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What if owning the place you sleep at night had a substantial impact on the child prodigy speed at which the world has evolved in the last 200 years? What if rent is dragging us back into the feudalism of the dark ages? Consciousness and existence are corollaries. No consciousness without existence, no existence without consciousness. If you own your self isn't it significant to own your shelter?

How do you quantify productivity in purpose? There are countless examples of hard working people who go downhill very quickly in a couple years following retirement, and I would argue that they died from boredom. I listened to an audio book about people who lived to be over a hundred, the book claimed the number one trait they shared was a sense of purpose. I believe it is productive to laugh, to play, to learn. What will you do with your learning? How long can a man who has been productive enough to sustain his life stop himself from doing something, anything... Will you build no bench, will you pull no weed, will you paint no wall, will you pass no jewel of knowledge to a random stranger in a coffee shop? Keep in mind everything Rand said was very personal to her own happiness. I think Rand is giving words to a sense in herself and perhaps yourself that may at times become unsatisfied, speaking to the part of you that is living below his potential. I think living with a chronic sense of dissatisfaction with one's self is painfully wrong. That focus becomes a habit that sometimes blocks a man from seeking solutions. I was recently talking with my grandmother in her eighties. The moments when she feels like her purpose is gone is very painful. She still works her garden and visits the senior center weekly. I remind her she is keeping her friends alive with her quick wit and banter. She does the best she can, to her fullest ability. I think Rand once compared a brain surgeon to a janitor in the same building. The characters she described were equal morally because each was doing his best at the job he was capable of.

I have personally not experienced any kind of success convincing another person about the logic behind Objectivism and why the philosophy is The Way, The Truth, and The Light. Maybe it's too wordy for most people when presented that way, maybe there aren't enough social scenarios where people accept deeper conversations, I don't know the reason, but a brick wall is hit every time. During the past couple of years I've given up the "lectures" altogether and replaced them with one-off comments in normal conversation, where I really try to think about everything from as realistic a standpoint as I can and then take a second to sum it up succinctly with a somewhat philosophical-style comment, delivered in my own words/formulation for the conversation only. People have really responded to this method, it feels like magic compared to the old strategy. At the same time, I've focused more on my own life than on an Objectivst agenda (I'm part of a trend, I guess?), with several benefits: a better life, from which to draw examples, and a better understanding of the purpose of philosophy, and why someone would follow principles to begin with, from which I can formulate my summations. I'm beginning to think there is no other way to get people to legitimately change their views. There has to be something to look at in real life for an "aha!" moment to happen. More emphasis should be placed on Rand's life success and enduring influence as support for the validity of her philosophy. More Objectivists should emphasize their own real life benefits following a stellar philosophy.