How did you first get exposed to the ideas of liberty?

Were there priests involved? A Republican in a wetsuit? It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

And what is up with Penn. First McArglebargle now this?

Atlas Shrugged, a birthday present from his father in 9th grade.

In case anyone missed it: How Ayn Rand ruined my childhood
My dad saw objectivism as a logical philosophy to live by, but it tore my family apart

Really despising these humanoids.

I really truly sincerely hope none of these people are fucking.

They probably aren’t because, by fucking, they run the risk of possibly providing their partner with pleasure.

Looter of my sperm!

Check out this bunch of ‘tards. Conservatives come in all shapes, sizes, and lunacies.

It seems they are not conservatives but a German “Duggars” singing troupe. My bad. I thought they were straight out of the bowels of Utah.

It seems they are not conservatards but a “Duggars” singing troupe. My bad. I thought they were straight out of the bowels of Utah.

No sermon is as powerful as the one you already believed in. Around 2 years old, everyone goes through the stage of yelling “No no no! Mine mine mine!!” Most people grow out of it. Randians make it a religion.

Whenever I see the name “Dagny Taggart” it makes me think of Dabney Coleman. Stop making me have sexy fantasies about Dabney Coleman.

The young lady in the video seems to have gone to the Palin school of inflection and articulation.

Was she for or against “the wars…on taxes”?

“Spring Break – Somalia”: two squeaky-clean college kids experience a libertarian paradise, where freedom knows no bounds, where everyone has gone Galt. This film can not be rated due to the War on Ratings.

This fellow on one of my newsgroups gets incensed when I point out how wonderful it is that his libertarian beliefs put the blessing on him doing whatever he was going to do anyway and make it the highest moral good. He invariably commences with personal insults and insists I started it.

They say truth hurts. Conversely, nothing much he says even stings.

WhatsHerName, the actress playing Dagny, may have “a head for business and a bod for sin,“ but she can also add to these features a facial expression of wood and the acting skills of a box of Ritz Crackers.

The problem of course is that for every Dagny Whatsit, there are millions of assistant managers at the big box store, or at some hotel that Donald Trump owns before he goes bankrupt again and fires you.

If virtually everyone in the country could be the CEO of a huge company then of course there would be no need for unions or any banding together to demand to be treated decently. However everyone becoming CEO of a huge company consisting only of other CEOs is mathematically impossible.

It’s the same old song and dance as always, a tiny percentage of assholes convincing everyone else that if they act like assholes too, any minute they’ll be the ones with all the money. Right after your shift today at the Olive Garden. Promise.

Mr. McCobin’s training as an ayntard could have been started much earlier, with development and refining via playground encounters. (Yep, it’s a repeat from last year.)

Aw, I think you’re being too hard on this guy. I mean, really, who amongst us can honestly say that we learned every lesson of our lives by the time we turned 15?!!? Honestly, what more would anyone want to learn? These people really are beyond parody at this point; see, most intelligent human beings know that they are profoundly IGNORANT as adolescents, and that we should continue to grow and learn every single day of our lives. Sadly, for Republicans, this is not true. I part with a wonderful quote attributed to Ben Franklin: “Some people die at the age of 25, but are not buried until they are 75.”

20-year-old to his mother: “It’s amazing how much you’ve learned in the last five or six years.”

I heard that. He was being ironic, but then he’s an intelligent young man.

Mr. McCobin’s training as an ayntard could have been started much earlier

Yeah, like in the womb, where he was a busy little leech….

Hell, at fifteen I knew everything there was to know about damn near everything. Unfortunately, my brilliance faded dramatically in college and by the time I emerged from that venerable institution, sheepskin in hand, I realized I didn’t know squat.

Gotta admire somebody who can remain as confident and clueless as they were at 15. Takes a lotta work to fend off education.

Yeah, he admits he’s learned nothing since the ninth grade.

That union guy doesn’t seem to fit the conservative stereotype. Should be a tough talking goon making threats. Humiliating a union leader is apparently another libertarian fantasy.

Working for a non-profit right out of school? Get a job, hippies!

Following up on Uncertainty’s point, after a couple of years working the line flipping scrapple at the local diner, or folding clothes at the Fashion Bug, that world view that coagulated at 15 may start to flow again.

And as far as breeding, I wouldn’t worry about it. I’d bet my last ingot of Reardon metal that if you looked below the waist, those two are as smooth as a Ken and Barbie doll.

Alexander McCobin recognized the formal principles of his beliefs after reading Atlas Shrugged, a birthday present from his father in 9th grade

Isn’t this considered child abuse?

