Nith Posted October 5, 2012 Report Share Posted October 5, 2012 HI there, new to this forum (or any other Objectivism forum). So figure probably best to post here before I starting some debate on another forum as this post is intended to set some premises about me, my exprience with O'ism and how I found Ayn Rand's Writing. My background is Russian Jewish (Ukrianian Jewish to be precise but I speak Russian not Ukranian). Shortly after the break up of the USSR my family immigrated to Israel, and from there we moved to England and subsequently Canada. When I identify myself as Jewish it is purely ethnical not religious (as on would identify himself as Irish, Italian, Persian or Korean), but this is for a completely different post. My first encounter with Ayn Rand's writing was while I was working as a mover as a summer job during university. When moving one house I found The Fountainhead lying on top of the bed. Considering that everything else was packed (including the bedsheets) I do wonder now whether it was left there on purpose. Having both heard of the title and the author somewhere but couldn't place where I read the back cover, and was intrigued. However never seemed to be able to get up to reading it (I believe some new Dune books came out (the Butlerian Jihad ones) and I was too busy with school/work. A few years later my best friend game me her copy. She lived in New York for a few years so we haven't discussed the book at all, she just thought it would be a book I love. And sure enough I did. I read it while working in a states on a really boring QA job, took me just a few days. My first words about it were - ' I've never read a book so long, that simply could not have been written any shorter.' However I recognized something in the book that was truly familiar, something that I knew all my life but never been able to acknowledge it.It took me a while to finish Atlas Shrugged (I read primarily on my commute to/from work and I cannot read if I am driving). However with that booked there was no going back. It was like reading Jules Verne who was able to concieve of a rocket to the moon way before any space travel research. The way the world was at the beginning of Atlas shrugged seems like just a few years away from what we will have now. Since then I have read Anthem, and We the Living and working my way through Back to the Primitive and will read everything else. I must preface that I do not consider myself a philosopher, my background is in Computer Science, however I made a decision during university to not work as a programmer, and went into Analytics (QA, BA, currently Leading a team of Reporting Analysts). Both my parents are also Computer Engineers, (and combine with being born and raised under communism), as such philosophy or politics were never much of a discussion in my house. So my experience in proper Philosophy is quite limited (forewarning if I make crappy arguments). I consider Objectivism simply the only right way to live, and something that I have known since way before reading her books, just never had a way to frame it in words or coherent ideas. So right now I do still feel a bit of a noob in terms Objectivism. But what makes me want to go beyond simply reading books though is in part fear of the world in Atlas Shrugged, in part trying to answer the many Whys? Why do I believe in the necessity to vote, yet there is no political party that represents what I want. Why do people of my generation want to spend their days freezing their assess off instead of working hard to have a better future. Why when the government does purely socialistic moves does capitalism get the blame. Why does not one think it is wrong how at the RNC they can talk about freedom and then have mass prayer a few moment later. Etc Etc etc. I've been reading these forums for a few days now and really like the community. I feel there is a very good array of rational people here which will make for interesting discussions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volco Posted October 14, 2012 Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 Welcome! Objectivism surely conciliates a lot of seemingly opposite extremes, or artificially opposed concepts, such as the apparent paradoxes in your' list of whys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted October 14, 2012 Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 I've been reading these forums for a few days now and really like the community. I feel there is a very good array of rational people here which will make for interesting discussions. Welcome to OO.com; I hope you continue find value in the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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