SBP2009

Although this is an old thread and I am sure Cogito's parents have already read the book selection, I voted for The Fountainhead. When I set out to read Ayn Rand, I decided that I would start with her masterpiece and that led me to choose Atlas Shrugged as my first read. But I was already interested in the philosophy and wanted to read Ayn Rand's greatest work. I wanted to jump in with both feet. I think that for Cogito's parents, however, The Fountainhead makes a good introduction. As Kendall and David have already said, it's a great introduction to the soul of an individualist. It's a way for someone to dip their toe in the water and see if they want to jump in. It is great that Cogito's parents are willing to read an Ayn Rand book. I cannot even imagine my devout Catholic parents picking up The Fountainhead and treating it with anything other than condemnation. So, Cogito, if you are reading this, how did your parents respond to Ayn Rand's ideas?

Either, or both, depending on the undesirability of your "friends" or your surroundings. For example, if your "friends" are of the mooching/freeloading variety, you would do well to cut them out of your life.

The first ten minutes look great, I like that it opens with Kahlan's flight to the boundary. The quad chasing Kahlan and Denee in the opening sequence is fairly menacing and there's good suspense to hook the viewer. WGN is running the series at 4:00pm Central on Saturdays, this is a truly awful time slot. It makes it seem like they are marketing it as a kids' show. Unfortunate, really. But by the same token it may hook a younger (and philosophically non-committed) audience.

Hmmmm, I have never read any James Clavell, but I remember seeing a TV miniseries of Noble House when I was a teenager. I seem to remember that Pierce Brosnan was in it. Am I remembering correctly?

I also want to see this film. I understand it to be a powerful wake up call to the threat of Islamic Totalitarianism. Of course the leftists must be getting worked up into a lather about it. Watch them try to turn the distribution of this film into a "hate crime".

I think this worldwide financial crisis/panic/recession/depression is playing right into the hands of those who want a One World socialist dictatorship. Between the environmentalists with their Kyoto agenda, the UN and the World Bank we are seeing the tentacles of statism growing everywhere. Robert Zoellick, head Commissar of the World Bank: "We need concerted global action now not just to deal with this crisis, but to put in place new architecture, new norms, and new oversight to ensure that this crisis never happens again." New architecture? New norms? New oversight!? Just what the world needs! More statism and altruism, especially in the places (like Africa) where capitalism is needed most.

A guy I work with is an aspiring fashion/commercial photographer who has built up a bit of a local reputation for controversial self-portrait digital composite scenes. His sense of life is utterly repellent. Everything he creates is nihilistic, created purely for shock value. He talks nonstop about wanting to receive government grants for his "art," but fortunately he has not yet received such funding. In the last couple of years his creations have started to reflect his left wing/anarchist politics as well. He has become obsessed with the US Presidential election (not surprisingly, he worships Obama) and he was up in arms about Harper's so-called cuts to the arts. I walked in on him talking with another leftist co-worker, and they were both in a state of sputtering outrage over it. I stated flatly that there should be no government funding whatsoever for the arts. The glares of pure hatred I received were priceless! "If the government doesn't give grants to the arts, there goes our culture!!!!!" they both cried. I said that it was a moral crime for money to be taken from me by force and given to "artists" whose ideas were repellent to me. I added that government funding destroys art and turns it into propaganda. They were both speechless and avoided me the rest of the day.

My wife and I have been married for 14 years, and for most of our marriage we were not ready for children. But a few years ago we discussed it at length and came to the decision that we do want children. After a couple of years of trying to conceive without success, we underwent medical testing and learned we were infertile. After the shock of that diagnosis, and the resulting sense of loss, we both arrived at the realization that: 1) our self-esteem is not based on the biological criterion of reproductive fertility; 2) we still want children and the joy of raising a family and 3)it is therefore not a necessity that a child be genetically connected to us. Faced with the prospect of spending tens of thousands of dollars on fertility treatments, which in our case has only a remote chance of success, we decided that adoption was the rational course of action for us. Once we decided to adopt we were faced with a major choice: get on the (10 year plus) waiting list for domestic adoption of a healthy infant, or enter the much shorter but more expensive process for international adoption. So we are now in the waiting stage of the adoption of a baby girl under twelve months from Ethiopia. Bill, do you have your son home yet or are you still waiting?

Or, put another way: "You'll do something, Mr. Rearden!"

