Roger Bissell Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Working as I do for a major U.S. corporate entity, I often find something to ruefully chuckle about in Scott Adams' wonderful comic strip, "Dilbert." Occasionally, one of his characters sounds like an exaggerated version of a Randian character, which makes that strip even more poignant than usual.For instance, using the same dialogue as he did in his "Dilbert" strip of Feb. 15, 1994, suppose Adams had written an exchange such as the following between Hank Rearden and his shiftless, mooching brother, Phillip:Hank: I can't life my life to please others.Phillip: I think I can speak for all others when I say "Fool! You'd better please us or we'll crush you!"Hank: It was just a thought.Phillip: We "others" don't like to be threatened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Bissell Posted December 3, 2008 Author Share Posted December 3, 2008 Here's another example, from Adams' "Dilbert" strip of Dec. 3, 2007. Suppose two ARI guys were working for an unscrupulous private agency on a space flight mission.Supervisor: Our next project is building a private shuttle to the moon. Now if you make any mistakes, innocent tourists will perish in the vacuum of space.First ARI guy: We need to work on our rationalizations.Second ARI guy: Is anyone really "innocent"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Roger,LOLOLOL...You caught the style perfectly.Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Grieb Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Roger; Very funny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike11 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiaer.ts Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 All of the full length animated Dilbert episodes are available for download at hulu.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galtgulch Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Roger,LOLOLOL...You caught the style perfectly.MichaelMichael,You guys are fiddling while our country goes down the drain! Membership in Campaign For Liberty now stands at 94351. Notice how the number increases each and every day. How many people did you inform about its existence today? There is an analogy here regarding Hank Rearden fighting for his freedom. I know that Ron Paul is no John Galt philosophically. We will see how influential this movement proves to be in time. Ron Paul did recommend Atlas Shrugged to his readers. Ron Paul also advocated that his supporters study the Austrian economists. Ron Paul also just endorsed the establishment of Young Americans for Liberty [http://www.YALiberty.org] on college campuses. Don't mind me. I do enjoy Dilbert and appreciate this thread just as you all do. galt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiaer.ts Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Yes, you fiddle while Shabtai Tzvi, the MOSHIACH, lies hidden. His faithful followers number some 100,000. They know that his conversion to Islam in 1666 was a fake, that the real Shabtai Tzvi was transported from the golden birdcage in which the Sultan had hung him to the bosom of Abraham. They know that the MOSHIACH never died, and that the man who became the sultan's paid doorman was an imposter. Awake, O Israel, and rejoice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syrakusos Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 (edited) Working as I do for a major U.S. corporate entity ...Dilbert is a lot funnier when you have a job. I finished a contract for a major multinational on September 9, 2001, and on September 11, the world changed. I was working fulltime for $40 an hour. Now, I work part-time for $10. So, as far as I am concerned the characters in Dilbert should be happy that they have work.As far as that last good job went, it was a perfect example of why the road less traveled is less traveled: it's a worse road. Individualism is not a philosophy, it is a smell. Something about the person marching to the wrong drummer is readily apparent. Certainly, the minute you say anything, no matter how innocuous or bland, your perspective is not the common one and they know that. Someone comes into the office and asks, "Did you watch that show last night?" Everyone knows what they mean. "Did you catch that game?" Perhaps 100 games were televised over the weekend, but "that game" is the one "everyone" watched -- except one guy.I love factories. I'm an Objectivist. So, I'm working this project with another technical writer who hates factories. Our plant is too far out of town for her to go in for a latte. She denigrates the women for their grammar. She took the job because she needed work -- fair enough. Comes time to let someone go, it has to be me because I make twice what she does -- being more than twice as valuable in my own objective opinion, of course -- but what did the manager say to me? "If I let her go, she'd be a basket case, but you can find another assignment." And, usually, I did. From 1985 to 2001, it was never a problem being smart and working hard. Now, that doesn't matter so much any more. Ideas have consequences. The richest counties in the country are white collar suburbs of Washington DC [see Forbes] where think tanks produce unworkable plans. That's where Dilbert is still funny. Edited December 4, 2008 by Michael E. Marotta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brant Gaede Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 "Bang." I know I missed. That was deliberate.--Brant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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