Hi there, Greetings from Budd Lake, NJ. I tried to post my greeting here last night but for some reason it didn't get through. Anyway, glad to make your accquaintance and hope to provide some stimulating and educational posts in the near future. Now, as to my Objectivist background, unlike most of you who discovered Ayn Rand an her philosophy during your high school or college years, I did not read any of her stuff until my late 40's, and I will be 57 next month. So my experience with Objectivism has been for only a decade or so. All I can say is this Objectivism is awesome. I wish that I had known about it sooner. Paul

Hi Paul, glad you could join us.

Kat

Hey Paul,

Welcome aboard. I hope you find this place cozy and comfortable.

I look forward to seeing what tickles your fancy.

Like eggnog? Pull up a chair...

Michael

Greetings all,

I am also 57 years old. I read all of Rand’s books long ago, in the late sixties and early seventies, when I was a college student in eastern Washington. I’ve had lots of experience debating her views, and I am still doing so on philosophy messageboards around the internet.

I have my own views now which are a combination of objectivism and existentialism. (I know Rand would disapprove. However, she was an original thinker, and I can’t be that way if I am just her unquestioning follower.) I call myself a Neo-Objectivist and have my own board on which I try to develop and defend my views.

I hope this board doesn’t mind if I also post here.

Bis bald,

Nick

Hi Nick,

Welcome to Objectivist Living. Nice to meet you.

Just curious, what is Bis Bald?

Kat

Kat, you should learn some German too...

"Bald" = "soon", "bis" = until, so "bis bald" is something like "see you".

As Goethe said: "Warte nur, balde ruhest du auch"

My favorite: Preide Goethe befuhr einfallen. :-)

Yes, "bis bald" literally means "'til soon". I lived in Germany for more than twenty years and had a German wife and a son with dual citizenship. Still, my German is not always grammatically correct. I'm still working on it.

bis spaeter,

Nick

Nick,

Let me welcome you too.

I look forward to your thoughts. You got your dose of Rand around the same time I did and I, too, am an original thinker.

I prize this attitude very much, even when I don't agree.

Michael

I've posted one item in the creative writing forum, although it is really an autobiographical piece with a little story to it, a coming of age story.

I guess I could post some of my stuff in your article forum. However, some of my articles are presented in an affirmative case format, designed for debate, but I can't really find a debate forum in this community. Where can I present views which may be critical of some aspects of objectivism while affirming of others? Sometimes, I need a little opposition to really flesh out my points.

bis bald,

Nick

Nick,

I skimmed over you piece, but I want to read it with more attention before commenting. I liked what I saw. (I am moving it to the "Articles" section, since it is not fiction or poetry. It is how here. I hope you don't mind.)

For debate, I suggest the section called "Chewing on Ideas." I prefer the term "discussion," though, since the spirit here is the examination of ideas, not winning arguments competitively.

I am thinking of putting up a special section later to examine the works of those who have written frontal blasts against Objectivism (Walker, Nyquist, Ryan, Prescott, etc.). I want to look at some of the criticisms without all the heavy-handed rhetoric that usually goes with them. From what I have read so far, there are several intelligent questions that need to be addressed.

Michael

Michael:
Very interesting! After reading the article in which you mentioned them I bought the books by Walker, Nyquist and Ryan and I'm nearly finished with reading them for the second time (2.5 out of 3). Just at the moment I haven't much time for an extensive discussion, but I hope to have somewhat more time in the near future.

We're probably getting off the subject now, but has anyone read With Charity Toward None: An Analysis of ayn Rand's Philosophy by William F. O'Neill? It was published way back in 1971, and Dr. O'Neill was one of my professors from USC, as was Mahroo.

bis bald,

Nick

Nick,

I read With Charity toward None, when it was still fairly new, and haven't looked at it since.

I recall O'Neill arguing that Rand's philosophy inevitably implies that the rich are good and the poor are depraved. I also recall finding O'Neill's argument for this conclusion underwhelming...

Robert Campbell

Nick -- Wo hatten Sie in Deutschland gewohnt?

Ich hatte in Bad Kreuznach gewohnt. Bad Kreuznach ist bei Mainz und Wiesbaden neben an, und feirzig Milen sud von Frankfurt, in Reinland Falls. Da hatta ich fur uber zwanzig Jahre gewohnt aber arbitet uberall in Deutschland.

bis bald,

Nick

Sehr gut!

Ich hatte fur ein jahr in Munchen gewohnt, von 1980 bis 1981. Ich war ein lehrer fur die Universitat Maryland. Das war ein Americanische schule fur die Americanische studenten. Ich lehrtet auf Englisch aber ich lerntet ein bishen Deutsch. (Ich habe gern die Deutsche Kultur, zum beispiel, music und opera.)

Tschuss!

Ich war ein Lehrer fur Big Bend Community College, auch ein americanische Schule fur die americanische Soldatin. Ich bin mit die Universitat Maryland bekannt. Ich habe Volkswanderungen jeden Wochenende gelaufen und hat die Munchen, Frankfurt, Fulda, und Berlin Marathons gelaufen. Ich war sportlich, aber nicht mehr so viel. Ich werde immer alterer.

bis bald,

Nick

Na, meine Herren, es tut mir leid, aber ich fürchte dass euer Deutsch noch etwas Nachhilfe gebrauchen könnte. //;-))

Ich weiss das ich bin nicht ganz flussig auf Deutch. Es ist pinesom fur mich auf Deutsch zu sprechen und schriben, aber ich versuche. Das ist alles. Hilfen Sie mir?

Nick

Hi Nick, and welcome to Objectivist Living.

Well, I had to pull out my secret decoder ring to halfway understand that exchange.

As some of you know, The Objectivist Center is sponsoring a trip to Lake Constance (Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein) in early October. Maybe some of you can go and practice your German. I hope Ed goes.

Dragonfly, how many languages do you speak? I know English is not your native tongue and so far you've shown that you are fluent in at least four languages. That is amazing!

Kat

I thought I'd written here in English and a bit of German only... It's true that I learned several languages in school: Latin, (classical) Greek, English, French and German (and Dutch of course). Later I learned also Swedish and a bit of Danish. I also started with Spanish, but didn't pursue that, as I decided I'd better improve my command of the languages I knew already somewhat, after all I have more things to do!

Dragonfly, you're a true Renaissance man. Why the way, one of my favorite Latin quotes is:

Quis igitur liber est? Sapiens -- qui sibi imperat!

Ed, although my Latin is quite rusty I still could understand that!

And for those who don't read Latin, it's:

"Who, therefore, is free? The Wise, who are in command of themselves." That's Horace.

My favorite Roman and personal hero is Marcus Tullius Cicero. I did a talk about him at last year's Summer Seminar, available on CD from our bookstore, of course!