PKD

Doesn't work for me because I have to pour all my energy into one thing or else I won't be doing the best I can do. Though, Ayn Rand did take 12 years to write AS and I'm pretty sure she did a lot more in those years. -PKD

My searching around has indicated his name to be Mark Hunter. I'm finding this discussion interesting. By the way, you bring up Ron Paul. Do you have an issue with Ron Paul? -PKD

Out of stock as of today. -PKD

I've been looking at that and the webmaster seems to have fairly interesting ideas regarding the current policies of ARI. Do you find he has a point or do you think he's delusional, is it a dividing issue? Just curious. I agree with some of his views, but haven't read the whole thing. -PKD

Shouldn't this be in fiction? I can't say I recommend "The Rainbow Fish" as it indoctrinates children into collectivism, altruism and some weird allegory of communism. But I do like that Author's "Penguin Pete" series. "It's Raining Meatballs", "Bamboozled" and "Ted" all are very well illustrated, but I don't know how well these would go over with Objectivist parenting since they show the world in a way that isn't real. I still find them interesting. "Where the wild things are" also goes wildly (no pun intended) beyond reality into fantasy.

The Man in the High Castle. ;-) -PKD

I am curious as to why my post on this thread was deleted. Anyone?

Why do people pay income tax? It's unconstitutional. What would happen if not a single American filed this year? They'd try to jail 300 million people?

You know, that would actually be quite a good idea. If anything it would make for very interesting reading for newcomers, and make life easier because whenever someone asked the question, the link to that FAQ would get posted. Or maybe it's been done already? I just drove up. ;-) -PKD

Hi, JMegansnow, thank you so much for that perspective. It really helps me see more clearly. ) I'm actually in the process of re-reading the Fountainhead, which I admit I haven't read since 1997 when my then-wife was studying Objectivism. -PKD

Hi, thanks for the replies, I'm going through each one with a lot of thought. I loved the comic, by the way. ;-) K-Mac, you are correct, he wasn't worth engaging. Retards seldom are. But I didn't really know that for sure until his reply to request for elaboration. Going from there, musenji is right that I should've addressed the actual argument. dadmonson, why Anthem in particular? Chris, thanks for the advice. Also, one thing I've never been clear on is why Roark even bothered to help out Keating. He was a transparently worthless character. -PKD

I think you are right, thanks for the reply. As for the last part of your reply, I wish I didn't CARE whether I "win" the argument because it earns me nothing. Roark would not have wasted a single nanosecond thinking about whether he had impressed bystanders. The last time this happened it was on a comments board. I'm going to paste some of that discussion here, names changed. Retard: "Ayn Rand is flawed as all hell, as usual." Me: "Elaborate, please" Retard: "Selfishness is needed for surviving yourself but basically sucks in large group cooperation by definition. Did you really need me to point this out to you? Are you 10 years old or something?" The strange aggressiveness of the retard took me by surprise. Then I made a mistake: Me: "I am guessing you're older than 10 but not very intelligent. Which is why you not only failed to explain why "Ayn Rand is flawed" but also demonstrated to be a second-hander, since your sense of worth is dependent upon trying to put down a complete stranger. And that's pretty much what I got from you, so you might want to actually READ Rand before saying she is flawed. Or not. Makes no big difference to me. " This was a mistake because accusing someone of 'not reading' something is a non-factual argument. I don't know for sure that he hasn't read it. I also accused him of doing exactly what I got suckered into doing: attempting to put down a total stranger. Retard: "'Elaborate, please' 'Makes no big difference to me.' I rest my case. Your a moron running around in your own hypocrisy. Perhaps you haven't actually taken the time to read her works. Please, educate yourself. Have a nice day.^^ " My final post was: Me: "My first comment came because I was wondering what, in that video, prompted you to say she was "flawed". Once I saw your reasoning had nothing to do with the video and I understood the kind of person you were, I saw you had nothing intelligent to say one way or another. I've actually read her works. I also know you can't differentiate "your" from "you're" which indicates you don't read much or are of moderate literacy. If you really think you are better than me, your life is your punishment." I can't believe I get suckered so easily. Makes it hard to believe I'm striving to be a rational man ;-) -PKD

Are there exercises that help you care less what others think? I am often trapped in arguments with idiots and end up giving them power they don't deserve just by replying to them. It's just so annoying, when complete morons think they are better than me and walk away thinking they've convinced the world that 2+2=5. I'm not good at debating so I probably should not try to, but the deeper undercurrent is that, like Howard Roark, I simply should not CARE. Having grown up being taught by my parents that other people's opinions were the most important thing in the world, I'm concerned. I'm now a parent myself and while I'd love to raise my child as an Objectivist, I feel that I need to become stronger or I will not be able to teach by example. I need to fight my conditioning. I'm here to learn and if anyone has any tips that would be great. -PKD