me and ayn

Dennis Perrin dperrin at comcast.net
Thu Apr 18 20:58:01 PDT 2002



> Curiously, I've had humanist, socialist tendancies long before I had
> a clue what those things were, and for years I counted [Rand's] books as
part of
> the body of things I'd read that got me to that place. Wierd huh?

Not really. Rand was an atheist, pro-choice, and above all a materialist. And while she viciously dismissed the basic idea underlying charity, i.e. that selflessness and the giving to others was a form of slavery, she demanded near-total obedience to her doctrines by her selected circle, called, "ironically," The Collective. (Read Barbara Branden's book to get a ringside seat to this crowd.) Her work is practically unreadable, turgid, long-winded and humorless. But the cult that grew in her shadow displayed some amusing and entertaining behavior.

I once dated an Objectivist -- for the sex, of course, as the discussion following proved mind-numbing beyond belief.

DP



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