James

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. That sounds sensible! That's good advice although I feel quite unsettled by the whole thing nonetheless. When I was reading the FH and AS everything was sunshine and lollipops so when I heard about all that bitterness and hatred I couldn't help but think WTF? I was a student before reading Objectivism but I dropped out due to a combination of unfavourable circumstances and just plain bad personal philosophy. I'm going to try and resume my education in the new year. I've always loved writing and comedy, and I'm a big fan of Ricky Gervais's 'The Office' and 'Extras' among many others so it's my ambition to create something similar. Gervais puts the art back into the genre and I like to compare his 'Extras' to the Fountainhead because the main character chooses the path that Roark refused (with hilarious consequences!). Anyway, at the moment I'm saving my pennies for my education. I'm actually in a very interesting position for an Objectivist because I took a temporary job with the government since statism is back in vogue these days! (Sorry Ayn! I'll say a hundred 'hail Dagnys' as penance). It has been interesting to say the least and apart from reclaiming tax money I'm getting a lot of material for my future career!

Hi I'm James, I'm 22 years old and I'm from the United Kingdom. I am a student of Objectivism and I've been reading Rand's work on and off for a couple of years but I've only recently started a systematic study of Objectivism. I have read all of Rand's major fiction and I'm currently working my way through her non-fiction starting with VoS. The reason I joined this forum is primarily to find out more about the philosophy, and also because up until now I've been predominantly exposed to 'orthodox' Oism and I want to find out a bit more about 'the dark side' as it were! I have a whole lot of reading to do before I take sides in the big schism though. In terms of practical help in my life I've benefited equally from Branden's "the Art of Living Consciously" and Peikoff's podcast among other things. Anyway, I look forward to learning and contributing.