Reading George Orwell’s 1984 as a child (which was long before 1984), I was shocked at how prescient the author had been in his insights into life under totalitarianism. Atlas Shrugged, coming to a theater near you this week, struck me in a similar way when it came to looking into society in a “maturing” democracy. Written a half-century ago, Rand’s work is every bit as precient as Orwell’s.
Rand’s basic premise is that democracies flourish until enough voters figure out that they can get unearned benefits from government. Once that happens, the majority will vote for the politician that promises the most free benefits. When that happens, that society is doomed to collapse from unsustainable fiscal policy. I wish I wish that I could take credit for the following “cycle of democracy” but someone beat me to it:
From bondage to spiritual faith
From spiritual faith to great courage
From great courage to liberty
From liberty to abundance
From abundance to complacency
From complacency to apathy
From apathy to dependence
From dependence to bondage
Sound eerily familiar?
http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/atlas-shrugged-movie-trailer
The ideology that Ayn Rand and you are exposing denigrates altruism and justifies the rich getting richer which goes against the Judeo Christian American values of egalitarianism and love of all humans. I for one would urge fellow readers to not be deceived by these folks.
Skeptic, you are very much like the “holy” jews walking by the injured and beaten man on the side of the road espousing how the government should take responsibility for the poor man while conservatives will actually stop, just like the good Samiritan, and help the poor man with their own resources.
Ayn Rand wrote, “What are the masses but mud to be ground underfoot, fuel to be burned for those that deserve it.”
“America should be a Democracy of superiors only.”
What a nut job– Non American, non Democratic nut job
But she does give certain guys, certain resentful and insecure guys, a woody. (Not referring to Geoff of course)
“From the AR book “We the Living” – Kira said to Andrei, “What are your masses but mud to be ground underfoot, fuel to be burned for those who deserve it?”
Scholars regard this as a bitter description of communist treatment of the masses, not Rand’s own evaluation.
Tell the WHOLE truth skeptic.
the whole truth is that Ayn Rand is anti-democratic and Christian. Her political thoughts are very similar to many of the characters in her novels. If you agree an elite should rule society than you agree. I don’t. I believe in democracy and America.
I’m sure you mean, anti-democratic and anti-Christian. She is in fact as far from Christian as I can imagine, and I’m sure she would have agreed.
yes pardon the typo. Ayn Rand is anti-Christian and anti-democratic and because of it I oppose her.
skeptic,
What is your definition of altruism? Is it confiscation by the government of what is mine – to be given to others as defined by the state?
Conservatives and Libertarians love that she espoused laissez-faire economics. Most of the rest of her thinking they discard. I mean, really…the highest moral pursuit is self-interest? Speaking of bondage….
One final dig then I’ll leave Ayn alone because I know how much these righties love her. Raj Patel (or John Rogers?) :
“There are two novels that can transform a bookish 14-year-kld’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish daydream that can lead to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood in which large chunks of the day are spent inventing ways to make real life more like a fantasy novel. The other is a book about orcs.”
What is described above is a spiral of life. Everything repeats itself in circle but on higher level. (spiral)
However such knowledge is useless with Leftists so if they lead you must go where you have been.
That is how I know were we will be under Obama and Brown.
Is this similar to our discussion about without Paris Hilton, there would be no Snooki?
…. and do not forget Lady GaGa.
You are learning GF.
However (because you are American who can’t read satire, I mast state that you have just read it)
If you want to learn more, non-satire, listen to coasttocoastam.com on KFI 640 today.
10pm – 2am PT you can get it on rebound from 2am- 5am
Government Secrecy (Mon 04-11)
Navy SEAL, wrestler, actor, governor, and bestselling author Jesse Ventura will discuss his pursuit to unveil what our government is doing behind closed doors, and how they are tricking us into giving up our civil liberties.
In the second half, radio host Alex Jones will share his commentary on various current events.
Never mind that you believe that Jesse and Alex are nut cases, just listen.
