Today’s broadsheet from the FM website pressroom. There are 5 sections, all with hot news.
- Links to interesting news and analysis
- Ayn Randian Quote of the Day
- Featured articles about today’s followers of Ayn Rand’
- Plus, an Afterword
(I) Links to interesting news and analysis
(a) Anyone care to bet that we’ll see swarms of “Internet patriots” speaking out on this: “Camp Lejeune whistle-blower fired“, Salon, 15 November 2009 — “A psychiatrist who tried to prevent Fort Hood-style violence among Marines about to ‘lose it’ instead loses his job.” I’ll bet “no”, as their care about wars that make them feel bold — not for the men and women who must actually fight the wars.
(b) “Can We Save America?“, George Washington’s Blog, 16 November 2009 — Ideas about protests.
(c) “Invisible mishandling“, Paul Rosenberg, Open Left, 15 November 2009 — What Adam Smith actually meant by the “invisible hand.” To the public the “invisible hand” has come to mean the “Blue Fairy”.
(d) Most depressing poll of the decade, a tribute to the intensive propaganda campaign of the past few months: NBC-Wall Street Journal Survey, 22-25 October 2009. We’ve learned nothing from the past 50 years. Or from our many ways going back to the Civil War.
Would you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose increasing troop levels in Afghanistan? October poll/September poll:
Strongly support……28%/19%
Somewhat support…19%/25%
Somewhat oppose…15%/20%
Strongly oppose…..28%/31%
Not sure………………10%/05%When it comes to making major decisions on overall military strategy and the number of troops needed, such as in Afghanistan, who do you have more confidence in to make the right decisions:
The President and the SecDef……………………………25%
The Generals running operations in that country…62%
Both…………………………………………………………….09%
Neither…………………………………………………………02%
Not sure………………………………………………………..02%
(e) “Broader Measure of U.S. Unemployment Stands at 17.5%“, New York Times, 6 November 2009 — Probably the highest since the 1930’s.
(f) Does anyone find this surprising? “F-35 fighter program is behind schedule, over budget“, For Worth Star-Telegram, 15 November 2009 — Future historians will consider the adulation of the “bold reformer” SecDef Gates more evidence of early-21st century madness of America.
(II) Ayn Randian Quotes of the Day
From Glen Reynolds, The Instapundit:
- “Who is John Galt? Tax collections Plummet.” (27 May 2009)
- “Who is John Galt? October deficit bigger than expected; revenues down 18%. (13 November 2009)
Despite the fantasies of a tenured university professor, falling tax collections result not from Randian heros’ opting out of the economy, but from falling household and business income. Those record high 35.1 million people receiving food stamps pay no income tax. Nor do the 16 million unemployed workers.
(III) Feature articles — about today’s followers of Ayn Rand
(a) “The Bitch is Back“, Andrew Corsello, GQ, 27 October 2009 — “2009’s most influential author is a mirthless Russian-American who loves money, hates God, and swings a gigantic dick. She died in 1982, but her spawn soldier on. And the Great Recession is all their fault.”
(b) “Ayn Rand: The Boring Bitch is Back“, Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture, 15 November 2009 — Excerpt:
I haven’t read Rand’s work for decades, but I do recall two things:
- It was a giant pedantic bore;
- Debating it with people in College was always a hoot. The thing that struck me most was the lack of rigor in the arguments — it was more religion than logic, more wishful thinking than reality based observations of how humans actually behave.
You can the concentration of ARAs in a certain groupings.
- These are the folks who blame the CRA for the collapse of the economy;
- ARAs tend to be hardcore idealogues;
- many are rabidly partisan.
All too many are deeply uninformed. They breathe cognitive dissonance they most people breathe oxygen. When confronted with facts, data, reality that challenge their ideology, they make up new facts.
… Worst of all, Rand’s Objectivism has become the rationale for all manner of morally repugnant behaviour. However, I did take one personal lesson from Atlas Shrugged to heart: Anytime I see a parked car with a John Galt bumper sticker, I like to knock off one of the sideview mirrors, and leave it on the hood. I include a note stating my selfish, random act made me feel good, and therefore should be a perfectly fine act in their world.
I assume the recipients miss the irony . . .
(V) Afterword
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