tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32806324.post6765323142770771432..comments2023-11-05T04:42:17.900-07:00Comments on Nomad: The CollectiveScience Teacher Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579558647324072199noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32806324.post-89207476381710946232012-08-17T19:35:02.122-06:002012-08-17T19:35:02.122-06:00My sophomore year of high school we had to choose ...My sophomore year of high school we had to choose a philosopher/author two read and place artistic works in context of philosophical ideas. I didn't know much about Ayn Rand, having only read Anthem in junior high, and she was one of the few women, so I chose her books. I read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I was appalled at her sexual politics/philosophy (apparently she thought rape was an aphrodisiac?) and found her rather pendantic. Her philosophy was so reactionary to what she had personally experienced AND so obstinately closed minded as to be not so much a philosophical movement as a proto-cult. This is an inflammatory statement, but I feel she has more in common with L. Ron Hubbard rather than Plato or Nietzche or Rousseau. Her definition of individualism meant the reward fame, money, and adoring syncophants, as much as she despised them in theory. I find it very disheartening that she is used as a political mentor in any way, shape, or form. Scullyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17620935129369892579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32806324.post-30532411492003460202012-08-16T12:43:57.738-06:002012-08-16T12:43:57.738-06:00She condemned much of our great and classic Wester...She condemned much of our great and classic Western literature and proved herself to be rather poorly read, much more interested in movies than books. She descried Anna Karenina as the most "evil book in serious literature."<br /><br />That right there undermines any credibility Rand had (or could have, seeing as I've read none of her novels) in my mind. Can someone be a smart, thoughtful, effective leader without being a reader? Possibly. Can someone be a smart, thoughtful, effective leader and dismiss entire canons of literature? Not in my mind.Melaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03338949204492816733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32806324.post-30888753240147897202012-08-16T12:29:32.709-06:002012-08-16T12:29:32.709-06:00I actually really like Ayn Rand (I hope we can sti...I actually really like Ayn Rand (I hope we can still be friends). While she does get ranty and lengthy in her diatribes, and I don't agree with everything she thought or wrote or said, I think there is something to her philosophy. <br /><br />I also think there is something in "moderation in all things" and finding a solution that works for each individual person or family. For me, that solution includes God and religion and regular sacrifice and service. But it also includes making sure that I'm standing up for myself and my ideas when I feel it necessary.<br /><br />xoxheidikinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00525478381785640543noreply@blogger.com