Stan. I do have some native blood (Ojibwe) so I can claim myself to be a Native American.
I thought Lady GaGa was begat by Madonna and Britney Spears. Hell, I’ll throw Katy Perry in there. But who’s responsible for Justin Bieber? N’Sync?
I actually voted for Jesse when he ran for Governor of Minnesota in 1998. My brush with him was I met him outside of our office building in downtown St Paul (we shared a building with Minnesota Public Radio) and my buddy and I talked with him for 45 minutes. Sure he did most of the talking but he was the best damn governor that state ever had and the best governor I ever experienced between California and Minnesota. We had a budget surplus under his administration and he gave the surplus money back to the people, aka “Jesse Checks.”
Unfortunately, he did not run for a 2nd term and we were stuck with that assclown Tim Pawlenty who ran that state into the ground. Now he’s running for President? I’d rather have Jesse.
“Now he’s running for President? I’d rather have Jesse”……. Hmmm
He is not interested in presidency, however he would seriously consider vice-presidency if Ron Paul departs from the Republicans and runs as independent.
I was actually referring to Tim Pawlenty. Him and his fellow Repug Minnesotan Michele Bachmann are mulling runs for President.
Word has it from my friends in the North Star State that The Body may make a 3rd party run for Senate against Amy Klobacher and whoever the Repugs put up against her. If it’s Pawlenty or Bachmann, I say RUN JESSE RUN!!!!!
I don’t think I could watch this movie without thinking about that “South Park” episode where Officer Barbrady was learning how to read by reading Atlas Shrugged. And then he called the book the biggest piece of crap he ever read. Maybe they were poking fun at the lack of literacy within police departments. If so, that pretty sums up the goofs that patrol MasterPlannedistan.
Oh the hell with it…I’ll probably go see it anyway if Bartlett is going to be in Costa Mesa.
This movie is porn for Allan Bartlett. Bet he whacks off to it.
I think I know the porn you’re talking about. “Atlas Shagged” from Vivid Video. Much better production than Larry Flynt’s/Huster Video’s “Who’s Nailin’ Paylin?”
The American system is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic. A democracy, if you attach meaning to terms, is a system of unlimited majority rule; the classic example is ancient Athens. And the symbol of it is the fate of Socrates, who was put to death legally, because the majority didn’t like what he was saying, although he had initiated no force and had violated no one’s rights.
Democracy, in short, is a form of collectivism, which denies individual rights: the majority can do whatever it wants with no restrictions. In principle, the democratic government is all-powerful. Democracy is a totalitarian manifestation; it is not a form of freedom . . . .
The American system is a constitutionally limited republic, restricted to the protection of individual rights. In such a system, majority rule is applicable only to lesser details, such as the selection of certain personnel. But the majority has no say over the basic principles governing the government. It has no power to ask for or gain the infringement of individual rights.
Junior, we should have a cup of coffee some time. I like the way you think.
junior, come clean – whom were you quoting? Ayn, right?
*shrugs*
Geoff, you are so right about this. It’s just like she promised. The Kochs, Olins, Coors, Scaifes, and Waltons have all gone Galt because of the oppressive government. Corporations have dwindled almost to nothingness, and their voices are unheard in our socialist mobacracy.
And the railroads, damn it, the railroads are almost gone. Once the socialists prevented the development of that special magical metal, our railroads collapsed.
Ayn Rand’s cookbook has some breathtaking recipes;
Bloody Hearts wrapped in Canadian Bacon; Lower Class Gruel (mmm…gruel) ; Soul Meuniere; and mini cupcakes sprinkled with 24 karat gold flakes! Great with coffee!
Who is John Galt?
The big question for moviegoers is whether the makers of “Atlas Shrugged, Part I” succeed in capturing on film the spirit of Rand’s ideas concerning Big Government criminals and their corporate bedfellows.
