Sorry ALTRAV...I wasn't having a go at you my friend. What I was trying to say, Ayn RAND is one very very smart lady, who'd probable run rings around most of us here on OLO, or The Forum.I'm NOT saying I agree with her on everything I've read, but no one can deny she's one very clever lady, whether one agrees with her or otherwise.

Hi there CANEM MALUM...

Thank you so much for your good wishes apropos my health. I'm still in the vertical, so that's something I guess. I must say your argument(s) are compelling, so I guess you're a well educated gentleman, and well read. I like the Forum, because just about everyone here are good people - whether from the Left; Centre; or the Right. Moreover I've got dementia creeping up on me, and according to the Neuropsychologist at the Repatriation Hospital, Graham YOUNG's 'The Forum' is a very good place to exercise the mind, and slow down the approach of dementia.

Believe me, we've got a very good man in the personage of Mr Graham YOUNG and his friends. There's nowhere else, as free and easy, where one may express an opinion like OLO or The Forum. So we're very very lucky indeed.

o sung wu, I find myself agreeing with you.
I have found other forums, such as Quora, to be a disgusting and inconsistent rubbish.
Their moderators are either 3 year olds or they are drunk all the time.
Sometimes I see a serious smack of 'Jewism', and I mean to the point of ad nauseum.
They are annoying and the site should be closed down, with prejudice.
Reading the various comments both accepted and rejected, I find little difference.
They have the most stupid and repressive mantra or policy; 'Be Nice, Be Respectful'.
The language allowed on this forum, makes ME blush.
And yet they pull you up on some unrelated issues if someone decides they don't like it.
Worst of all do not denigrate Jews or anything Jewish.
Big No No.
Not that they have the guts to admit it.
It really should be removed or at least people should avoid them.

//If I go on the attack it is because I don't believe they are right.
So where's the problem?//

Yes, and when those commenters went on the attack it was because they don't believe Rand is right.

So where's the problem?

//Just because she is writing about a right wing view she must be wrong, according to these halfwits.//

There were a few along those lines, yes. Those were actually the ones that reminded me the most of you, because of the way you react to people expressing left wing views.

And there were a few (quite a lot, actually) criticising her as a dreadful philosopher and writer, which seems reasonable to me. Or are there some people we're just not supposed to criticise?

//I am not caring what she says, she is allowed to say what she believes, through research and studies.//

Oh. So you've not actually read her then?

//The responses are based on emotion with little or no research into her reasoning.//

How can you be sure of that? Maybe they have read her stuff... which is how they came to the conclusion that it was rubbish.

//They just don't like what she has written.//

Oh. So they have read her, and criticised her on the basis of her writings (on what other basis is their to criticise her) and your problem is.... sorry, what is your problem again?

//They are irrelevant.//

Yes of course, but so are you.

//The scum have no clue about anything other than to disagree with anyone who is not left.//

Now, who does that remind me of....

//I thought I was bad with some of my level of abuse on these forums, but WOW! These guys make me look absolutely angelical.//

Nah, those guys are amateurs compared to you ALTRAV.

//It is best summarized in her science fiction novel "Atlas Shrugged" and "Fountainhead" which was made into a movie. They are both available on the web if you look. I'd suggest reading Fountainhead first. Her works are fairly robust- it may change your view of the world.//

Well I suppose 'robust' is one way of putting it.... other descriptions that I've heard include 'dull', 'turgid', 'sophomoric', and 'execrable claptrap'.

But I think the best review of 'Atlas Shrugged' that I've read is this marvellous summation:

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."
- John Rogers

Quite.

So Toni, remind me.
Why are you here? and why do have nothing relevant to offer the discussions on OLO?
I have noticed you have a pattern.
It seems your biggest contribution to a topic is to reject, outright anyone's comments, just for the hell of it, or is it to try to look like you might actually have something to contribute worth reading.
Sorry that didn't go too well for ya.
Ah well, every forum needs someone who can tell or be a joke, it keeps us amused, and reminds us to GET BACK ON TOPIC!
I dis-agree with people because they are sheeple with no mind of their own, but merely follow some halfwits because of some social attraction.
Not because of 'reason'.
The left are the biggest in-effectual group in society.
They take things verbatim and not an ounce of common sense amongst them.
They are too scared to express a view contrary to their brethren, as it may cause a little discomfort and awkwardness, and we wouldn't want that.
Why argue your case when it's so much easier and you get to look 'cool' like the rest of the twats, by joining in with them and their pathetic mantra's.
All they are is annoying and do their stance NO good what-so-ever.
So Toni, let us all know when you've actually got something to contribute rather than being annoying.
There's enough lefty's already.
The last thing we need is another one.

It may be interesting to read an article from - "The
New Statesman," on why Ayn Rand is still relevant
today. Especially in the US.

The article describes - Ayn Rand as - "The spirit of the
age, the age of selfishness, and age of greed,
financial crime, and indifference to the poor, sick, and
disabled... she cared little for those crushed under the
wheels of capitalism and she considered economic failure
to be your own fault if it happened to you. She also
considered that to help another just for the sake of it
with no benefit to yourself was in her eyes - moral weakness.
She developed a whole philosophy. The philosophy of
Objectivism, in order to justify her own selfishness and
contempt for the needy."

"Top businessmen and politicians name her as an influence.
Objectivism is a very convenient philosophy if you are
someone who venerates your own needs over everyone else's."

"Rand is little known in Europe, but in the US more than
30 years after her death she still has a huge following.
To her - taxation is theft, and the welfare system should
be allowed to wither away (along presumably with the poor)."

"Hers is a world of low taxes, low business regulation,
welfare state rollback and government reduced only to
matters of policing and the military, while all else is
farmed out to giant corporations. This is a world Rand
would much approve of."

"If this picture looks familiar - it is because it's the
world that those on the political and extreme right have
been moving towards for the last 30 years. Where most work
harder for less and a tiny percentage of people at the
top of society own the majority of the wealth."

I think that any attempt to explain the world in simple
absolutist terms is bound to fail. And more importantly -
is bound to constrict an individual's intellectual and
personal growth.

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2014/10/why-ayn-rand-still-relevant-and-dangerous