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Blah blah blah (Reply to this comment)
by buffoonery
First of all, I never said leftists "do not think". What I said, in reference to Howard Zinn's book (which I despise) was that it was "an archetype how certain leftists purport to think (when they think at all, which is infrequent)."
Big difference, pal.
Second, I'm not pandering to anyone or anything, and I don't know any "Randroids" (nice ad hominem line there yourself).
Third, you're right, you DID paraphrase and in doing so undercut your position. I didn't say "Rand's works aren't all that bad, they are on a much higher level than the works of Marx and Zinn".
What I SAID was: "Now, I don't think that Atlas Shrugged is a wretched piece of junk like Zinn's book or the Communist Manifesto,", and then through the rest of the review (before and after that remark) ripped her apart on grounds to numerous to repeat here. That isn't what you paraphased, pal. When you're going to criticize someone, you'd better have a handle on what they said.
Moreover, Rand was better read than you think and, as someone who lived very modestly for a good bit of her life, had a much better understanding of the real world than someone like Marx, who lived on the generosity of his friends and family.
Read the review again. It isn't particularly complimentary, as some people below have pointed out.
When you call someone an ideological hack, you'd better have grounds for doing so. Otherwise, you look like a hack yourself.
You're edging very close to that chasm inhabited by consummately ignorant liberals who can't read closely.
BTW, if like this, you'll love my review of "The Fountainhead." But if you comment on it, first try to get straight what I said.
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Apr 21 '01
9:18 am PDT
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OK review... (Reply to this comment)
by arthurdent
...though it was almost ruined for me when, seemingly out of nowhere, you claimed that leftists "do not think". With that statement, you have proven yourself to be an ideological hack with little regard toward facts or evidence for anything you say. So I find it hard to take anything seriously from you.
I also find disturbing your unnecessary pandering to all the Randroids out there when you said (and I paraphrase) "Rand's works aren't all that bad, they are on a much higher level than the works of Marx and Zinn." This is absurd. Critiques of Marx and Zinn would fit Rand perfectly as well. Rand knew nothing about history, philosophy, the real world, or even capitalism. Yet she pretended to know about all of them (indeed, these subjects were all integral to her philosophy). Furthermore, you won't find anything more one-sided and with as little regard to fact or truth as Rand's works. Lastly, and most disturbing, she actually WANTED all the "moochers" (by definition: anyone who wasn't a captain of industry) to die, just like in the book. She believed it would be for the good of mankind (hmm... just like Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, et al.)
Most of your review was pretty accurate though; at least you're not one of the consummately ignorant conservatives who thinks Rand is on THEIR side.
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Apr 19 '01
8:14 am PDT
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Response to opinion by buffoonery (Reply to this comment)
by cewattdog
I was excited to read your opinion of this book to decide whether it would be something I would like to read. It's a shame it is not a review but an arguement with such a political and moral agenda. I hope it doesn't discourage people from reading the book with an open mind.
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Dec 04 '00
1:33 pm PST
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Thanks! (Reply to this comment)
by marcyahn
Ayn certainly incurs her share of wrath and gushing around here. I appreciate your pointing out that you can be a Christian and still admire her strong points. Do you really want to portray Dagny in your review as a sex fiend? She concentrated solely on her work for 10 years between her love affairs with Fransisco and Hank. Overall, I enjoyed your review, and loved your humor! It almost made me recover a smile after being flattened by the truly humorless Atlas. Marcy
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Jul 07 '00
10:31 am PDT
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Re: "Who is John Galt?" (Reply to this comment)
by buffoonery
I think that you and I have much more in common than my review leads you to believe.
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Jun 14 '00
5:39 am PDT
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"Who is John Galt?" (Reply to this comment)
by johngalt26
"Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. ... The
world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours.
"... Fight for the value of your person. Fight for the virtue of your pride. Fight for the essence of that which is man: for his
sovereign rational mind. Fight with the radiant certainty and the absolute rectitude of knowing that yours is the Morality of
Life and that yours is the battle for any achievement, any value, any grandeur, any goodness, any joy that has ever existed on
this earth."
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shurgged
Dear buffoonery:
Who ever you are, what ever you write, your style of writing is beautiful. I only wish you would absorb Rand's spirit into your system and see the whole thing in a positive (aka objective) sense. Nevertheless I think your style is good. Some day...
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Jun 05 '00
9:04 pm PDT
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Great stuff, Buff. (Reply to this comment)
by mshawpyle
Um, but wasn't that Hugh Kenner, not Whit?
And (sorry to do it this way) but could you email me about a Write-Off notion of mine? I promise, you paranoiacally private person, I won't let Spetsburo 1 get hold of the email address....
GRAU: Great Review As Usual.
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May 13 '00
4:56 pm PDT
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Outstanding Review.... (Reply to this comment)
by greenspj
As far as Rand goes...
I am a Christian as well, raised Catholic. And Rand does not offend me at all, nor do I find her views absurd, for (here allow me to reduce her version of Objectivism ab absurdum) -
1) a man is required to base his decisions on his experience and rational thought
2) 'if you don't by in 100% to my philosohpy, you don't follow what I believe in'
Well, in principle I agree with Rand 100%, especially where she is attempting to create a philosophy for the businessman.
I am a Christian objectivist and do not believe that the two things are mutually exclusive. I just don't buy into every single belief (athiesm, abortion, extramarital joviality, etc.) that Rand would espouse.
As far as regulation of business goes. In principle I will oppose it. In reality there is a minmum, very, very minimum which is required to equalize market forces where perfect information is not available in the marketplace.
I do read von Misus, Rothbard and Hayek (has anyone reviewed 'Human Action' yet? i'm going to check it out as soon as I am done here) and am looking forward to reading the other authors you suggested.
As far as the "People's History of the United States" goes, it is interesting to note that that book was required reading for my former fiancee when she was in high school in the USSR. Hmmm... wonder why? It is also interesting to note that it was required reading in her Honors US History class at UPENN. Hmmm...
Best Regards.
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May 11 '00
12:01 am PDT
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Doesn't sound worth the effort to me... (Reply to this comment)
by mantis
As I abhor bad writing, I think I'll skip this one, thank you very much. If I want libertarian philosophy, I can always re-read "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress"--Heinlein could write.
Incidentally, the perfectability of man does not follow from a materialistic metaphysics; in fact, according to secular humanist philosophy, perfection is a meaningless concept because no two people can agree on what it is. One of the lecturers at the recent conference of the Council for Secular Humanism in Los Angeles discussed the pernicious illusion of the secular utopia, fostered by both fascism and communism, and pointed out that while these philosophies are not religious (though most fascists were not atheists, either), they resemble religions in that they are based on blind faith rather than empirical observation and reason. He wrapped up the lecture with an interesting axiom: "In general, good people do good things and bad people do bad things; it takes faith to make a good person do something truly evil."
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May 10 '00
11:19 pm PDT
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Great review of a turgid, endless, important, book! (Reply to this comment)
by George_Chabot,  in Books
Dear buffoonery:
You have managed to encapsulate Ayn Rand's philosophy and the story of Atlas Shrugged in less than a thousand words. I waded through that huge book years ago and preferred your version to hers!
I agreepretty much with her economics, too, the other stuff, not! Keep up the good work.
Best regards,
George
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May 10 '00
10:44 am PDT
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nice piece (Reply to this comment)
by TheAdvocate
Very nice overview of Atlas Shrugged, as well as Rand's work & philosophy. I'm fairly sympathetic to Rand's defense of capitalism, but found the film version of The Fountainhead about as boring and dry as you found Atlas Shrugged.
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May 09 '00
3:43 pm PDT
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