My family background is Catholic, Catholic and more Catholic. I am the eldest of six kids in my family. My parents are quite devout Catholics (in all ways!). When I was a child we would attend Mass every Sunday as well as the Holy Week services the week leading up to Easter. I received all the sacraments a Roman Catholic child receives. I was an altar boy from the ages of seven to fourteen. (No, I was not sexually molested, lol). My family made annual pilgrimages to a couple of area shrines. For my elementary years I attended a Catholic "separate" elementary school in my very small hometown. In Canada "separate" schools are religious schools that receive taxpayer funding. That little Catholic school was hell. I endured it for 8 years. While it was a "Catholic" school, it was still a taxpayer funded school in Canada in the 1970's, with all the socialist indoctrination that entails. The teachers were not nuns or priests, they were graduates of teacher's colleges who happened to be Catholic. I remember some as being reasonably competent. Most were empty headed bureaucrats who didn't seem to be happy as overpaid babysitters. But the students of this small (entire student body at its peak: 100 kids) school were the driving force that really shaped my childhood experience. I was bullied mercilessly. Many of the kids were part of one large extended family and they formed a sizable gang. I was not related to them, so I was a tribal outcast. Several of my childhood "friends" would hang out and play with me when no one was around, but as soon as the gang showed up, everyone turned on me, including my "friends". My parents, being devout Catholics, as well as sworn pacifists, told me to be like Jesus, to pray and "turn the other cheek." They told me that a good child of God forgives his enemies. I wanted my parents to be pleased with me, so I did as I was told, even as the abuse was heaped upon me in the schoolyard. I hated every moment of elementary school, and grew to simply endure it as some form of penance. I knew something was wrong, but I had been raised to believe in original sin, and that my suffering on Earth would be rewarded in heaven. Through all the taunting and torment I received, I learned to hate the mob, to distrust the collective. I pushed those thoughts below the surface, convincing myself that I was being like Jesus. As far as my own religiosity went, I went through a stage as a child (when I was 11 years old) where I read all kinds of stories about the lives of saints. Martyrdom, acsetism, every aspect of a religious life appealed to me. I had internalized my indoctrination hook, line and sinker. I was a mystical altruist in many ways, and even proclaimed, loudly, to anyone who would listen, that I intended to become a priest. I was truly walking the path of Jesus! But as I got a little older, the little, quiet voice of reason in my mind became louder, more insistent. My religion was starting to ring hollow. The rituals that were supposed to bring me closer to God didn't seem right any more. I realized that I had been convincing myself that I believed in the Catholic faith, and that I had been doing so in order to please my parents. As my elementary years drew to a close, I found I was far more fascinated by my female classmates' developing curves than I was by religion! When I quietly dropped my stated plan to become a priest, no one seemed to notice. As my high school years progressed, religion held less and less sway over me. I still went to church every Sunday like my parents expected. I went to Catholic Youth gatherings outside of my hometown and endured the preaching because the conferences were a chance to get away for a weekend and, more importantly, to meet girls! But I was already basically a deist, beginning to leave religion behind. When I went to university, going to church on Sundays seemed a big chore, so I started to go only occasionally. I stopped altogether in my second year of university. When I moved in with my girlfriend(who is now my wife of 14 years) my parents denounced my "living in sin" most vociferously. They called at all hours of the day and night. My mother left weeping guilt-laden messages on my answering machine. I received Christmas cards saying they were afraid that I would burn in hell. They said that I had gone against all the values with which I was raised. I told them that it was my life to live as I saw fit. They were apoplectic. Three years later my wife and I were married in the Catholic Church, in an attempt to smooth things over with my parents. But we never went to church again except for weddings and funerals. But my belief in Catholicism, and in religion generally, was gone forever. Years later I discovered Ayn Rand's works and knew that I was right to listen to that little voice of reason all those years ago.

Well, I checked the site and whew! I was soooooo relieved to discover that the Earth has not been destroyed. I was really, really worried......

I have no experience with dealing with a suicidal person, but I think that my first response would be something along the lines of "You must want to live, on some level at least, because you have told me your wish to kill yourself. If you were 100% determined to kill yourself, you would be carrying out the act rather than talking to me. So, at the risk of sounding callous, what is stopping you?" I think that someone who communicates a wish to commit suicide to another person is rarely committed to it. Such an expression of suicidal intent is more likely a cry for help.

LOL, I knew someone would post that. I would hope that it would turn out better than Rapture! But seriously, where would be a promising location for a real-life Galt's Gulch? The mountains of Colorado would be too close to the scrutiny of both the US government and various ecofascist groups.

Imagine if, as in Atlas Shrugged, the greatest among us decided they would no longer be sacrificial victims to the various types of collectivism, mysticism and statism that are rampant in today's world. If a real-life John Galt were to lead a strike of the world's prime movers, in the present, what places could work as a modern-day Galt's Gulch? Would there be one place, one shining Atlantis of reason and capitalism? Or would there be many such places scattered across the globe? How heavily armed would such a retreat have to be? And would a strike of the men of the mind be likely or even possible?

I was speechless watching that video. I laughed but was disturbed by the complete rejection of reason that was on display. That one single line spoken by the curly haired woman (Syndee L'Ome Grace) spelled out everything that is irrational about the environmentalists: "I think that we've lost our identity as we have evolved into technology and industrialized society.." There it is. They think we have "lost our identity"? How ridiculous. They are the ones screaming like savages, wailing and thrashing in the throes of emotion on demand, like a bunch of bratty children that have been told to go to bed. They are the ones who fill the voids in their heads with mystical nature worship. Anyone who thinks environmentalism isn't a cult should watch this video. It is funny, in the way that it is good to laugh at evil at times.