…I have been instructing people to see this turgid turd of a film (Atlas Shrugged, Part 1) at the Edwards West Park Eight by paying for a deserving film like, Kill The Irishman, or Win Win, then slipping over to Rand’s rubbish for a rollicking good laugh. Movies based on her hackneyed prose are highly conducive to Mystery Science Theater hilarity, as anyone who has experienced The Fountainhead can tell you… Just by viewing the trailer (no link provided within the email), one can witness a film made on the cheap as evidenced by the wooden, pedantic, trite dialog and cigar store indian qualities of the no-name actors (save for Michael Lerner and Jon Polito slumming it with Michael O’Keefe reprising his role as Danny Noonan from Caddyshack). I have been in negotiation with one of the managers at Edwards to organize a special MST 3000 showing of this deserving cinematic contrivance containing less consummate intelligence than that of last year’s find, Human Centipede – The First Sequence.
I am not certain what the writer of this promotional piece from Regency Theaters means when he states that the novel is “controversial.” When is risible bafflegab considered “controversial.” Or is that just a code word to get a rise out of the unwary to sell tickets? Who waited a long time for this film to grace the big screen? The thin-tied, smoking Teabaggers that show up for the revival showings of The Fountainhead and The Passion of Ayn Rand? The cadre of acolytes led by Nazionist dwarf, Yaron Brook, from the Ayn Rand Institute of Irvine? Imbecilic, closeted Republican hacks like John Campbell of the fightin’ 48th District where both theatres are located? The promo bandies about terms like “intelligence,” “courage,” and “integrity” when referring to a Rand character featured in the film. Huh? “But that’s only the beginning of one of the greatest adventures to ever happen to mankind.” Some revelation. I had no idea that adventures happened to a passive mankind. I can’t wait.
Incredibly, book sales of ‘Atlas’ went through the roof in 2009, AFTER the collapse of the financial institutions which happened due to deregulation as put forth by the Randanistas in government. Even Rand sycophant, Alan Greenspan, admitted that he was DEAD wrong in trusting the ethos of the unregulated free market. Yet, moronic Teabaggers like Rand Paul (nice name, dad) still worship in the house of Ayn, the self-loathing, homely little Jewish princess, forced to emigrate from imperialist Czarist Russia when it was taken over by Bolsheviks, to “the land of the free,” only to become one of Hollywood’s most loathsome, reactionary fag hags. Our Supreme Justice, Antonin Scalia’s esteemed caddy, Clarence Thomas (suspiciously missing from his job of wearing a white jumpsuit during this year’s Master’s golf tournament in the heart of The Confederacy), still clings to the hem of the skirt of Cecil B. DeMille’s little seamstress. How do these myopic jokers attain power vested by the public? A documentary that can answer that conundrum is one that I would like to see.
Regarding Rand’s appeal, it is probably said best by Nobel Prize winning economist and liberal commentator Paul Krugman, who alluded to an oft-quoted quip in his blog: “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.”
I look forward to a night of hysterical fun at other people’s expense (it’s all about me, you see…)
Vern, I look forward to the film and will see it this weekend. By the way, I find it laughable that you criticize a good ensamble cast – do you only like to see the normal star bound hollywood crap that is churned out constantly?
That was TR Black who characterized the cast as “cigar-store Indians” from viewing the trailer (which I went ahead and posted on one of Junior’s comments.) I do love Lerner and Polito whom I know mainly from Coen Brothers films…
(Lerner – the loudmouthed Hollywood boss in “Barton Fink” and the hypocritical “liberal” lawyer in “Amos and Andrew” [not Coens] Polito’s greatest role – the psychopathic gangster Johnny Casper in “Millers Crossing.”)
“.. there are two competing visions for the future of the nation; one born of our nation’s founders and that honors individual achievement and prosperity, or one that extorts from it.”
Our nation’s founders. Like Ben Franklin, who founded the first public fire departments and led our first Post Office, knowing that those were functions too important to be left to private enterprise? Or like Jefferson, the father of public education, who wanted NOTHING written on his tombstone but “Founder of the University of Virginia” (a taxpayer-supported institution)