Will Conservatives Defend Atlas Shrugged This Time Around?

[Backlighting]

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/03/will_conservatives_defend_atla.html

[kiaer.ts]

http://www.americant...efend_atla.html

Thanks, I learned two interesting things reading that piece.

[Robert Campbell]

"Can they afford not to?"

Robert Campbell

[Backlighting]

Do they have the "chutzpah"?

[Selene]

Do they have the "chutzpah"?

According to Hoyle [this is what you should name your blog if you ever take the plunge]:

"The great American productivity, the great American economy, the almighty US dollar are sadly things of the past. The culture and the mood of today remind me of a scene towards the end of The Fountainhead, when Gail Wynand says: "The age of the skyscraper is gone. This is the age of the housing project . . ."

If there is to be an American revival, can there be one without a philosophical argument in favor of America 's founding principles and its political-economic system of capitalism? And can Ayn Rand's name be left out of the equation?

Or is it time to embrace Ayn Rand as a great American? Time has shown to be on her side, but patience with the status-quo conservative movement and the Republican party is running out."

Thank you again for your posts.

The Republican Party is suffering, once again, from E.D....

Electoral Dysfunction

I suggest that we ram that large blue suppository where Dick Cavett suggested Norman Mailer shove the question sheet.

Thanks again LV.

Adam

[caroljane]

http://www.americant...efend_atla.html

Thanks, I learned two interesting things reading that piece.

So did I.'m interested to know what your two are.

[Dennis Hardin]

It certainly looks like we can at least count on Sean Hannity. . .

BTW, did anyone see Yaron Brook's segments with Stossel during his "Freeloaders" special? The program came very close to being a documentary on the pernicious effects of altruism.

I definitely think FOX will give the film plenty of coverage, mostly positive.

[Backlighting]

It certainly looks like we can at least count on Sean Hannity. . .

BTW, did anyone see Yaron Brook's segments with Stossel during his "Freeloaders" special? The program came very close to being a documentary on the pernicious effects of altruism.

I definitely think FOX will give the film plenty of coverage, mostly positive.

I don't think Bill "Me Tooer" O'Reilly will.

[Dennis Hardin]

So did I. I'm interested to know what your two are.

Daunce,

I'm interested to know why you chose that picture? We have so few females on OL, and you have to choose old Mother Hubbard for an avatar?

Sticking with the Whistler theme, here is one potential alternative:

Just a thought. (Sorry for the detour.)

[caroljane]

So did I. I'm interested to know what your two are.

Daunce,

I'm interested to know why you chose that picture? We have so few females on OL, and you have to choose old Mother Hubbard for an avatar?

Sticking with the Whistler theme, here is one potential alternative:

Just a thought. (Sorry for the detour.)

No problem with the detour. We need to get out of the way of all that livestock.

I chose the avatar for the image I wanted to convey -sage wisdom, gentle patience, Respectability of course. Also, I am facing left.

Second reason, she is the mother of a genius and I am the mother of two, who productively use their talents for the good of all, by improving the public airwaves and the public transit tracks respectively. They may not be recognized as they should for their unique talents by a philistine culture,but they are enjoying their chosen careers and they are geniuses at being my sons and that is all I care about.

Third reason, I really like the colours.

[Selene]

So the "subtle" metaphor for the whistle is blow me?

[Jerry Biggers]

So the "subtle" metaphor for the whistle is blow me?

Dennis and Adam:

You guys certainly have a talent to liven-up a discussion with a few well chosen zingers and quips!

Er, and pics, too!

[studiodekadent]

No, actual Conservatives (of either the Oakshottean or Religious variety) will still hate Atlas Shrugged.

Now, some nominal conservatives probably will, but many of them will ideologically be either classical liberals (libertarians) or influenced by classical liberalism, rather than IDEOLOGICAL conservatives.

[Dennis Hardin]

No problem with the detour. We need to get out of the way of all that livestock.

I chose the avatar for the image I wanted to convey-sage wisdom, gentle patience, Respectability of course. Also, I am facing left.

