Thursday, July 1, 2010

The Absurdity of Ayn Rand Acolytes

Patrick McIlheran has a post that reads something like "John Galt blah bah blah Bucyrus blah blah blah Free Markets blah blah blah" ... or something.

The problem that McIlheran and the rest of the cranky conservative cognoscenti in Southeastern Wisconsin ignore is that the U.S. Import-Export Bank is a government institution. If the Bacyrus ordeal were really a corruption of the free market system they would have found their loan from a private lending institution. Unfortunately, private lending institutions don't have $600 million to hand out willy nilly these days.

Basically, these conservatives are complaining that a government agency isn't handing out cash like it's supposed to ... so if the "environmental concerns" of conservatives were taken out of the equation, we're still left with a industrial company relying on massive government assistance to carry out its business.

How the hell does that jive with the "small government" rhetoric these guys deploy endlessly?

If the dudes who worship at the altar of Ayn Rand and invoke the name John Galt like a had an ounce of intellectual integrity they would be celebrating the loss of the Bacyrus jobs as the "free market resolving ineffectiveness," or whatever.

But that doesn't make for good politics now, does it? Especially in an election year when it's always the private sector that creates jobs and always the government that's responsible for unemployment.

10 comments:

bloviatin' tool said...

Lol so you're feeling Randy today.

I don't know anything about this issue and don't have time to follow the link* but I believe you sound 100% logical

I never ever understand how such INTENSE and close ties between business and Government is not either Socialism OR maybe techno-Feudalism. I wonder if I just made up Techno-Feudalism, and I wish I had more powers of concentration so I could write a very cool manga about neato-torpedo characters surviving in a Techno-Feudalist society.
But yeah, what you said. yup yup yup.
also you had some really tasty phrasing in a couple of spots there. whooo-eee. Reminds me of an old friend of mine who I really admired so you can take that right to the bank.
But as always, I write the first stuff that pops into my head after reading, I sound all convinced I'm always right but y'know I realize I'm certainly not qualified to expound on Rand (and other topics) beyond a "sharing thoughts with pals" situation. I DO think the title "Atlas Shrugged" is just brilliant. One of thsoe titles where if you think of it the idea for an entire book just seems to follow naturally. Cool. (never read it tho')

Maybe Rand just got corrupted emotionally and couldn't handle the "weight" of her own success. That happens way too often, even on really small scales, people ruined by their own Yertle the Turtle-ness. XD
So maybe being a writer and observer of human nature wasn't enough, she went too far and she got seduced into being a philosophical system builder, buying her own (or others) bullshit wanting to be a God.

But yeah all those A-hole Acolyte guys are full of shit. But they wouldn't even care cuz all they want is to do whatever works to moves the Dumbass masses. So I guess there's 300 levels of weirdly intertwined irony and stuff with Rand being simultaneously wrong and right and people who criticize her being just like her characters and other guys using her to defend their positions in ways that makes no sense and oblivious to the way Rand proved they were the kind of assholes she was talking about and FYI when I talk like this at least my dogs are really impressed. Yay dogs!

* haha i'm a tool. I have time to write a 3000 word comment but not follow the link.yee ha

Stewius Bloviatus said...

Lol so you're feeling Randy today.

I don't know anything about this issue and don't have time to follow the link* but I believe you sound 100% logical

I never ever understand how such INTENSE and close ties between business and Government is not either Socialism OR maybe techno-Feudalism. I wonder if I just made up Techno-Feudalism, and I wish I had more powers of concentration so I could write a very cool manga about neato-torpedo characters surviving in a Techno-Feudalist society.
But yeah, what you said. yup yup yup.
also you had some really tasty phrasing in a couple of spots there. whooo-eee. Reminds me of an old friend of mine who I really admired so you can take that right to the bank.
But as always, I write the first stuff that pops into my head after reading, I sound all convinced I'm always right but y'know I realize I'm certainly not qualified to expound on Rand (and other topics) beyond a "sharing thoughts with pals" situation. I DO think the title "Atlas Shrugged" is just brilliant. One of thsoe titles where if you think of it the idea for an entire book just seems to follow naturally. Cool. (never read it tho')

Maybe Rand just got corrupted emotionally and couldn't handle the "weight" of her own success. That happens way too often, even on really small scales, people ruined by their own Yertle the Turtle-ness. XD
So maybe being a writer and observer of human nature wasn't enough, she went too far and she got seduced into being a philosophical system builder, buying her own (or others) bullshit wanting to be a God.

But yeah all those A-hole Acolyte guys are full of shit. But they wouldn't even care cuz all they want is to do whatever works to moves the Dumbass masses. So I guess there's 300 levels of weirdly intertwined irony and stuff with Rand being simultaneously wrong and right and people who criticize her being just like her characters and other guys using her to defend their positions in ways that makes no sense and oblivious to the way Rand proved they were the kind of assholes she was talking about and FYI when I talk like this at least my dogs are really impressed. Yay dogs!

* haha i'm a tool. I have time to write a 3000 word comment but not follow the link.yee ha

Christ on a Cructh!!! said...

That was Google's fault! it was. it was!
One of me is bad enough! The thingey said my comment failed to post so..
i did it again

urk!!!

Anonymous said...

last week our class held a similar talk about this topic and you show something we haven't covered yet, thanks.

- Laura

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