Atlas Shrugged

[joe blowe]

Just watched 'Atlas Shrugged', the movie.
Wonderful. So timely.

[xor eax, eax]

I watched it and laughed my ass off. Do you think a bunch of overpaid executives striking would have negative impact on the economy? High level executives who do nothing more than attend meetings and blather on are not the people who make the world turn.

[Joe McCarthy]

I watched it and laughed my ass off. Do you think a bunch of overpaid executives striking would have negative impact on the economy? High level executives who do nothing more than attend meetings and blather on are not the people who make the world turn.

Hierarchical organization makes societies function economically. Even if one believes that alternative systems are workable, suddenly removing 'bosses' would create chaos, no doubt.

Just look what happened when Zimbabwe left the farms without proper direction.

[xor eax, eax]

Hierarchical organization makes societies function economically. Even if one believes that alternative systems are workable, suddenly removing 'bosses' would create chaos, no doubt.

Just look what happened when Zimbabwe left the farms without proper direction.

Hierarchy is natural and necessary, no doubt. As someone who is an adherent of elite theory I fully realize that fact. My problem with this movie is that it failed to acknowledge the necessity anything but the top of the pyramid; just as the masses need leadership, leadership needs the masses. A society comprising of nothing but leadership ("Atlantis" in this case) would not be functional, and anyone claiming otherwise is absolutely oblivious.

[Joe McCarthy]

Hierarchy is natural and necessary, no doubt. As someone who is an adherent of elite theory I fully realize that fact. My problem with this movie is that it failed to acknowledge the necessity anything but the top of the pyramid; just as the masses need leadership, leadership needs the masses. A society comprising of nothing but leadership ("Atlantis" in this case) would not be functional, and anyone claiming otherwise is absolutely oblivious.

I don't disagree with that, but Rand was mounting a counter-attack against socialists who constantly berated 'the wealthy' as parasites and good for nothings, and she was doing us a service in reminding us they're nothing of the kind.

[xor eax, eax]

I don't disagree with that, but Rand was mounting a counter-attack against socialists who constantly berated 'the wealthy' as parasites and good for nothings, and she was doing us a service in reminding us they're nothing of the kind.

Rand was from a different era--the threat of socialism is now virtually nonexistent in America, and as such her writings are not as relevant. This is especially true when considering one of the greatest threats to our quality of life: the financial elite. If you don't consider them parasitic, we disagree.

[Joe McCarthy]

Rand was from a different era--the threat of socialism is now virtually nonexistent in America, and as such her writings are not as relevant. This is especially true when considering one of the greatest threats to our quality of life: the financial elite. If you don't consider them parasitic, we disagree.

Rand published Atlas Shrugged in 1957. Is the socialist threat less relevant under Barack Obama than Dwight Eisenhower?

[xor eax, eax]

Rand published Atlas Shrugged in 1957. Is the socialist threat less relevant under Barack Obama than Dwight Eisenhower?

Considering that every major socialist/communist government has collapsed, I'd say the threat of socialism is less present than ever before. Obama definitely isn't going to usher in a socialist regime with his center-right policies.

[joe blowe]

Considering that every major socialist/communist government has collapsed, I'd say the threat of socialism is less present than ever before. Obama definitely isn't going to usher in a socialist regime with his center-right policies.

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a lot of people today live in a parallel universe.
the USA is being socialized at great speed right now. All the necessary components have been put in place for Communist America.
Let's hope for a miracle.

[xor eax, eax]

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a lot of people today live in a parallel universe.
the USA is being socialized at great speed right now. All the necessary components have been put in place for Communist America.
Let's hope for a miracle.

Care to elaborate? How is it being socialized? What are these components?