Can someone explain Ayn Rand to me?!

wake up, sheeple!

THE NAME IS HARVEY. HARVEY WEE-WAX.

The interesting thing about the libertarian saint is that she was also virulently anti-religion.

This could, and should, be exploited.

anti-democratic too

also russian

and ugly

did anyone mention that she is totally creepy and when she writes about sex its like fucked up slash

"The interesting thing about the libertarian saint is that she was also virulently anti-religion.
This could, and should, be exploited."

What's the game plan?

holy war

the banality of evil is a hackneyed phrase.

did anyone mention that she is totally creepy and when she writes about sex its like fucked up slash

So many books have this problem. Sophie's Choice, anyone?

So even now with the cloud of fear around her, while he taunts her and abuses her - even now her pleasure is not mere mild enjoyment but the perennially re-created bliss, and chill waves shiver down her back as she sucks and sucks and sucks. She is not even surprised that the more he torments her scalp, the more he goads her with the detested "Irma," the more gluttonous becomes her lust to swallow up his price, and when she ceases, just for an instant, and panting raises her head and gasps "Oh God, I love sucking you," the words are uttered with the same uncomplicated and spontaneous ardor as before. She opens her eyes, glimpses his tortured face, resumes blindly, realizing now that his voice has become a shout which begins to echo from the flanks of the rock strewn hill… The delicious marble palmtree, the slippery trunk swelling and expanding, tells her that he is on the edge of coming, tells her to relax so as to accept the pulsing flood, the seawater gush of palmtree milk, and in that instant of hovering expectancy, as always, she feels her eyes brim over with stinging inexplicable tears.

Rand, sadly, doesn't even have that much competency at writing a sex scene. Which is saying -- if you'll pardon me -- a mouthful.

Also see: all science fiction evar.

She also shares the problem of the subtlety of exposition with sf. Her characters exposit her philosophies at length, and with no transition more elegant than from one song on the radio to the next. "And now, my character will say all the things he thinks, and it will be clear that I either agree or disagree with this particular character's opinion." It's bargain-basement shit, it really is.

I tried reading one of her books in high school but abandoned it after she explained that no-one can ever truly perform an altruistic action because everything you do is inherently self-serving. Even as a moody self-wallowing teenager it was too narcissistic of an outlook for me. BS.

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2010/8/12hague.html

Ayn Rand Philosophy: MINE, MINE ALL MINE AND YOU CAN'T HAVE IT HAHAHAHAHA!!!

I see Randianism as a slight wrinkle on basic Calvinism, which included the idea that moral rectitude was rewarded by God with material prosperity, so therefore it was possible to gauge who among the upright was the most upright and who among the righteous was most righteous, by looking at their wealth. After all, because God has predestined all of us to our lot, it would be unthinkable that God would knowingly reward purity and righteousness with illness, poverty, misfortune and endless fruitless labors.

This was always a crock, but it has just enough of the Grasshopper vs. Ant fable in it to appear mildly plausible.

well, in rand's defense (not that i would), she ups the credibility of her argument by removing divine providence from the equation. thus one's material station in life derives not from preordained destiny, but from the congruence of one's actions & abilities with a sort of logical morality, the basic desire of the universe, or some such. which makes the whole thing harder to dismiss out of hand. though i still do, ha ha ha.

Aimless you do realize it's really easy to call Randianism a crock without pretending it has anything to do with God

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gadgetlab/2010/08/worldsbiggestwriting-660x647.jpg
“The main reason I did it is because I am an Ayn Rand fan,” he says. “In my opinion if more people would read her books and take her ideas seriously, the country and world would be a better place — freer, more prosperous and we would have a more optimistic view of the future.”
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/worlds-biggest-writing/

can someone explain that man to me?!

melvillean 7 hours ago

I would write "Don't" in Canada.

if she was alive today she'd have a vv quotable column on 'the corner'

"The fiction of Ayn Rand is as low as you can get re fiction. I hope you picked it up off the floor of the subway and threw it in the nearest garbage pail. She makes Mickey Spillane look like Dostoevsky."

