Judith

Do you believe redemption is possible? What if someone who has wronged you sees the error of his/her ways and honestly regrets it? Judith

I've known gay people all over the spectrum, and I've learned not to make any assumptions. I guess I'd say, in response to your post, that your choices are, of course, your own, and you owe nothing to anyone. Were I you, however, I'd think about the fact that by staying silent about my orientation, I'm failing to encourage and morally support others like myself. I'm also reducing the chances that others like myself will approach me and thus losing the possibility of their friendship/romantic ties. There's really very little to lose from being one's self in this world, and a huge value to be gained -- especially if one has a bit of skill in self-defense. Judith

I'm also INTP. I find the model quite useful in understanding and valuing others who are unlike myself, since "understanding others" is not an inherent INTP characteristic! I'm curious: does this model, or anything like innate personality, form any part of the current work you mentioned? Judith

Thank you for saying that. I also hated the change to the new format. After "Honoring the Self" and "How to Raise Your Self-Esteem" his stuff changed in a way that included this new "sound-bite" formula and exhaustive numbers of examples. I still find great value in his work and will always read anything he has to say, but before this "line" it seemed that he was addressing intelligent readers, and after it it seemed that he was "talking down" to "the masses" or something, and I found the works much harder to read. Judith

And I think therein lies a big difference in what many people find to value in music. Look at country music. The "music" doesn't change much, but it's the words that many people find moving and interesting. I've heard that lesbian music finds the "music" so uninteresting that the writers often borrow old tunes and just write new words to it. Whereas I find the words so uninteresting most of the time that when I learn choral music I memorize the "music" after two or three repetitions, but even almost at performance time I have to fight not to have my nose in the score because I have trouble remembering the words, even when they're in English. Occasionally, when the words really mean something to me, that doesn't happen, but I often find myself forgetting words even to my favorite pieces. Never happens with the notes. (And I sing alto, which means I don't have the melody.) Judith

I think this is the guy who scored "Hunt for Red October", which is one of my favorite scores. Good stuff. Judith

It seems a great pity. I check out her web site every now and then, and in so many ways she seems like a great person -- reminds me of myself in my early 20s. And then she comes out of left field with this malevolent nonsense. I think Nathaniel Branden somewhere expressed the hope that perhaps someday she'll grow up. I look forward to seeing it. I know that as soon as I began to understand Jungian personality types it became very clear to me that the majority of the world would not become convinced of the the validity of the objectivist world view by the kind of argumentation that most of us use. We tend to be Promethian, NT types for whom specific intellectual and emotional approaches work, and we are also a minority of the world's population (about 12 percent). If we ever hope to convince the world at large of the validity of our ideas, we need a plurality of approaches that address the intellectual and emotional makeup of many different kinds of people and convince them on a gut level the way Rand convinced us. (We may SAY that it was a purely intellectual approach, but how many people say things like, "Reading Rand for the first time felt like coming home!"? It also FELT right to us.) Judith

Exactly. The appendix slide in response to the last question sent it over the top. After over 22 years in corporate America it really hit the spot. Judith

Fascinating article, Ed. Can you tell us more about what this work entails? Sounds really interesting. Diana really seems to have it in for you. What did you do to her, Ed -- turn down her invitation to dance last time she went to a TOS seminar? :devil: Judith

Nothing, but it's basically libertarian while TAS is purportedly Objectivist. While I'm sure Rand would turn over in her grave at my statement, I'm also sure it's reasonable to consider Objectivism a subset of libertarianism. Judith

The soundtrack from "Rocky IV". I feel 25 years younger!! My whole life stretches before me!! I have infinite possibilities for my life!! Judith

Damn, Ed. That was well said and it needed to be said. I hope your essay is published widely. Judith

I just have to ask: how does one measure the viscosity of an attack? :devil: Judith

Yes. Robert did a superb job with the magazine, and I used to look forward eagerly to its delivery. I'm curious to see what it will be like after his departure. Judith

No, silly man. Use it for its intended purpose; killing the weeds in your gravel driveway. I swear, that's the first and only thing that comes to mind when I hear the word "flamethrower". My father had one for that purpose when I was a kid. Worked like a charm. Judith

