Posted by Diarmuid on January 28, 2002 at 07:39:12:
In Reply to: Hmmmm... posted by RoTtEn ApPlE on January 27, 2002 at 17:42:14:
About your specific situation, I need more info. See my other response.
I chose those words 'childish' and 'deluded' very carefully and I stand over them 200%.
The 9 types have nine separate strategies for dealing with life. All nine work. All nine are valid.
Rand is a five, and cherishes the five strategy of withdrawal and fiercely guarded independence. That's fine. What bothers me is that she is certain of it's utter superiority to all the other strategies out there. Particularly those which are not categorically opposed to informal, collective effort, as the unhealthy five is.
It's okay, if you are a young teenager, to have this kind of contempt for those who follow a different psychological strategy from you. But part of growing up is that you learn to accept that there's more than one way to do things, and your way isn't always the best. Rand has no concept of this.
Those who think differently are represented as moronic stereotypes. Example: the head of the company at the beginning of the book. He is physically ugly, and has less grasp of logic than a five-year old. He is an ugly caricature, about as realistic a figure as Jabba the Hutt.
Her belief that unrestrained capitalism will make everybody like her is as deluded as anything Lenin predicted about post-revolutionary Russia.
: I think your assessment is unfair. Something seems to bother you personally about Rand's ideas... you call her 'childish' and 'deluded'. True, I've only read 'Atlas Shrugged' but I experienced genuine sympathy for some of the characters. I'd say the story is exaggerated and simplified like a fable in order to convey a moral. It's art and contains truth... though my feeling is that it has some serious blindspots and is very idealistic.
: Forget the broad social ramifications. How should -I- deal with my leech?