Look, next week, for ATLAS SLUGGED AGAIN (The “Secret Sequel” to the Towering Masterpiece), a parody by Ellis Weiner, if he can get it out in time for the movie. 99 cents on Smashwords.

What always kills me–in a good way–is that disparate, unconnected sources all agree on the age at which one reads, and is at first impressed by, and shortly thereafter snaps out of it with regard to, Atlas Shrugged: 14-15. Never earlier or later.

McCobin’s “once I finished, I said, “this is what I have always thought” suggests he’s going to have a hard time if he ever does acquire the insight and honesty to go into therapy. What you learn there, among other things, is that you’re still bopping around as an adult, in the grip of reactions, analyses, and “theories” you had when you were seven (if not younger). They may have been appropriate at the time, but not any more. Similarly, he’s taking his ninth-grader’s view of the world and proudly sticking to it.

It would be funny if it weren’t so sad, but it’s not sad, because he’s an idiot, and it’s funny.

I believe you are referring to this from Mark Twain:

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.

But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

But, yeah — ain’t nothing like being proud you haven’t learned a damn thing since you were a teenager.

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

– John Kenneth Galbraith

Ordinary people don’t use the word ‘liberty’ when they mean freedom. But ‘liberty’ is this term of art intended to elide the vast gulf between my right to speak freely and not be arbitrarily imprisoned, and the Koch brothers’ right to keep their 3 billionth dollar of income and to poison the common water supply.
Anytime you hear the word ‘liberty’, it’s a near-certainty that you are being lied to.

Common sense is the deposit of prejudice laid down in the mind before the age of eighteen.

– Albert Einstein

Common sense is the deposit of prejudice laid down in the mind before the age of eighteen.

That’s the scariest thing I’ve read today – time to curl up and click on the TNBB post.

Doesn’t forcing a child to read Rand qualify as child abuse?

That’s another reason to hate the teabaggers; they took a perfectly nice word like “liberty” and trashed it. Whenever I hear the word now I look for some pasty-faced moran in a powered fat chair–like my brother– shouting about “liberty.”

Nah, no VGL (Visible Garment Line)

She’s a fucking tycoon and that’s her office?!

I had to re-watch “Dagny Confronts the Union”. The union guy says the tracks are untested, and therefore unsafe. Dagny says the union guy won’t let his people work. Non sequitor – should she not have been discussing safety? Is this for real? Or is it a parody?

I worked for a libertarian – he became my boss, and got busy firing anyone working on employee training, documentation and support. Independent, capable employees don’t need any help being awesome! I left after about 4 months of that BS.

Aw, an early bummer moment for this no-doubt fine, fine film (via a commenter at John Cole’s place) – the following from the Tri-City Herald (serving the area including Richland WA):

Screening of ‘Atlas’ film canceled Sunday
By the Herald staff

A showing of Atlas Shrugged sponsored by the Tri-Cities Tea Party and listed in today’s AT section of the Herald has been canceled.

The movie was scheduled for Sunday at the Richland Public Library.

Organizers said the producer had withdrawn permission to show the film because of pressure from movie theaters not to allow private screenings of the independent film.

The movie opens in Seattle and Spokane on April 15.

Tea party members suggested visiting atlasshrugged part1.com/demand to request a showing in the Tri-Cities, or calling local movie theaters to ask that they show the film.

And via Reuters: Hollywood Reporter writer Todd McCarthy offers a review of the film. Mr. McCarthy feels that the film producers have failed the book. Beats me, but perhaps a longer critique could have addressed the question, ‘Is the book even doable as a serious film?’ I have my doubts at this point, but as an inspiration for dark and wacky comedy, I see possibilities.

If she were that kind of tycoon then she’d be demanding something slightly different. Either one of course involves cabooses.

I went over to Reuters and read the review. This line stood out for me:

the right of the capable few to lord it over the parasitical many

No doubt this would be a viable argument if the vast majority of humankind were incompetent morons. But in fact, the vast majority of humankind are pretty damn smart when not being deceived and held down by the propaganda of greedy aristos. My great-grandparents were poor uneducated immigrants who’d been basketmakers in the old country and sold second-hand junk when they came to America. Their grandchildren, to a man (and woman) were lawyers, doctors, accountants, university professors, and successful business owners. Randroids think they’re smarter than everybody else, but they’re really just so self-centered they can’t be bothered to notice how ignorant they are about what other people are capable of.

Thanks for bringing that issue up.

In my original draft of comment #34, I had the reviewer pegged as an ayntard. Maybe he is, but since he at least showed some intellectual honesty by bringing up the damage done during the reign of Ayn Rand disciple Alan Greenspan, I edited my text to remove the original charge of ayntardery, deciding the evidence was too circumstantial. Still, from the “flavor” of his review, I suspect Mr. McCarthy at least wants to believe, presumably because of the allure offered by the Rand’s simple black-and-white socioeconomic view of the world.

