Heh... put this up on FB last weekend. Only a couple of people got it, though, which is one reason I'm not that into Facebook.

That quote is so cash!

Good one!

aynrandsucks.blogspot.com/

http://aynrandsucks.blogspot.com/

PWNed!

I find it amusing that this book published in 1957 is getting so much attention from the left.

What is it about this fictional novel that irritates you so? Is it because it now appears relevant?

Is it because it now appears relevant?

Well, considering that people are talking about "going Galt," yes. And just speaking for myself, I wouldn't call the book irritating. The only irritating thing is that the people offering to go Galt haven't left yet.

attention from the left? buh..guh..wha?

Three months years from now, the Republican Party decides to draw its political platform from the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Dozens of prominent right wing bloggers and politicians call for everyone to go Humbaba.

People make fun of Republicans for basing their identity on the idea that Sumerian myth is factually true.

El Viajero: What is it about this fictional novel that irritates you so? Is it because it now appears relevant?

Well, considering that people are talking about "going Galt," yes.

That was last week. This week they're all 'doing the Darcy'.

I kinda knew what the punch line would be and still freakin laughed.

It's clever, but it's too long. Your classic misdirection quote tops out about the length of the Twain quote to which I alluded in a previous comment: Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.

@wcw: usually true, but the overlong construct is a treasured comedic variation. A bit like making a difficult chip shot. Or sort of, acknowledging the clamminess and still pulling it off.

Yeah, but if you're doing overlong you go over-the-top. I recall fondly the Colbert-still-on-the-daily-show prediction for the W. Bush presidency after the Supes gave it to him. Colbert went on and on and by the end the four horsemen of the Apocalypse were riding down Pennsylvania avenue with ordinary citizens clasped in their maws as fire rained down from above.

"On the second day," he intoned.

Man, that one was good. Where's the youtube?

"What is it about this fictional novel that irritates you so? Is it because it now appears relevant?"

Yes. it's exactly as relevant now as the Communist Manifesto was following the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Lefties didn't run out and buy Marx's books after the spectacular failure of communism. I don't see why there should be a sudden surge of interest in libertarianism after the greatest free market failure since the Great depression

You lefties have suddenly become enraptured with a profoundly Christian story about the struggle between good and evil, one in which the former ultimately triumphs in the way every good story should end? Tolkien got you good.

When are you lefties going to wake up and smell your pathetic materialism and life-negating relativism. Dustbin of history here you come.

How do you smell an abstract philosophical stance?
And how does a Rayndian quote Vladimir Lenin without a trace of self-conscious irony?

I do believe this quote of the day has been the quote of the every on a different website every day for the past four or five. Who knows where it will pop up tomorrow?

Of course Lord of the Rings isn't something the left looks to for political inspiration. The only appearance of democracy in the whole series happens in The Hobbit, where the semi-democratic government of the city-state of Lake-town proves to be spectacularly corrupt and ineffectual, and as such Bard, the dragon-slaying town guard with royal blood, takes over as king at the end of the book restoring the just monarchical order.

The point is that LotR is fantasy, and Atlas Shrugged is also fantasy, but seems to have been mistaken for trenchant social commentary by some people.

"Three months years from now, the Republican Party decides to draw its political platform from the Epic of Gilgamesh."

Which would be an improvement. Gilgamesh is fascinating to read, of historical import, sheds light on the true origin of certain Biblical stories (like the Flood in Genesis), and speaks something true about the human condition.

But my bet is they'll stay with juvenile Rand-crap

Just reread Dune. So good: an epic for adults.

While it may be too much for the overly-impressionable mind of a 14 year old, Atlas Shrugged is still a sweet novel. I think most people who have actually taken the time to READ the book would agree. You don't have to be a die-hard capitalist/objectivist to enjoy a great work of fiction.

I really believe that these social networks will have a huge impact on what we can accomplish as groups, it'll help us be very organized and communicate.