RoarkLaughed

As a writer, I'm constantly seeking new challenges. Recently, I began to consider the possibility of writing a self-improvement book. Why? Although I have no psychological or managerial credentials (I'm a journalist by trade), I simply live a happy, balanced life based on rational principles grounded in reality. It would bring me happiness (and profit) to share my life principles with others. I see so many people around me who suffer unhappiness based on incorrect premises. It simply doesn't have to be that way. To paraphrase Ayn Rand a happy life is ours, it's real, it exists. My question for this august forum: What books would you find helpful in improving your lives? What specific topics are not being covered well in the current alphabet soup on the literary self-help menu? One topic I'm considering is fear and anxiety. My fellow thirty-somethings seem paralyzed and separated from happiness by baseless qualms about the future and their family's security. We could discuss the many factors inherent in the trend but suffice to say; fear mongering is America's real pastime. Am I on the right track? I value the diversity of Objectivist opinions available here? I can envision a book somewhat like Craig Biddle's "Loving Life" but with a more in-depth study of (to borrow a nasty Reality TV reference) the Fear Factor.

Two words for you Burgess: Khaki pants Why? Confortable, inexpensive and versatile (said the man who owns no jeans).

Agreed...Not only is fundamentalist Christianity growing but also so-called spirituality (i.e. New Age, Mother Earth worship, etc.). This seems to be especially true (and I'm only basing this on personal observation) with people who have for various reasons (usually in their childhood) been turned off by Christianity but refuse to drop mysticism from their lives. If you want to see a rather humorous concretization of this trend, check out Penn & Teller's Showtime series Bullshit! It debunks "other-side" psychics, near-death experiences, fire-walkers, remote viewing and spiritualism in general. I would be interested in discussing why people seem so reluctant to drop religion in favor of rationality. My guess (and I think Gary Hull said this in a lecture) is because religion has at least a 2,000-year head-start on Objectivism. Also, habit has a great amount of control over many people's lives. What other factors lead to this rejection of reason..fear-mongering in the media perhaps leading to irrational fears which lead to the seeking of irrational answers? Also, I think a lot of this anti-philosophy sentiment has to do with our old enemy the Mind-Body dichotomy. Tongue-in-cheek addendum: Oh and Mr. Swig, in the spirit of capitalism I am introducing a new service. For $49.95, I will REMOVE THOSE DEVILS THAT PLAGUE OUR PEOPLE..YEA VERILY..And for $19.95 a month, I will provide said customer with round-the-clock ANTI-DEVIL INFESTATION Monitoring. Not a bad deal right. Maybe see if I can make a deal with Symantec — NORTON ANTI-SATAN...yeah..

Speaking of new Fountainheadesque buildings, has anyone ever published a book of drawings depicting what Roark's buildings might have look like in reality? I would treasure that as my ultimate coffee table book (aside from Cosmo Kramer's coffee table book about coffee tables— complete with little table legs).

Visit Capitol Hill: Most politicians are motivated by the need to be accepted or noticed very much like Keating. They define success by how many people like them (i.e. voters). Many modern novelists also resemble him — they take well-used themes and recast their stories in that template (not to mention most TV writers).

Bobby66 said the following in his attempt to learn more about capitalism (he said). QUOTE "But just look at those African countries where free trade is being practiced as opposed to those countries where cutting oneself off from the market has logically caused poverty. Now even in these free-trade countries poverty often dominates." "Just imagining being born there into a poor family and under the circumstances we know, would reason really be of sufficient use to escape poverty?" My reply: Bobby, I can give you a perfect example of someone who was born into such a system (Eurasian, not African) and used reason to escape the poverty. Ayn Rand. Although her parents were initially wealthy/upper middle-class, they lost almost everything after the Bolshevik Revolution. Rand observed the condition under which she was living, used reason to grasp the fact that America offered better opportunity, escaped a mystical, brutal dictatorship and developed a highly succesful career as an author/philosopher whose work forms the basis of this forum's existence. Now, do you understand how reason leads to wealth?