If you haven't read "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand, READ IT NOW!!!!

Atlas Shrugged audio book with e-book

[link to www.mininova.org]

will read tonight

Summarize it.

Totally irrelevant fantasy world to what we are in today.

There's one scene where the protagonist goes into a big speech about what money means, like the dollar represents work and the product of one's labor.

If a capitalist when into that kind of rave over the dollar today, he'd be laughed off the panel of talking heads.

:dollartp:

The whole free market capitalism thing is dead, corrupted by insiders and a negligent government.

The book is worth reading as it is a work of existential philosophy that Ayn Rand has described.

As the novel opens, protagonist Dagny Taggart, executive of the railroad company Taggart Transcontinental, attempts to keep the company alive in difficult economic times marked by collectivism and statism. Dagny's brother, James Taggart, the railroad's President, seems peripherally aware of the company's troubles but will not make any difficult choices, preferring to avoid responsibility for any actions. While this unfolds, Dagny is disappointed to discover that Francisco d'Anconia, her childhood friend, first love, and king of the copper industry, appears to have become a worthless playboy who is destroying his own business.

In the final section of the novel, Taggart discovers the truth about John Galt, who is leading an organized "strike" against those who use the force of law and moral guilt to confiscate the accomplishments of society's productive members. With the collapse of the nation and its rapacious government all but certain, Galt emerges to reconstruct a society that will celebrate individual achievement and enlightened self-interest, delivering a long speech (fifty-six pages in one paperback edition) serving to explain the novel's theme and Rand's philosophy of Objectivism, in the book's longest single chapter.[23]

And somewhere in there is Howard Roark, iconoclastic industrialist, who is being targeted by the government because he is an original, creative, productive guy who is outstripping his competitors. The competitors are friends of the Government, which doesn't like to see them losing, so the Government takes away from Roark and gives to the losers. (There was something on another thread this morning about a Dodge franchise that had that exact same scenario, which is why I mentioned Atlas Shrugged at that time. It's happening now, folks.)

Atlas Shrugged audio book with e-book

[link to www.mininova.org]

will read tonight

Jesus, there is nothing wrong with capitalism when there is a truly free market...

it's the regulation and bailouts that fuck it all up.

Great book!

But what's the point?

We have socialists dominating the Democratic party and religiously inspired anti-abortionists dominating the Republican party. Corporate interests and labor unions now run the country behind-the-scenes to distort and manipulate markets and get public subsidies in one form or another.

There is no free market capitalism in our country anymore.

Summarize it.


No.

Read.

There is no such thing as a "free market", it always exists in the context of a vast legal framework - it's just a matter of more or less regulation, and whose interests those regulations reflect. The bailouts happened because of a lack of regulation, might want to study a little recent history, like the revocation of the glass-segal act in the late 90's. People who pine about their imaginary la la land free market paradise are as deluded as the Marxists who insist that Soviet Russia was just an imperfect implementation of Marxism and we just need to try again. ONCE AGAIN, the recent bail-outs happened due to a lack of regulation - the lack of regulation is exactly what the Randroid morons wanted.

Summarize it.

Totally irrelevant fantasy world to what we are in today.

There's one scene where the protagonist goes into a big speech about what money means, like the dollar represents work and the product of one's labor.

If a capitalist when into that kind of rave over the dollar today, he'd be laughed off the panel of talking heads.

:dollartp:

The whole free market capitalism thing is dead, corrupted by insiders and a negligent government.

The book is worth reading as it is a work of existential philosophy that Ayn Rand has described.

Summarize it.


No.

Read.

Jesus, there is nothing wrong with capitalism when there is a truly free market...

it's the regulation and bailouts that fuck it all up.





There is no such thing as a "free market", it always exists in the context of a vast legal framework - it's just a matter of more or less regulation, and whose interests those regulations reflect. The bailouts happened because of a lack of regulation, might want to study a little recent history, like the revocation of the glass-segal act in the late 90's. People who pine about their imaginary la la land free market paradise are as deluded as the Marxists who insist that Soviet Russia was just an imperfect implementation of Marxism and we just need to try again. ONCE AGAIN, the recent bail-outs happened due to a lack of regulation - the lack of regulation is exactly what the Randroid morons wanted.

