TheDudeWow

Greatest song or greatest song? But seriously, this is probably the perfect example of Objectivist music. Most notably, "For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught. To say the things he truly feels, and not the words of one who kneels." I absolutely love this song. What about you guys?

I was just thinking, if we assume that politicians respond to problems with new regulation and government agencies, doesn't that mean that a politician can only draw power from a crisis? If nothing is wrong in the world (Which may never happen because of this), then what use is a politician? If nothing needs doing, then what can they do? For these reasons, do you think that politicians would intentionally create problems to retain and increase their own power? For example, take the war in Iraq(For the record, I don't want to turn this into a 9/11 conversation). We did not have as pronounced a presence in the area beforehand, and we weren't involved in a major military conflict, so the President had no justification to go and regulate the area. But after the attacks, he gained the power to increase the government in the sense that he created the DoD and probably many other agencies that I just can't think of at 1 AM. Also, if we take out any "9/11 was an inside job" from the equation, would the government not benefit from prolonging the war by mishandling it? That's just what came up with while I was on YouTube, so feel free to poke it full of holes. I want to hear what you guys think.

Thanks for all the advice! There aren't many places nowadays where you can just show up and get free help.

From the start I was always going to screen print by hand. I like to actually physically create, and that fills the desire pretty well. The main thing I need to learn is the business side. I'm not exactly sure what business licenses, if any, I need for an online store, and I know nothing about taxes. But, this is all stuff I'll have to know in the future, so now is as good a time to start as any.

An example of one of the few brands that I wear: http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/landingpages/apt9/mens/graphictees/PRD~654148/Apt+9+World+Peace+Tee.jsp http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/landingpages/apt9/mens/graphictees/PRD~633690/Apt+9+London+Stripe+Tee.jsp http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/landingpages/apt9/mens/graphictees/PRD~623647/Apt+9+Bridge+Photo+Tee.jsp http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/landingpages/apt9/mens/graphictees/PRD~673625/Apt+9+Feather+Smoke+Tee.jsp http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/landingpages/apt9/mens/graphictees/PRD~678398/Apt+9+Parallelogram+Tee.jsp However, this is all I wear of them (Apt. 9, by the way). As much as I like these, I still feel that they lack something, and that's what I'm trying to make. I can't really put into words what it is, though. I think that shirts can be a physical display of ideas and character traits, and I want to make the traits that I try to live by.

If there isn't room for me, I'll make room! On a more serious note, the kinds of clothes that I am designing are only vaguely similar to one other company, and they aren't that alike. The years I have spent trying to find things that I would like to wear is my research. But I do agree that I will have to advertise A LOT. But as for original clothing pieces, I don't have any sewing experience, so that will have to come later. I want to focus on tees and maybe hoodies to start out with.

Mainly business. I'm actually not too into shopping, but, I have noticed that I rarely find clothes that I would wear. I figure that there have to be others who feel the same way, so I want to make a line for people like me. I'm a relatively competent designer for many other things (I have experience in 2D and 3D art, and am a decent pencil artist), so I think it can translate. The whole idea is a pretty recent one, so I have yet to do much research into the competition. EDIT: Also, I was thinking about what you said and I realized that this is kind of a Roark situation in the sense that the people like me, who want shirts like those that I will make, will find them. Plus, the cost to maintain the business is so low I could really wait as long as I have to. Start up costs are minimal and I have quite a bit of my birthday money left over, so that's more or less out of the way.

Hi, I'm Garrett, and I just recently heard about Ms. Rand's writing. We read Anthem a few months ago in my English class (I'm currently 16, by the way), and I thought that the book was, well, awesome. At the time, I was a very, very liberal Democrat, and was absolutely in favor of Socialism. Anthem was the spark that brought my curiosity to life. I then went and immediately borrowed The Fountainhead from the school library. I was blown away. The book was like a slap in the face. Everything I thought was right was questionable, and I was in a bit of a moral crisis. At first I attempted to reconcile what I had learned with what I already believed. I had yet to read Atlas, so I didn't think about the political implications of it. But after I read Atlas, which I now consider to be the greatest book ever written for what it has done to me, I was totally changed. Her writing was everything I had always felt was right, but applied. I had always hated incompetence and intentional ignorance, our culture's worship of stupidity and inadequacy, and the people that had tried to stop me from succeeding. I would say that I hate to sound cocky, but I think that you guys understand that here, in saying that I had always been of above average intelligence. I was (and still am), treated worse because of my intellect. It's not that I see now that it isn't a bad thing to be better, I have always chased challenges and sought knowledge, but that there is a whole philosophy about everything I felt was right. Objectivism is probably the most life-changing thing that I have ever experienced. That's my story. Currently, I'm in the process of creating my own business in the form of an online clothing store. It's my personal summer project. Looking forward to learning from all of you, Garrett