For the big critic, it appears you have never even read, much less comprehend, the priinciples underlying Objectivism. For a President, there is no principle more fundamental than "Never initiate the use of force." Unlike the intellectually challenged Bush and his war mongers. One trillion later and counting, we will pay and pay, on Bush's "off budget" credit card, for decades. facts are facts. A is A. Check your premises.
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    • Posted by khalling 12 years, 5 months ago
      a rogue country is like a murderer or thief. we do not have an obligation to bring them to justice, but we have the right to, Guitarist. go back and read again
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    • Posted by $ jmlesniewski 12 years, 5 months ago
      There is not one position on the war in Iraq that is in line with objectivism. Rational people can disagree. Yes, reality would be the arbiter, but not all of us measure war in dollars and cents.
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  • Posted by Guitarist 12 years, 5 months ago
    C'mon, people, be objective! I have been a student for many years, and its way to easy to jump on the bandwagon and buy in to the political bs. Objectively speaking, Obama stays to the truth much better than Romney, who picks and chooses pseudo-facts at will and spins like crazy. We are almost out of war, and there is nothing more important than that. Both parties are guilty as sin of blowing up the deficit, something I have railed about for decades, and if Obama will start to cut costs we will end up in good shape. And, by the way, my son is reading Rand in high school.
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    • Posted by plusaf 12 years, 5 months ago
      Well, I've been "studying" the political realm for decades and I've noticed the "political bs" factor has been around for as long or longer than I've been voting (50 or so years of voting, that is...) so if you're expecting a drastic change one way or the other This Time, I'd caution you to not get your hopes up too high.

      As for reading Rand in high school, ask your son if there are any particular "right answers" to questions about the book in class... :)
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    Posted by Guitarist 12 years, 5 months ago
    Khalling: may I suggest you read her for the first time? Hmmm... new to this... I thought I would find some intellectuals here. Instead I find a bunch of faux-conservatives spouting political rhetoric and one liners like one would find on a redneck bumper sticker. Think about it: Rand was tight on most things, but totally blew it on Vietnam. And the environment. She was emotional, not rational, on those 2 topics. And dead wrong. Thanks for a worthless debate- I'm not coming back.
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    • Posted by khalling 12 years, 5 months ago
      name calling is not a logical argument. What is your point on Vietnam? Rand said it was our right to be there but not in our national interest, therefore she was against the Vietnam War. She was against the draft. This is consistent with Objectivism. Which part do you disagree with her?
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    • Posted by plusaf 12 years, 5 months ago
      So, an author has to be exactly right on everything he or she says before you support them? Good luck on that one...

      Of course, since I read Atlas in 1970 or so, even back then I could see her predictions begin to come true... when John Lindsay kept caving to the unions on every demand during every strike, I predicted that NYC would be bankrupted by that within five or so years.

      It was... and the insights of Atlas made my prediction easy to make. Before Atlas, I probably would not have even noticed the process.

      Then there was Gray Davis in CA...

      Oh, and the equivalent of Directive 10-289 that the NY Legislature actually introduced during one of the many recessions "in order to help stabilize employment."

      You don't need to make this stuff up... just notice it.


      and if you're really gone out of here for those reasons.... "Bye!"
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