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CapitalistFred

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    CapitalistFred got a reaction from hernan in How do you live your Objectivist values?   
    An artist is able to burn away all irrelvancies and present a picture that focuses only on what truly matters to the artist. In learning about Reardon, Roark, Dagny Taggart. D'Anconia - these Idealized capitalists are presented as pure examples -it is easy to see the pertinent traits. Reading biographies of the real giants capitalism, one is presented a complex picture of an individual... the important aspects of the person are often buried under many layers of useless personal information. There is value in reading and studying the triumphant caputalists, but one must dig for the timeless truths amid the trivia.

    Rand's Idealized heroes present none of those challenges. It's like the difference between discovering gems in the jewelry store or in a gem mine - in both instances there are valuable things to be found, but in the former location one must merely recognize them, while in the latter one must dig through quite a bit of worthless material to discover each gem.

    On the objectivist morality of the trader, once internalized this gave me a framework with which to easily and effectively refute collectivists, socialists, and the merely envious who attempt to push guilt onto achievers. More importantly, it gave me the moral certainty of the righteousness of reaping the rewards of the wealth that I earn as a producer. This moral certainty is priceless, and makes me far more efficacious than I otherwise could be if I were racked with doubts of my own worthiness to produce wealth and keep what I have earned.
  2. Like
    CapitalistFred got a reaction from whYNOT in How do you live your Objectivist values?   
    An artist is able to burn away all irrelvancies and present a picture that focuses only on what truly matters to the artist. In learning about Reardon, Roark, Dagny Taggart. D'Anconia - these Idealized capitalists are presented as pure examples -it is easy to see the pertinent traits. Reading biographies of the real giants capitalism, one is presented a complex picture of an individual... the important aspects of the person are often buried under many layers of useless personal information. There is value in reading and studying the triumphant caputalists, but one must dig for the timeless truths amid the trivia.

    Rand's Idealized heroes present none of those challenges. It's like the difference between discovering gems in the jewelry store or in a gem mine - in both instances there are valuable things to be found, but in the former location one must merely recognize them, while in the latter one must dig through quite a bit of worthless material to discover each gem.

    On the objectivist morality of the trader, once internalized this gave me a framework with which to easily and effectively refute collectivists, socialists, and the merely envious who attempt to push guilt onto achievers. More importantly, it gave me the moral certainty of the righteousness of reaping the rewards of the wealth that I earn as a producer. This moral certainty is priceless, and makes me far more efficacious than I otherwise could be if I were racked with doubts of my own worthiness to produce wealth and keep what I have earned.
  3. Like
    CapitalistFred got a reaction from dream_weaver in How do you live your Objectivist values?   
    An artist is able to burn away all irrelvancies and present a picture that focuses only on what truly matters to the artist. In learning about Reardon, Roark, Dagny Taggart. D'Anconia - these Idealized capitalists are presented as pure examples -it is easy to see the pertinent traits. Reading biographies of the real giants capitalism, one is presented a complex picture of an individual... the important aspects of the person are often buried under many layers of useless personal information. There is value in reading and studying the triumphant caputalists, but one must dig for the timeless truths amid the trivia.

    Rand's Idealized heroes present none of those challenges. It's like the difference between discovering gems in the jewelry store or in a gem mine - in both instances there are valuable things to be found, but in the former location one must merely recognize them, while in the latter one must dig through quite a bit of worthless material to discover each gem.

    On the objectivist morality of the trader, once internalized this gave me a framework with which to easily and effectively refute collectivists, socialists, and the merely envious who attempt to push guilt onto achievers. More importantly, it gave me the moral certainty of the righteousness of reaping the rewards of the wealth that I earn as a producer. This moral certainty is priceless, and makes me far more efficacious than I otherwise could be if I were racked with doubts of my own worthiness to produce wealth and keep what I have earned.
  4. Like
    CapitalistFred got a reaction from hernan in How do you live your Objectivist values?   
    I read everything that Rand wrote during my high school years and internalized the lessons and philosophy. Coming from an enterpreneurial background, I was already aware that capitalism was the most practical and effictive economic system, what Objectivism gave me was the knowledge that capitalism was the only moral way for men to deal together, and some idealized characters who epitomized capitalist values.

    I opened my first business when I was in my early 20s and made a few dollars. Over the next 15 years I opened several different businesses, all did well for a time, but I made some bad decisions and ended up dead broke at 38. No car, no busines, no home, and living in my parents guest room. At that point, everyone told me to lower my expectations and just get a job.

    I considered it, but as I have always wanted to be heroic, at least in my own eyes, and as creating a successful business (like Hank Reardon) is my favored form of heroism, I opted to make another attempt to open a successful business. I went to work for a company that had a business model that I admired, worked for them for 2 years as a manager, and then moved and opened my own store, using what I had learned from them and adding some of my own twists.

    The busines struggled for months, and then began to prosper, and now, at 47, I own a successful chain of 9 retail stores and employ about 150 people. My family enjoys a comfortable lifestyle, and my investors have all profited from their affiliation with me.

    Without Rand's writings, I dont know that I would have had the courage to go back into business after my earlier failure. I am now doing what I love, and making a handsome living by doing so.

    Thanks Ayn!
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