Ayn Rand: Hypocrite

I have seen many persons rail against government social programs but reach for it when it is needed.

i fear high seas will be inconsolable

She came up with a false doctrine that attracted teenagers. some never grew up became Libertarians. The biggest being Alan Greenspan who ushered in the free for all in Wall Street and the meltdown.

Are you referring to corporate welfare and so forth?

I refer to the entire system, including corporate welfare. But on a smaller scale, individuals do it too. For instance, I know a couple that cusses every social program we have. But the man has been taking in all that extended unemployment money, while railing against the system thay pays it to him.

Me and you seem to see things closely

When you need to eat, you'll get humble and use just about any handout you can get.

It is amazing how some very intelligent people can at times speak of things that seem to be so illogical like aerial spraying and so forth! "At least in my opinion"

Have you ever read someones work that seem to be very logical and then you see something that seems so crazy?

While I'm not completely opposed to what's being said, it does seen to be based on the premise that because one advocates a particular system, that one can simply live as though such a system was already in place.

Interesting thought, but confusing. It's called living by your convictions. One can refuse social security, and if one 'should have' substantial funds from publishing very successful books, why would one take the fruits of the forbidden tree?

There are many examples of the current popular rhetoric of railing against government programs, then taking advantage of them. From retirees who are living on social security and medicare while attending town hall meetings calling Obama a socialist, to farmers complaining about inner city welfare and unemployment while contributing to lobbyist who maintain farm subsidies for them. The list is long and across many borders.

We all have a tendency to accept what we can get all the while bemoaning any benefits others receive.

I say nothing is wrong with social nets, but we should vigorously root all abuses of the 'system'.

The only thing you can count on is the rich will get richer and the poor will suffer.

Agreed.

now, if the woman had become humble, I'd go for that

"...The biggest being Alan Greenspan who ushered in the free for all in Wall Street and the meltdown."
Well said.

It would be merely amusing except that these outraged, low-information, idiots also vote.

It makes me ill to contemplate -

That's my thought, pretty much. I recall the Bush administration passing our $600.00 "tax refunds" to income tax filers. I thought it was a terrible idea. I took the money. Then, the Obama passed out $250.00 to Social Security recipiants. Another terrible idea, but I didn't send it back.

I imagine the public perception would be that a person such as this would have to accept all the consequences of a system in which she exists that work to her disadvantage, such as paying every cent of tax the system requires but she should at the same time spurn any part of the system that works to her advantage.

I realize there is another angle here to do with wether she was actually abusing the system, but living within the system in which she exists is no more hypocritical than those of us who think we should pay less tax (or more!), but do what we must.

jjorge:

Thanks.

It is not the fact that she takes advantage of the existing social system. She started a political movement that attacks what she is taking advantage of. It shows her lack of conviction and lack of vision in seeing the viability of her political theories. Her movement is causing a lot of shortsighted problems.

I enjoyed reading Ayn Rand's novel, Atlas Shrugged, ages ago. Why do people take this long tale seriously, as in making her into a cult figure? Her ideas are very stupid and cruel It's just a book.