- Flannery O'Connor

Ayn Rand is an extremely interesting personality because of the historical and pop culture references she makes. Her work is sort of a document of mid-century economic and social relations. I highly recommend the documentary "A Sense of Life", it spends a lot of time on her Hollywood roots and her affection for the early film industry. As a media phenomenon she is very interesting. But she praises individualism and I don't understand how this squares with how some of her followers use her. I don't think a lot of them see her as a historic persona. I don't think they know a lot about Russia or respect her Russian roots.

If she were alive today she'd get a lot of attention, not all of it from "followers". I am not sure she would enjoy being cited as an influence by tea partiers, for example. She seemed to do everything possible to deter that sort of hero worship.

I don't think her fiction is that hot either but it is illuminating, again for its historic relevance. In the same way that detective fiction might be. I thought the "great books" model died with postmodernism.

She seemed to do everything possible to deter that sort of hero worship.

not true at all

that "Sense of Life" documentary is terrible btw.

I agree that she is fascinating though and was in many ways a remarkable if rather repugnant person.

Why is "A Sense of Life" terrible? Not too many documentaries are about a Russian immigrant getting her start in early Hollywood.

It white-washes basically everything about her!

It's total hagiography

have not seen the doc. i only know that, "she seemed to do everything possible to deter that sort of hero worship" = lolz for days.

You want to be the most right person on the earth, go ahead. I am sorry I spent any worthless time on something that seems to have influenced a lot of people. I should spend more time mining ilx for lolz that I can dwell on for days. As for the hero worship stuff, it's in the bios about her alienating her followers, if you care to read them.

The film isn't hagiography at all! It's about cultural context.

Rejecting/ostracizing those in her circle who disagreed with her does not equal "discouraging hero worship".

no, i don't mean to deny yr appreciation of the cultural context-setting thing, but want to inject a measure of perspective re: her relationship to the cult of her. she built that shit.

PSST:

http://vimeo.com/13589866

I love how this thread never gets revived without somebody being a hard-on about Ayn fucking Rand.

8==================D ---------------------------- [abt] AR

The day must have its night. We must have our Ayn Rand.

She is the tails to our heads on the Promethean coin.

Those two posts are an illustration of what makes a cult of personality : the people who choose to submit themselves to that personality. Ayn Rand is supposed to be about free will and choosing your destiny, any dumbfuck who turns that into an immobile cult icon isn't really processing the material mentally.

I am wondering what cult she was the leader of since she broke up any organization she was involved in.

I thought conservatism of the moderate / libertarian bent was about personal responsibility, something that would seem to be anti-cult. I don't see anything in Rand's thinking that disavows this.

her philosphy, on the face of it, would seem to be (as u say) "anti-cult". but her husbandry of the cult of her own majesty = something else entirely...

Ayn Rand is supposed to be about free will and choosing your destiny...

um, "supposed"

Nathaniel Branden to thread.

hahaha i didn't finish atlas shrugged but it was basically the most horrible and terrible book i have ever read. The only reason I got as far as I did was because about 50 pages in I hated her so much I wanted to beat her stupid book. I would indignantly read passages out to my bf at the time and he would laugh at them but I wouldnt think it was funny. I would be so angry! I used to throw it against the wall.

how many times can u throw 1 book before it is not book but some paper?

this was a pretty resilient paperback. i think it was held together by its awfulness. it actually still looks like its in good shape. btw one of my best friend claims this is his favourite book.

You must abandon this friend or eliminate him.

Using a copy of the book to accomplish the latter would be fitting, we think.

yeah, shit is annoying as hell. used to "enjoy" camille paglia in the same sense, but at least she's fun to fite with.

I feel like true members of the patron class -- you know, the ones that society would fall apart without -- would never write so badly. Being super into Ayn Rand is publicly admitting that you wouldn't know either a good book or a coherent philosophy if you accidentally tripped over one. Maybe it's not a cult, sure, fine, whatever. So it's some unreadable bullshit that's not a cult. If you want to motivate yourself into being all that you can be, you can read Aristotle and spare yourself slogging through these utterly artless train wrecks.

It is very much a cult, which we find admirable. All worthwhile points of view are fanatically followed. We find those on the opposite side worthy opponents. Those in the middle, mere dissenters or wafflers, not even fit to forcibly brainwash.