Is Ayn Rand Relevant Today?

[DeadheadForPaul]

Dude, look at your screen name. People could and have said the same thing about us.

Haha. Well, I *love* them. I don't *worship* them.

Though I certainly know some people who put the Dead before all else in life

 

[nickcoons]

So, in all your years of study you learnt nothing from Ayn Rand?

That was my first thought in reading the FAQ. Taking the idea of seeking one's values by fraud; anyone who's read Francisco's "money speech" knows that Rand doesn't advocate this.

Ayn Rand certainly had flaws, not only in her personal life but even in her interpretation of her own philosophy (i.e. animosity towards homosexuals as just one example). And many of her followers are dogmatic, not only agreeing with but defending her inconsistencies.

But this is not to reflect negatively on the philosophy itself. Nathaniel Branden agreed, as he stated such when he disassociated himself with the movement after "defaulting n Rand's trust" as he put it. He said, "A philosophy should not be judged by the behavior of its teachers."

The great thing about objective philosophy (or objective anything) is that it can be walked through from beginning to end with logic. It requires neither faith nor blind, dogmatic acceptance.

 

[Kraig]

Robin Hood
This is a place stub until I retrieve books. Ayn Rand didn't understand Robin Hood. (But this may be because she's from Russia).

• This is the horror which Robin Hood immortalized as an ideal of righteousness...

• 
  
  Wow, you are really showing how bad your comprehension is. In Atlas Shrugged she is pretty clear that Robin Hood needs to be retold, that it needs to get away from stealing from the rich (just because they're rich) and giving to the poor (just because they're poor). She wanted to get rid of demonizing people just because they are rich, and focus on those who are rich through theft, and demonize them. She wanted to to rethink Robin Hood, as stealing from the unearned rich, and giving it to those who have really earned it. This is exactly what she did with the Ragnar character, and the book explained it very clearly to me.

 

[torchbearer]

In the story of Robin Hood- I thought he was taking back the money the King stole from the people in the form of taxes.
If this is the case, Robin Hood was not a thief. The king was- Robin was getting people their own money back.

 

[Kraig]

In the story of Robin Hood- I thought he was taking back the money the King stole from the people in the form of taxes.
If this is the case, Robin Hood was not a thief. The king was- Robin was getting people their own money back.

Right and I believe she even talked about that in Atlas Shrugged and mentioned how that part of it has been forgotten as the story has been retold. Something along those lines, I'll try to find an exact quote from the book.

From Atlas Shrugged, I found this online so I haven't double checked it yet:

"It is said that he fought against the looting rulers and returned the loot to those who had been robbed, but that is not the meaning of the legend which has survived. He is remembered, not as a champion of property, but as a champion of need, not as a defender of the robbed, but as a provider of the poor."

What rape scenes did she have besides the one in The Fountainhead?

 

[Objectivist]

You worship a dead person...Ayn Rand

I appreciate a dead persons work and writings. Then I stood next to Jerry during the filming of Touch of Grey and I really appreciated his work too.

I guess I have a list of people that I appreciate but none of them are my heroes, that title would be reserved for myself.