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--></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>If Atlas Shrugged is libertarian porn, where can I find communism porn? I like to stay balanced in all things and too much porn of one kind may throw off my equilibrium.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div style='mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='border:none;padding:0in'><b>From: </b><a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">spike jones via extropy-chat</a><br><b>Sent: </b>Thursday, April 28, 2022 3:18 PM<br><b>To: </b><a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">ExI chat list</a><br><b>Cc: </b><a href="mailto:spike@rainier66.com">spike@rainier66.com</a><br><b>Subject: </b>Re: [ExI] Atlas Shrugged</p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>On Thu, Apr 28, 2022, 11:25 AM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>>… The characters in the book that endorse and embody the philosophy are literal demigods of virtue, strength, and morality (within the framework of the philosophy) and those in opposition are, at best, pathetic, confused and compromised, or (more commonly) outright mustache-twirling pastiches of pure evil.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sure but that almost makes it sound like it is a bad thing.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Atlas was published several years before the first traces of nuance were introduced in comic book super-heroes. Note that nuance is not found in Superman or Lex Luthor. It was just simple good guys and bad guys back then. In the 60s, Spiderman at least had early traces of nuance, where Peter Parker was subject to lust, temptation to make money, certainly heartbreak etc. Pete was human. Most of us could relate: we had a Mary Jane Watson somewhere in our lives. His power came from technology (and doesn’t ours?) Spiderman’s super-hero predecessors, including John Galt, didn’t have much humanity showing.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I like Ilsa’s analogy for Atlas Shrugged: libertarian porn. Hey it worked on me: I sure get turned on. I could forget the goofy story, go straight to the 50 pages of libertarian manifesto, they way we did in the olden days with Peyton Place if we could find a copy in the library where some kind soul had marked the sexy parts. Peyton Place isn’t as sexy as what is available today, but it was all we had back then.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>ilsa via extropy-chat<br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, 28 April, 2022 11:32 AM<br><b>To:</b> ExI chat list <extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org><br><b>Cc:</b> ilsa <ilsa.bartlett@gmail.com><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [ExI] Atlas Shrugged<o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>I read the book twice in my life. Once as young adult in my early twenties and again about 20 years later which was not as much fun. My take is that it's really pornography it's so sexy really sexy way to be authoritarian <o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>Smile, ilsa<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>On Thu, Apr 28, 2022, 11:25 AM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p></div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:4.8pt'>… The characters in the book that endorse and embody the philosophy are literal demigods of virtue, strength, and morality (within the framework of the philosophy) and those in opposition are, at best, pathetic, confused and compromised, or (more commonly) outright mustache-twirling pastiches of pure evil.<o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:4.8pt'> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:4.8pt'>This isn't necessarily a criticism of the book's artistic merit, let alone of the underlying philosophy, but it's a fair warning of the literary genre the author was writing in.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:4.8pt'> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:4.8pt'>By way of example, in about the center of the novel, one of the main characters delivers, in a monologue, what can only be called a manifesto of the political philosophy. At this point the author abandons any pretense of this being a novel in any conventional sense. The entire section abandons any pretense of moving the plot forward and lasts for more than 50 pages in the paperback edition. You'll recognize it when you see it.<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:4.8pt'> <o:p></o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:4.8pt'>On Thu, Apr 28, 2022 at 12:04 PM Hermes Trismegistus via extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p></div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:9.6pt'>I have heard mention of Ayn Rand’s works, particularly Atlas Shrugged, on this list and other places. I have not read it myself, but am interested in your all’s thoughts on the book. The book seems to be very polarizing, with some loathing it and others praising it. I come mostly from a libertarian perspective and am curious as to the potential pitfalls of the book and what may be learned by reading it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:9.6pt'> <o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:9.6pt'>_______________________________________________<br>extropy-chat mailing list<br><a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a><br><a href="http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat">http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat</a><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote></div></blockquote></div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt'>_______________________________________________<br>extropy-chat mailing list<br><a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a><br><a href="http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat">http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>