Totally understandable attitude for a teenager, but in a fully grown-up adult, it’s just sad and pathetic – and dangerous, when such folks go to vote in large enough numbers.

Whenever I hear the word now I look for some pasty-faced moran in a powered fat chair–like my brother– shouting about “liberty.”

How about a teenage Teabagger* shouting “Get Off My Lawn”?

* Teenbagger?

OMG that movie is going to be unbearable. What kind of railroad tycoon asks for volunteers to test the load capacity of a bridge by driving a new train over it??!! I mean, that is why there are qualified engineers who perform inspections and load testing.

Or have they all gone Galt? They are all off congratulating themselves (fap fap) for not providing value that might possibly contribute to the well-being of poor or disabled person. I guess if they encountered an eccentric genie who offered them anything they asked for, with the proviso that the homeless person sleeping under the overpass would get twice as much, they’d opt for a beating.

So what is Dagny’s next move if the train makes it across the bridge? Will she assume that it has passed the only test it will ever need? Because life is all about the heroic moment, and not state and federal safety regulations.

Regulation? BORING!

In the book she moved into low-rent offices to build the John Galt Line because her brother and the other elites didn’t want her tarnishing the image of Big Establishment Taggart Rail.

However, that plot line doesn’t require that Dagny dress in clothes that are cheap in many ways, or that the room have a 3-foot tube in the corner (perhaps an antique smoke stack?), or that the office phone make a “BEEP” when she hangs up. Some bodies were real stupid.

Wait a minute…a screening at the *public* library? Why not at a private library?

I guess it all hinges around by how you define liberty-

Merriam’s has these definitions-

Definition of LIBERTY
1
: the quality or state of being free: a : the power to do as one pleases b : freedom from physical restraint c : freedom from arbitrary or despotic control d : the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges e : the power of choice
2
a : a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant : privilege b : permission especially to go freely within specified limits
3
: an action going beyond normal limits: as a : a breach of etiquette or propriety : familiarity b : risk, chance c : a violation of rules or a deviation from standard practice d : a distortion of fact
4
: a short authorized absence from naval duty usually for less than 48 hours
— at liberty

I’m pretty sure the operative definition with libertarians is #3.

Somehow I doubt that those looters in Virginia could see the irony in their plan to organize to demand that the producers of this film provide it for them without compensation.
I’d guess it says something about the strength of their ideological conviction.
OK, maybe it’s their delusion.

Ach, I forgot: consistency, like taxes, is for the little people.

Emotional cripples Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!

a birthday present from his father

Way to go, Dad, you just robbed the little mouthbreather of the opportunity to acquire the book through his own efforts, thus destroying his autonomy (according to Rand). You’ve set back his personal advancement immeasurably through your selflessness, and probably burdened him with thousands of Body Thetans too. For your sake, I hope he remembers to be properly selfish when you are slipping into dementia in your old age and allow you to care for yourself without any assistance from others. Rand would insist on it.

If you clicked on the video, listened to him, watched his facial tics and noted his PinkPowerShirt&Tie combo, you know why dood is a libertarian:

1) Is loving the mood-altering drugs (sez his freaky, deaky smile and wild eyes; and
2) Is as gay as a picnic basket (Thank you, ‘Golden Girls’ writing staff!!)

He wouldn’t last five seconds in that other bastion of American Selfishness and Irrationality: The Tea Bag Party

‘Dagny Taggart’

Among many, many other things, Ayn Rand wasn’t too good with fictional names.

But it must have run in her family, since, apparently, they didn’t know how to spell ‘Ann’…

Like the poor, douchebag whores willing to debase themselves before the rich and powerful in the hope of being thrown a few crumbs, will always be with us.

100% correct. There are plenty of people Alex McCobin who sell out their fellow citizens for a well paying, no work job pushing a bullshit philosophy. Funny thing is, Alex and his ilk best hope that the no government, Somalian utopia of their dreams is never realized. He’ll have a big problem: neither appreciable skills to trade on nor the ability to survive, independent of community welfare.

And that is where the right’s beloved ‘Social Darwinism’ kicks in. I envision a ‘Road Warrior’ style dragging for Alex behind a cobbled together out of spare parts buggy driven by the spiky-haired punks of that same prophetic movie…

And, gee, when I saw it in a dollar theater in 1983, I just thought it was violent fun, not a documentary.

.. I edited my text to remove the original charge of ayntardery ..

Where else on the internets to find such nuggets?!

WHERE ELSE, I ASK YOU.