captainatlas

I applaud the attempt at poetry. I will advise you that as happy egoists age, they do come to realize that patience and politeness are indeed virtues. I do not hold the door because it is a duty, but because I am happy to be the person I choose to be. Impatience and lack of courtesy are simply symtoms of a lack of self control. I have been a criminal, and gotten away with it. The flaw in criminality is not that one is punished by others, but that one fails to respect oneself. Choose a standard and live up to it.

I truly do understand that, and I do have patience and I am quite polite, though I was trying to get across that many forsake the idea of individualism. Though I guess denying the ideas of the other two being virtues was a bit rash. Trying to avoid looking like I am making up an excuse, I guess I was looking for something to put into the writing at the time. Thank you very much for the feedback.

"Election Song" by Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains

"Individuality is a Virtue" by Jacob Miller-alderman

A man scolded me

For I lacked patience

“Patience is a virtue” he said

I declined such thoughts

I walk to a beat of my own

A woman scolded me

For I lacked courtesy

“Politeness is a virtue” she said

I declined such arrogance

I only bow to my audience

Others have scolded me

For I lacked Charity

“Righteousness is a Virtue”

I declined to such “obligation”

I give only to the workers

I scolded me Brethren

Cause the shared indifference

“Individuality is the only true virtue” I said

They declined such opportunity

I walk alone on my path

--------------------------------

"Morality is Choice" by Jacob Miller-alderman

A man once told me about morality

He said “morality is appearance”

That to be, is to be seen

That man is measure by his comrades

His world is not his own,

but that of his peers.

Another man objected to this

He said “morality is action”

Not to be judged, but to be done

It is a standard set to be followed

And has no room to be swayed

It is done, not used

A third man sat quietly

He whispered “Morality is Chosen”

To be set to your own interest

It is Subjective, not to people,

But instead to one’s self

To avoid being held back

By of the close minded

He went on to say more

No man is entitled to make truth

But to use truth for his decision

The only thing not to be swayed is man

Man carries his own future

And no man shall carry it for him

"Endless Armageddon" by Toxic Holocaust

Very loudly to ignore the people in the other room...

Eartha Kitt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ5VaBgXzuM

Having grown up on the Beatles, Stones, Zep, Rush, Yes, Floyd, then New Wave, then guns & roses, thrash, metallica, grunge, and having always enjoyed classical, once grunge died and gangsta and britney became all that was "new" I went back to the standards, Ellington, Miles, Patsy Cline, gershwin, Ella, Clooney, Swing, Krupa, Klezmer, anything with an actual melody is nice. How boring to be a kid today.

Thats why I like listening to underground music, a lot more variety

"Fire Away" by by Bad Influence

As the title says...

"Ex-Teenage Rebel" by Subhumans

(Note: I wrote this a bit before I found objectivism, and I have also posted it and other things on my blog spot. I know it isn't much, but I thought it was pretty good for a piece of writing while bored in school haha. I don't know if this counts as an "article", but I will move it if I need to.)

Human nature and ideals are to complicated to discuss without thinking of the origin of the said human. Take a moment to look at the world with all it has in it, but then take one man or woman out of this world. Set that man down in a secluded area where no one else is. Erase his mind of human speech, ideas of survival, ideas of social needs, and anything else that would give him any sort of personality. He is a shell of remote and basic thoughts that reach no actual needs other than what is promised on the very bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This is the most basic of form that a human can take in its billions of years on earth. The very idea behind it is to show how the being is constantly taking in information of the area placed around it.

This creature it self will not have what it needs to make any huge change in society, but hopefully from what it passes on it will help develop future generations by allowing what it has learned to boost the learning abilities of its own species. Allowing them to look back on what the originator learned and give the being time to learn other things to continue the path. First comes survival, than safety, than social, than self esteem. These are all levels of needs which will allow us to develop and surpass them allowing more challenges to be surpassed by future generations.

In fact, now that it has spawned its own thoughts, it is instantly separated from every other organism on the planet. When it is an a small organism, it is part of a general state of evolution, but when confronted with the learning process, it falls into a state of individual evolution. Though knowing this as an origin of man. People no longer see our minds and ideas as an act of free will, but thoughts governed by the idea of science. It will grow more and more independent until it is able to no longer need to lean against society to learn, but a want to learn. It will take interest in following such things. Though many people feel that our road is forever destined and people will be forced to learn things without interest.

Truly, I see it as a template for design and realization created by our own choices that develop our race as a whole. We are no longer swayed by the collective as soon as we come to an age of individual thought. We are not bound by the laws of science, but instead what we recognize as our reasoning behind these laws. It is not an act of restriction, but a process of naming. In truth, there is nothing more evident then the idea of free thought. It provides us a personality that creates our future. The fact that we can go into states of rationality and irrationality is reason enough to believe that we are not bound by anything, but suspected to go by what has been done before.

We are not a mind in a collective form, but a small moving piece in a intergalactic high way. We can influence and change, but we can never control to a point of puppeteer the entire human populace. We are a singular objective that rolls among abilities and cause and reactions. The only reason we are to be brought to the thought of human nature is through the process of learning about our surroundings and having a general reaction to them. This is the complete failsafe of human kind. If we did not have the idea of symbolism, we would still have the idea of reaction. It is the most basic part of the human mind. We lash out against what hurts or displeasures us and accept what we enjoy.

