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The Forum > Article Comments > Atlas Shrugged to be screened > Comments

Atlas Shrugged to be screened : Comments

By Leon Bertrand, published 26/10/2007

On the 50th birthday of Ayn Rand's influential novel its central lesson is still true: capitalist societies are more free and prosperous.

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I have tried, and failed, to read Ayn Rand several times. Every time her turgid prose, plywood characters and ludicrous plots saw me give up in disgust. I managed to sit through the film version of "The Fountainhead", fascinated that dialogue so stilted could actually be immortalised on celluloid. One IMDB reviewer described it as "Pompous, Sanctimonious BILGE". Couldn't have put it better myself...

Political ideas can be embodied in great works of art. "Triumph of the Will". "Battleship Potemkin", "Candide". "The Road to Wigan Pier" (or anything else by Orwell) are just a few examples. Rand simply didn't have the talent to do it. Her books are one-note polemics, pushing her muddle-headed "philosophy" of objectivism.

Which is not to say that a film "Atlas Shrugged" couldn't be a hit in America. Check last years American box office http://www.the-movie-times.com/thrsdir/moviesofyear.mv?moviesof2006+ByTGross and you'll see that quality is no prerequisite for success. But Ayn Rand, with her contempt for "the mob", could have told you that.
Posted by Johnj, Friday, 26 October 2007 4:30:09 PM
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Are capitalist societies more free and prosperous?

The problem with Rand is that the definitions of Capitalism, Prosperity and Freedom are not fixed They are rapidly changing. In some cases they are converging to precisely the meaning of those terms in pre-war Nazi Germany. With technologies like genetic engineering and media and energy monopolies those definitions will further change dramatically as we approach PEAKOIL and a global population of 8.5 billion within two decades. Think about it!

In short capitalism, freedom and prosperity(CFP)will be defined by those who will successfully monopolise global resources through force of arms. We can only guess what CFP will mean in a world with 8.5 billion people an sufficient energy to keep only 2billion of those people in the comforts thay have become used to. Unlike true capitalism, this bastardisation will NOT select the best, brightest and most talented humans to lead future generations. It will just select the biggest, most successful thugs.

Adolph Hitler was perhaps ahead of his times. If he were alive today he would be running Halliburton and Fox studios.

The closing convergegence of the CFPdefinitions has important Thermodynamic consequences: most human gene sets given the right (low entropy) thermodynamic gradient for their full expression will naturally become a superior human beings with all the attributes necessary to lead in a true capitalist setting.

The differential entropy on the global 3-surface economic manifold needs to be rid of "bubbles" or false concentrations of wealth in order to realise a true level playing field capitalism, the true antithesis of socialism.

That seems contradictory but this mathematiacal approach to global economics based on Hamilton's 1981 work and more recently on Perelman's Ricci flow dynamic solutions to the Poincarre conjecture, can indeed modify the CFP definitions such that a true capitalism with greater global participation and harmony can be secured
Posted by KAEP, Friday, 26 October 2007 9:34:12 PM
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Continued..

One intrinsic aspect of this work is KAEP- Kyoto Alternative Energy Protocol where all nations will contribute to SPACE based solar energy, terrestrial Geothermal energy R&D and Engineered wetland construction projects as the Thermodynamic BMP(Best-Management-Practice) for evening out "bubbles" in the global environment energy manifold.

If it can be shown that KAEP gives a feasible, infinite supply of energy to our planet then human civilisations will CFP in harmony till the Sun starts to wane ... in some 4 billion years time.

This highlights the key ingredient for true capitalism incarnations work .... an INFINITE SUPPLY OF ENERGY.

Anything less or even localised bubbles of pseudo-infinite energy like in the US today yield pseudo-capitalist-systems which are not capitalism but rather IMPERIALISM. These pseudo-systems very naturally develop human-hurricanes(terror) on the global economic manifold just as surely as strongly localised entropy bunching creates hurricanes on the sea surface manifold.

And I don't think Rand was wrong either. She just didn't have the history, the experience or the mathematics and science, in her times, to fully perfect & enunciate her theories.
Posted by KAEP, Friday, 26 October 2007 9:41:21 PM
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rand was about as good a philosopher as hitler, about as readable as nietzsche. but she had a vogue, and may still be found in libraries, because she had an idea that many 14 year olds find deeply appealing, the notion that society constrains and exploits the truly talented.

most 14 year olds grow up and discover that society is the work of all of us. as warren buffett put it " 90% of what i have achieved was only possible with the co-operation of my society."

an example from the other end would be leonardo da vinci: his genius in engineering was fruitless because his society was not ready to match his capacity.

those that don't grow up call themselves 'libertarians'. functioning autistic syndrome might explain the failure to mature. or they're just selfish and shallow.

some libertarians are interesting people: ron paul is charming and persuasive, an american seneca trying to turn back the clock to a time before americans realized they were greedy, arrogant imperialists. one can wish for his success, without having the slightest hope for it.
Posted by DEMOS, Saturday, 27 October 2007 7:49:59 AM
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Perhaps its a bit late in the day but please check out the work of Alfie Kohn via his marvellous book NO CONTEST at:

1. http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/nc.htm

Alfie Kohn also puts the pernicious nonsense of competitive education in its place. A very healthy antidote to the kind of "education" that a certain contributor to this forum pushes. His initials are KD.

And that the federal government is hell bent on forcing all Oz schools to adopt. All the demeaning and disheartening nonsense about competitive ranking and "achievement" tables.

The fact of the matter is that in a society based on unbridled competition, EVERYONE, including the so called winners, loses.
And that when a society is reduced to a mass of competing individuals it is well on the way to chronic breakdown.

The tragic irony being that all of us in our presumed difference are inhabitants of the picture sung by Malvina Reynolds in her hit song of the sixties, Little Boxes.
Everybody all robotically doing the same thing programmed by the Captains of Consciousness as described by Stuart Ewen.
Posted by Ho Hum, Saturday, 27 October 2007 10:52:32 AM
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xoddam said:

"I might as well say, socialist dictatorships never killed anyone because there has never been a "truly socialist" dictatorship."

Yeah but isn't this part of the author's point? That the reality of socialism never coincides with the theory?

Curiously, the author at one point talks about fascism as a form of socialist dictatorship... since when can fascism be considered 'socialist' in any way?!? National socialism was surely the ultimate in ironic titles.. at least a strong contender with the GDR - German Democratic Republic!! ;)

I have no comment either way on Rand, have never read her.
Posted by stickman, Saturday, 27 October 2007 10:54:31 AM
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