Second reason, she is the mother of a genius and I am the mother of two, who productively use their talents for the good of all, by improving the public airwaves and the public transit tracks respectively. They may not be recognized as they should for their unique talents by a philistine culture,but they are enjoying their chosen careers and they are geniuses at being my sons and that is all I care about.

Third reason, I really like the colours.

Wise, patient and respectable livestock are a huge turn-on for philistines like me.

Your sons are very fortunate to have such an independent, intelligent mom, even if she is facing the wrong direction.

[Dennis Hardin]

So the "subtle" metaphor for the whistle is blow me?

A little too subtle for my explicit brain, actually.

It’s startling to encounter thinking even more deviant than my own.

[Dennis Hardin]

Dennis and Adam:

You guys certainly have a talent to liven-up a discussion with a few well chosen zingers and quips!

Er, and pics, too!

Thanks, Jerry. Glad you were amused.

Actually, it's just as well Daunce uses a humdrum avatar. She would be too damned distracting.

[jriggenbach]

So the "subtle" metaphor for the whistle is blow me?

A little too subtle for my explicit brain, actually.

It's startling to encounter thinking even more deviant than my own.

There must be some mistake here, Dennis. You have no "thinking." The activity in your brain that you have always believed was "thinking" is in fact "a kind of insensate sweating, like that of a kidney."

Helpfully,

JR

[kiaer.ts]

http://www.americant...efend_atla.html

Thanks, I learned two interesting things reading that piece.

So did I.'m interested to know what your two are.

Sorry, I got distracted by that image Dennis posted.

The two things were that Putin's assistants quizzed Greenspan about Ayn Rand, and the link to the Boehner meltdown. Boehner is symbolic of exactly what's wrong with the Republican party. He should be horsewhipped. With his hair and tan and makeup he deserves to be nothing

more than a secondary character on Jersey Shore.

[caroljane]

Thank you for the nice fun compliment and let me reciprocate. I admire academics who do not insist on being called Doctor everywhere (exemplar a certain once-just-Leonard who apparently was born with a fake stethoscope strapped to his scrawny chest).

I have a friend who is a psychotherapist (just MA and license)

and some of her clients like to call her Dr Russell, they feel more comfortable that way, and prefer to think of themselves as patients, not clients.

She is very successful and I have often thought that one reason is that she has minimal sense of humour. I have known her from childhood and never known her to laugh spontaneously or make a joke herself. Her clientele is mainly family therapy and individual, rich people. Family and individual anguish are serious, and if they could have leavened their lives with humour, they may not have been in therapy in the first place.

I've often read that psychiatrists (I don't k now any stats about psychologists or psychotherapists) have the highest suicide rate among medical professionals. I am not surprised. They already know that life is a "tragedy to those who feel and a comedy to those who think." And they have to feel and think, live consciously, all the time.

Edited March 28, 2011 by daunce lynam

[Selene]

I've often read that psychiatrists (I don't k now any stats about psychologists or psychotherapists) have the highest suicide rate among medical professionals. I am not surprised. They already know that life is a "tragedy to those who feel and a comedy to those who think." And they have to feel and think, live consciously, all the time.

Carol:

This would be really fascinating reading except that since at least World War II [The Big One as Archie Bunker called it] it has been dentists with the highest per capita rate of suicide in the professions.

Adam

[BaalChatzaf]

.

I've often read that psychiatrists (I don't k now any stats about psychologists or psychotherapists) have the highest suicide rate among medical professionals. I am not surprised. They already know that life is a "tragedy to those who feel and a comedy to those who think." And they have to feel and think, live consciously, all the time.

Life is a bit absurd. We sweat and strain for the sublime and the infinite and we end up as worm food after a finite span of time. Definitely a no win situation. There are only two reasonable reactions: One is despair and the other is sardonic laughter.

I come down in favor of regarding life as a kind of Shaggy Dog Story. It only hurts when I laugh.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[caroljane]

.