For example, temptation is not subject to human cause and emotion, it is subject to the idea of personality. Temptation exist, but what we are tempted to is completely at will to what we wish to understand. It is not just a chain of scientific and philosophical thoughts we wish to comprehend. In fact, it is a journey we wish to explore upon. The only thing that humans are bound to do, due to reason, is to explore and create and understand. We take in and it gives us reason, but not just reason to live, but reason to do anything. We move to go forward, we eat to survive, but the reason we do this is so we can keep progressing and allowing us to further our lives. We explore so others can explore more when we are unable to. We are essentially digging a tunnel to allow the tunnel to become even longer.

It is going back to the origin with the basic being. It allowed us to go from survival, to safety, and from safety to developing as a society allowing those truths to become basic. So from there we move on, until we can only let the future exceed where we have gone. There is no job that can't be out done, and there is no limit that can't be exceeded. We have created things that were once deemed impossible. We talk to people hundred of miles away instantly through the push of a couple buttons, and soon these thing will become basic and it will allow other things to fill up its space as discoveries.

So my abilities are limitless in the idea that limits are only fleeting ideas, and they will soon come to pass like other such things. Soon stem cell research will become a basic science that many will know, just like physics are today. It is a never ending puzzle that allows purpose and being to infiltrate both the mind of those who don't understand, and those who do. Both the men higher on the food chain, and men who work for those men will take siege into allowing what is new to become basic.

Jacob:

Excellent.

Actually, I thought there was a divorce sub-story, as I am a divorce and family mediator who was instrumental in getting the Presumptive Shared Parenting Bill introduced in the NY State Assembly and Senate.

In terms of starting with a small group, Lenin had seven in the room. Rand's "Collective" had a handful of about 10, but Barbara would know the exact amount.

Plato had Aristotle as a student.

Our own "Committees of Correspondence" in the American Revolution were small groups of dedicated folks.

Can you get two people to form the "club" with you? If so, go for it!

Geez, Minnesota! I will share one story with you - when I was 18, we were heavily involved in the Goldwater movement and I, living in Queens County in NY City was in a left wing socialist community.

I started at Queens College when I was 16 as a Randian that was already talking about Goldwater as a Presidential candidate.

This was 1962, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam beginning to clearly snowball despite General Mac Arthur's warnings of ever getting into a ground war in Asia.

I had overtly Communist teachers also and I was told by folks who had "my best interests at heart" and they told me not to even respectfully argue with certain teachers because they would give you bad grades and screw up your potential of getting into Veterinary School.

My chosen paths, at that time, were going to be either Veterinary medicine or Law school. However, whichever path I was going to choose, politics was going to be involved.

At any rate, I chose to confront each and every teacher assertively and aggressively and yes their were those who gave me punishment grades, but I knew I did what I knew was right.

Stay the course, Jacob, there is life after Minnesota.

Adam

Thanks Adam, it must have been hard growing up in an area like that. When I found Objectivism for the first time, it opened my eyes so much, and I realized just how much potential there was in the world. I had always had a dislike for collective type of ideology, but because of objectivism, I found the words I have always been looking for. I even had used it to make a great anology today lol

Welcome Jacob:

My closest friend, we were both only children so we were brothers living in separate houses lol.

On the way to H.S. when we were 14 he told me about this great book he just read and that I would love it and he handed me Atlas Shrugged - that was 1960 and I have not looked back since.

I am surprised you are having trouble acquiring her non-fiction books. I live just outside NY City, out of curiosity, where do you live?

Also, I wondered why you have a hyphenated name?

This is an excellent forum to belong to.

Finally, since your high school does not have a philosophy class, why don't you start a philosophy club or a rhetoric club to discuss ideas.

Again welcome.

Adam

I live in Minnesota and it sucks for the most part. There are a lot of marxists here, in fact last year I had a pro-communist teacher.

My name is hyphenated, because my mother was divorced and got married. I didn't want to get rid of my last name at the time so we just added to it.

I would love to start a philosophy club, but the reason m,y school doesn't have a philosophy class is because people kept failing it when they did. I will definitely try, but I don't suggest a big turn out. Though I guess nothing is gained if nothing is worked for.

I am very thankful for all the welcomes, they always make me feel less awwkard about joining new forums.

Oh, and I would like to say if I dissappear after a while, it is because the cable guy takes forever to get to my house...I haven't had internet in my house for about a week haha.

Welcome, Jacob. I was 16 in 1984 when a fellow high school student with whom I had used to be friends walked up to me and dropped The Virtue of Selfishness on my desk, saying "Here, you'll like this." Nicest mean thing anyone's ever done for me. How did you find out about Objectivism?

My brother had read "Anthem" and he loved the book, so he started to look up other things by Ayn Rand, and basically pulled me into it with him, and I have been hooked ever since. Though it is hard to find copies Ayn Rand's non-fiction books, but I am currently reading "Atlas Shrugged" and so far I am really enjoying it.

Hello, there my name is Jacob Alderman, I'm kind of new to the whole Objectivist thing, and I thought that this was a good place to try and find out more about it. I'm 16 years of age, but I usually study things like Philosophy, sociology, and musical history in my free time (though my school doesn't have a class for philosophy unfortunately).

Hopefully I will have a splendid time here, and be able to learn more about this great philosophy.