[ExI] General comment about all this quasi-libertarianism discussion

[Kelly Anderson]

On Sun, Feb 27, 2011 at 9:56 AM, Damien Broderick <thespike at satx.rr.com> wrote:
> On 2/27/2011 8:15 AM, Richard Loosemore wrote:
> Another wince, reminding me that Kelly also asked if Samantha had ever heard
> of Moore's Law. Newbies need to bear in mind that if you're excited about X,
> chances are it's been a much-hashed-over topic here for a decade or two.

Sorry, that Moore's Law reference was my attempt at Irony. I knew it
was much hashed over.

>> ...you cite a horribly bad novel, filled to the brim with naked
>> propaganda,
>> written by an egomaniacal, hypocritical cult leader
>
> A lot of extropes are very fond of Rand (while usually avoiding Randroid
> lockstep), so I don't anticipate many nodding heads at this accurate
> thumbnail characterization, or at Damien Sullivan's link to a flowchart of
> "How to succeed as an Ayn Rand character":
>
> <http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e42/MihoshiK/arflowchart2copy.png>
>
> Yes, the flowchart's an unbalanced picture of Rand, but close enough that it
> should make any fan at least slightly uncomfortable.

I really don't like Rand's view of sex. In that area she is deeply
disturbed. The Dominique character in The Fountainhead is particularly
disturbing to me. It's too bad she had to go there, because it makes
the rest of her ideas easier to dismiss as the workings of a disturbed
mind. If you believe that much of the evil in the world comes from the
twisted thinking that is caused by religion; and I'd bet there are a
few of you here; then you would probably be closer to Rand's core
philosophy than you might think.

-Kelly