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Huffington Post attacks Objectivism and Rand

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Through all his bile, the author made a couple of blunders. He ought not to have mentioned that Rand was so popular, saying that every U.S. congressman had read her work (not sure where that comes from); his cause would have been better served if he'd stuck with the standard accusation: e.g. "millions of adolescents buy her books, but then they grow up."

There are probably a few honest folk who read Huffington, and they might now think: "Hey! I haven't read this book that every U.S. Congressman has read, and that is second only to the bible. I need to find out for myself." As for the rest of the readers, they're basically cheering themselves on.

Edited by softwareNerd
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This is the best news I've heard all day; at least we're being attacked by someone who is completely irrational, rather than someone who is kinda sorta rational about some things.

Ironically, when I looked at the article, the Google ad at the bottom was for The Objective Standard. :thumbsup:

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This article seems to be written in a rather sloppy fashion.

For example, I can't make out in the 4th paragraph if he is simply hurling random insults, or if he is actually mis-citing not just a character's dialogue, but the entire book his example comes from! Though to be honest, neither would surprise me, given the rest of his writing style.

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Considering that the author's second most 'acclaimed' piece by number of comments is his riveting article on how Botox is Destroying Hollywood Acting, I think there are better fish to fry than this cod.

I left a comment, "Please stick to what you know and go back to writing hard-hitting reports on Botox." Of course, it will most likely not get accepted, this being the Huff and Puff report.

Edited by kainscalia
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I read a bit and my eyes started to cross. I read a few comments and threw up a little. About what one would expect coming from the crowd who reads Huffington. They even took a shot at Michele Malkin, the bastards. :o

Edited by Maximus
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It was basically a smear campaign, intended for second-handers who will take the opinion of the writer without doing any reading of Ayn Rand or Objectivism on their own. Of course, it is also intended to smear the free market, as if it was a free market that led to the economic melt-down. But basically, the battle lines are being drawn and Objectivism is taking center stage in the intellectual battle. I have to agree with Yaron Brook's comments in an earlier presentation upon the opening of the Ayn Rand Center for Individual rights that this is what we want -- we want the intellectual battle to be explicit and focused on Objectivism. The honest will do a first-hand reading of Objectivism and will make their own decisions.

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Ariana Huffington claimed to have been influenced by Ayn Rand when she was a kid in Greece, but then turned against the ideas, and now engages in smears against Ayn Rand. In fact, she debated with Peter Schwartz on radio about five or more years ago and was atrocious. She is very shallow.

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Ariana Huffington claimed to have been influenced by Ayn Rand when she was a kid in Greece, but then turned against the ideas, and now engages in smears against Ayn Rand. In fact, she debated with Peter Schwartz on radio about five or more years ago and was atrocious. She is very shallow.

Shallow is the right word.

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She misquoted Rand so many times, it's funny.

She explained her philosophy at first through pot-boilers like The Fountainhead. One of her heroes boasts that he is the polar opposite of Robin Hood: "He was the man who robbed the rich and gave to the poor. I'm the man who robs the poor and gives to the rich, or to be more exact, the man who robs the thieving poor and gives back to the productive rich."

Oh really?

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The Huff and Puff is at it again: An Insiders Look at How Ayn Rand Destroyed the World

I know my Ayn Rand. In fact, when it comes to Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism I'll put put my Ayn Cred up against almost anyone.

This destructiveness has been true on a personal, human level for years. I'm not just talking about teenagers devouring The Virtue Of Selfishness and turning into belligerent, arrogant pricks - pubescent pontificating Penn Jillettes capable of quoting passages about epistemology and almost immediately killing any social occasion.

The ultimate horrible truth is that most of Rand's 'philosophy of the real world' has worked out very badly in the real world. It's a collection of ideas that haven't been tested or just don't work but its adherents still have a Bush-like unshakable faith in it because...well, it's just RIGHT and reality be damned.

It’s ironic that when you read articles by liberals the very people who claim to be altruist are filled with hate and anger. I have always said, find me a liberal and I will show you a guy who is consumed by hate.

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The Huff and Puff is at it again: An Insiders Look at How Ayn Rand Destroyed the World

It’s ironic that when you read articles by liberals the very people who claim to be altruist are filled with hate and anger. I have always said, find me a liberal and I will show you a guy who is consumed by hate.

Actually, Bruce, did you see any ideas in that article? It was vapid and empty. He said he'd put his "Ayn Cred" up against anyone. Yeah, give it a shot, brother man.

Edited by Thales
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I got to the fourth paragraph and asked myself the most important question, "Why am I spending my valuable time reading this crap?" Then I moved on.

I got as far as the author's name, saw it was Johann Hari and at that point realised it was a futile waste of my time. Rarely does he ever depart from reflexive liberal reactions to actually think about an issue and add anything of any value to his oh-so-politically-correct monologues. However, in search of the mixture of amusement and anger that his work normally incites, I read on. I was slightly angered by the pathetic attempt to smear the Rand Institute's reaction to the tsunami, stating only partial facts and distorting what they actually said - he alleges that they wanted to deny aid to the people there, when the Institute simply said that government should send no aid. Yet, I was most tickled by the ludicrous attempt to tar Rand with the fascist brush - the first resort of a desperate leftist - is there a more laughable suggestion? Moving on, there indeed was, Hari delves to the very depths of hypocrisy in self-righteously attempting to lecture Ayn Rand on the functioning of a market economy. Hahaha... but it gets worse... from accusing Rand of fascism, he now tries to pin her as a Leninist... make up your mind Johann... It is clear that he has not read anything of Rand's work, otherwise he would have understood that the myriad of distortions that this article represents, is just recycled Left-wing agitprop.

Hopefully it will inspire people to read Rand's work for themselves.

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