I've often read that psychiatrists (I don't k now any stats about psychologists or psychotherapists) have the highest suicide rate among medical professionals. I am not surprised. They already know that life is a "tragedy to those who feel and a comedy to those who think." And they have to feel and think, live consciously, all the time.

Life is a bit absurd. We sweat and strain for the sublime and the infinite and we end up as worm food after a finite span of time. Definitely a no win situation. There are only two reasonable reactions: One is despair and the other is sardonic laughter.

I come down in favor of regarding life as a kind of Shaggy Dog Story. It only hurts when I laugh.

Ba'al Chatzaf

but it hurts so good, yes?

[caroljane]

I've often read that psychiatrists (I don't k now any stats about psychologists or psychotherapists) have the highest suicide rate among medical professionals. I am not surprised. They already know that life is a "tragedy to those who feel and a comedy to those who think." And they have to feel and think, live consciously, all the time.

Carol:

This would be really fascinating reading except that since at least World War II [The Big One as Archie Bunker called it] it has been dentists with the highest per capita rate of suicide in the professions.

Adam

I am amazed at this and can only think that the suicides were accidental overdoses of laughing gas.

[Selene]

I've often read that psychiatrists (I don't k now any stats about psychologists or psychotherapists) have the highest suicide rate among medical professionals. I am not surprised. They already know that life is a "tragedy to those who feel and a comedy to those who think." And they have to feel and think, live consciously, all the time.

Carol:

This would be really fascinating reading except that since at least World War II [The Big One as Archie Bunker called it] it has been dentists with the highest per capita rate of suicide in the professions.

Adam

I am amazed at this and can only think that the suicides were accidental overdoses of laughing gas.

Actually, I have known this statistic since the 1950's and it has always surprised me, but I just checked it tonight and it is still true. Law enforcement is a close second and the military is coming up fast into third place.

Professions with the Highest Suicide Rates: Dentistry and Law Enforcement But People in the Military Are Catching Up Fast!

On factor for dentists is that they are legally permitted to write prescriptions for themselves, the easy access to various gases and the fact that they are very lonely as a professional class.

In this article, there is a statement that the teaching staff at the dental schools refuse to even acknowledge that there is an issue or problem.

The occupation with the highest suicide rate Doctors committing suicide at high rates This article in Psychology Today does not break it down within the "medical profession."

[caroljane]

I've often read that psychiatrists (I don't k now any stats about psychologists or psychotherapists) have the highest suicide rate among medical professionals. I am not surprised. They already know that life is a "tragedy to those who feel and a comedy to those who think." And they have to feel and think, live consciously, all the time.

Carol:

This would be really fascinating reading except that since at least World War II [The Big One as Archie Bunker called it] it has been dentists with the highest per capita rate of suicide in the professions.

Adam

I am amazed at this and can only think that the suicides were accidental overdoses of laughing gas.

Actually, I have known this statistic since the 1950's and it has always surprised me, but I just checked it tonight and it is still true. Law enforcement is a close second and the military is coming up fast into third place.

Professions with the Highest Suicide Rates: Dentistry and Law Enforcement But People in the Military Are Catching Up Fast!

On factor for dentists is that they are legally permitted to write prescriptions for themselves, the easy access to various gases and the fact that they are very lonely as a professional class.

In this article, there is a statement that the teaching staff at the dental schools refuse to even acknowledge that there is an issue or problem.

The occupation with the highest suicide rate Doctors committing suicide at high rates This article in Psychology Today does not break it down within the "medical profession."

Adam, thank you for the info, my joke was not so thoughtless as it appeared. My own dentist has told me about colleagues who became addicted to nitrous. I can understand that, I love it myself, but sadly seldom require it. Again the humour theme comes in. My dentist is a solid ordinary guy with cartoons on the wall - a vicious biker dentist leaning over a cowering patient, saying, "This won't hurt me a bit, bud!"and so on.For 20 years to our family he's been a great tradesman doing his job and getting better at it and we have all got to know each other. His staff have mostly stayed with him through that time. I had no idea that dentistry had so many others like the colleague he described so matter-of-factly. What pressures these people put on themselves, it is heartbreaking.