I finished Infidel a few days ago, and I can attest to how riveting a read it was. It was particularly interesting to read her philosophical evolution, from a devout slave of a death cult to a strong, fiercely independent defender of individual rights. While she does seem to hold some mixed premises, it would not surprise me in the least to see her complete her development and embrace Objectivism. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a truly heroic woman, a beacon of light and reason in our self-destructive, politically-correct world. To me, her name is synonymous with bravery.

Adding Edward Cline to my list. I look forward to reading Sparrowhawk after I'm finished with Sword of Truth. Ed Cline, you may be swamped with Objectivist email now!

I think the best way for an Objectivist to approach Dune is to read it as a cautionary tale against theocracy. Paul Atreides falls into the trap of becoming a godlike figure and the next two novels show the consequences. I have read all the Dune books, including the later ones written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. The "Legends of Dune" series is particularly entertaining, it's set in the time of the Butlerian Jihad. All the Herbert/Anderson books read like political thrillers. I rather enjoyed them. I started reading Dune in high school and am now in my mid 30s so I guess I could say I grew up with them. To this day I still don't sit with my back to a door (I think that was a bit of Dune fighting wisdom).

Pierre Burton? Wow, you truly are a Canuck if Burton is on your list of favorites, lol. I haven't actually read anything by him, and I readily admit that I have generally dismissed him because of his quintessential Canadian-ness. I get nauseated at the thought of opening up a book and reading some masturbatory ode to Trudeau or to Tommy Douglas or some other vile Canadian figure. Perhaps I was too quick to dismiss him. Any particular titles you can recommend?

Has Peikoff's strategy of recommending votes for the Dhimmicrats changed with the sudden religious fervor being spouted by Obama and the other drones? The sudden rise of Christian Leftism is very disturbing. My province of Saskatchewan is only now beginning to recover from the socialist ruin inflicted upon it by Tommy Douglas, one of the more famous Christian Leftists that I can think of. We are still saddled with a massive welfare state including that famous Canadian soviet-style socialized medicine. Is the USA ready for Jimmy Carter v2.0? Peikoff must be hoping to force an Atlas Shrugged scenario. Or am I missing something?

I'd love to read your story. And I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I would not seek to steal the work of your imagination. First person narrative from the perspective of a member of the tyrannical regime... interesting.

My house is a modest 3 bedroom bungalow built in the late 1960's. I (with a great deal of help from my father-in-law, I'm not exactly Bob Villa) rebuilt my backyard deck a few years ago, and I stained it a beautiful sage green. My old wooden fence was definitely showing its age, sagging in places and its Battleship Grey (that's the actual name of the paint color!) paint was peeling quite badly. So I figured it would look a lot better if I stained it with the same sage green opaque stain that I had used on the deck. I stained several boards in the green color to test how it would look, and was very pleased. Knowing that prepping the old weathered fence for staining would be quite an undertaking, I rolled my pressure washer out of the garage and began blasting the loose peeling paint off the boards. Shortly after beginning the pressure washing it became clear to me that my fence was in far worse shape than I had previously thought. My pressure washer, even at a relatively low pressure setting, took big splinters of wood off along with the paint in some places. In others, it shredded the boards like a chainsaw or drilled holes in them. Rot was rampant. I pushed through the job, pressure washing most of the fence and then I stopped to survey the situation. Yuck. There were chalky white and inky black patches where old paint colours showed through, bare wood was exposed, and sunlight shone through ragged holes in chewed-up planks. For a moment I thought that if I went ahead and stained the fence, it would still look better and maybe would last another few years. But then I basically said to myself " That's crazy! This fence is a rotten pile of garbage, not even fit for firewood! Staining an old rotten fence doesn't change reality, wishing doesn't make it so." Had I gone ahead and stained it I would have wasted a couple of hundred dollars on stain and painting supplies, and wasted a great deal of time, on a fence that a good stiff prairie wind would push over. I put away the pressure washer and started pricing out a new fence...

Canada here, and the first from Saskatchewan on the board!

One more added, right here! I seem to be the only one in Saskatchewan thus far...this province is famous for being the birthplace of Tommy the Commie (Tommy Douglas) after all. Hmmm..... Actually you are dismayingly correct in saying Canada is all socialists....with the exception of we 6 Objectivists.

I'm sure some people would get the absurdity of their statements if I framed it in such a fashion. I have been known to use particularly venomous sarcasm to make points when I was embroiled in discussions with irrational people in the past. If I were making the argument five years ago, before I was an Objectivist, I might have gone the sarcastic-tongue-lashing route. But now that I understand my own moral code and philosophy in a much more complete way, I will say what I mean, positively and emphatically. Especially when the day comes that little ears and a rapidly developing mind are listening.