I quite agree. Collateral damage should be avoided, but not to the extent that one's one personnel are sacrificed. But would you now advocate assassinating every Japanese who was alive in Japan at the time of the war? Children who may have been indoctrinated into the beliefs of their parents at the time of the war and who have since changed their minds? That's more than the equivalent of what you're advocating with Ratzinger. Ratzinger never agreed with the Nazi regime. He was trying to survive. Judith

Give the guy a break. He's renounced his membership, and back then one didn't have much choice about belonging. He's been one of the major voices in favor of a return to reason in the Western World. Not a bad ally, considering how much of the world is Roman Catholic and listens to the man, and how much more of the world respects him just because of his position. He's earned my respect because of who he is and what he says. He seems to be a genuinely good guy. Making fun of the guy's accent is a cheap shot. Judith

If recollection serves me correctly, Rand put Dannesjold in "Atlas" out of tribute to a romantic children's story that inspired her in childhood about a brave Viking. I don't remember her ever saying anything about admiring real Vikings. Ragnar's father was a bishop in Scandinavia and his family had disowned him, if recollection serves me correctly. Judith

And many, many people were opposed to it even then. During the revolution, at one point Abigail Adams wrote in a letter to her husband wondering if a plague were God's punishment to the people for slavery. Exactly. That's why it was doomed to eventual death. The Civil War was about secession, not about slavery. Had the north allowed the south to go peacefully, slavery would have died a natural death in the south. I firmly believe that secession is a natural right, and that the war was wrongfully fought. Slavery was just an excuse. Lincoln himself admitted that if allowing slavery to continue would preserve the Union, he would allow slavery to continue -- which is why my admiration for Lincoln is severely limited. I loathe slavery. I also loathe coercion. And today neither Great Britain nor Canada have any real protection against gun-grabbers, or those who would make "hate-speech" a crime, or other such freedoms that we have as a result of our founding fathers having put such things into writing. Who cares about ocean to ocean? Racism, against both blacks and American Indians, existed and had dreadful consequences, but it, too, was a contradiction to the original founding concepts, and eventually died a natural death, thanks to those on both sides of the ocean who were The Enlightenment. Judith

That happens to me every now and then, both at work and in other contexts. Love it when that happens. Judith

Hippo birdie, Kat! Today all the pretty lights and decorated trees are just for you! Judith

You're seeing the evil of which humans are capable. You're ignoring the good of which we are also capable. Life is a lot better now than it was in the stone age. Most societies on earth do NOT tolerate random murder, theft, rape, etc. Why? Civilization is a fragile thing, for the reasons you mention. And yet most of us enjoy the benefits of civilized societies. It's possible. It's real, right here and now. Why? It can be done. When the United States was founded, nothing like that had ever been done before. If the founders had had your attitude, they would never have tried. I'm very glad they tried. Judith

I did. I commonly refer people to Nazi Germany when they tend to start assuming that Bad Things "can't happen here, in this day and age". Looks like I don't have to go back that far. The indifference does shock me. Surely volunteer forces could be used to step in in these situations. Surely money could be raised. Judith

See, I have no problem with Cherryl's character or her ending. I don't think Rand patronized her in any way or was in any way "disrespectful" to the character. People who say that Rand's characters are hard, cold, unfeeling bastards just don't get it when they read the scene between Dagny and Cherryl at Dagny's apartment. I'm inclined to agree with Brant that Rand "sacrificed Eddie to the point she was making". I agree completely that the mark of the hero is character, not intelligence. I've met MANY people of average or less-than-average intelligence with whom I'd FAR rather spend my time, and with whom I'd MUCH rather trust my life, than a number of highly intelligent jerks whom I've been unfortunate to encounter. Rand realized this fact consciously, and said so, and paid tribute to it in her writing by putting in characters like Pat Logan, and Jeff Allen, and Mike. But I also suspect that she had a less conscious worship of intelligence that sometimes overrode this conscious knowledge of hers, and came out in little ways such as in the way she treated the character of Eddie Willers. Judith

All my news comes from the web. I don't watch TV and don't read papers. I see news magazines when I'm in a doctor's waiting room or something like that, but that's about it. The web sites I frequent: The Washington Post National Review Online Jewish World Review Wall Street Journal US News and World Report a local paper if I'm still in the mood for news Judith