There is no such thing as a "free market", it always exists in the context of a vast legal framework - it's just a matter of more or less regulation, and whose interests those regulations reflect. The bailouts happened because of a lack of regulation, might want to study a little recent history, like the revocation of the glass-segal act in the late 90's. People who pine about their imaginary la la land free market paradise are as deluded as the Marxists who insist that Soviet Russia was just an imperfect implementation of Marxism and we just need to try again. ONCE AGAIN, the recent bail-outs happened due to a lack of regulation - the lack of regulation is exactly what the Randroid morons wanted.



The Free Market Economy regulates itself automatically thought the Axiom of Spontaneous Order.


[link to en.wikipedia.org]

There is no such thing as a "free market", it always exists in the context of a vast legal framework - it's just a matter of more or less regulation, and whose interests those regulations reflect. The bailouts happened because of a lack of regulation, might want to study a little recent history, like the revocation of the glass-segal act in the late 90's. People who pine about their imaginary la la land free market paradise are as deluded as the Marxists who insist that Soviet Russia was just an imperfect implementation of Marxism and we just need to try again. ONCE AGAIN, the recent bail-outs happened due to a lack of regulation - the lack of regulation is exactly what the Randroid morons wanted.



The Free Market Economy regulates itself automatically thought the Axiom of Spontaneous Order.


[link to en.wikipedia.org]


Libertarian rott. The derivitive and hedgefund markets are unregulated and have done nothing but wreck havoc on the world econony. Was the commodity run up last year your idea of a desirable outcome from a free market? Are there any positive economic examples of the Axiom of """ in the real world?
Once again, markets always exist in a legal social context, there is no such thing as an absolutely free market. What the libertarians salivate over are markets in which the regulations are wholly weighed towards share holders, as exists now - though most are too thick to see that that is how libertarian economic theory works out in the real world. It was the Randian, free marketers who pushed and got the deregulation of markets going which is what has led to the current crisis.

She was an Illuminist shrill.

Summarize it.


No.

Read.


no.

There is no such thing as a "free market", it always exists in the context of a vast legal framework - it's just a matter of more or less regulation, and whose interests those regulations reflect. The bailouts happened because of a lack of regulation, might want to study a little recent history, like the revocation of the glass-segal act in the late 90's. People who pine about their imaginary la la land free market paradise are as deluded as the Marxists who insist that Soviet Russia was just an imperfect implementation of Marxism and we just need to try again. ONCE AGAIN, the recent bail-outs happened due to a lack of regulation - the lack of regulation is exactly what the Randroid morons wanted.



The Free Market Economy regulates itself automatically thought the Axiom of Spontaneous Order.


[link to en.wikipedia.org]


Libertarian rott. The derivitive and hedgefund markets are unregulated and have done nothing but wreck havoc on the world econony. Was the commodity run up last year your idea of a desirable outcome from a free market? Are there any positive economic examples of the Axiom of """ in the real world?
Once again, markets always exist in a legal social context, there is no such thing as an absolutely free market. What the libertarians salivate over are markets in which the regulations are wholly weighed towards share holders, as exists now - though most are too thick to see that that is how libertarian economic theory works out in the real world. It was the Randian, free marketers who pushed and got the deregulation of markets going which is what has led to the current crisis.


Defining a free market solely on the degree of regulation is like saying organic farming is just farming without chemicals.

You miss the whole damned point.

Oh, and the regulation you clearly prefer is working SO WELL!

Ugh...

Whatever...

You clearly dont get or dont WANT to get what a free market is.

If you don't think it will work then say that, but YES there IS such a thing as a free market and it is the ONLY thing that works.

The bailouts "happened because of a lack of regulation"???

Are you out of your fuckin mind? That's the exact OPPOSITE of the truth!

It's not like a trly free market has even EXISTED in this country since 1913!

Great book!

But what's the point?
....
There is no free market capitalism in our country anymore.

Defining a free market solely on the degree of regulation is like saying organic farming is just farming without chemicals.

You miss the whole damned point.

Oh, and the regulation you clearly prefer is working SO WELL!