#aynrand — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #aynrand, aggregated by home.social.
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Every choice shapes your path. Make each one match your values.
#Quotes #DailyQuotes #HappinessMindset #AynRand
https://quotes.thisgrandpablogs.com/achieving-personal-happiness/ -
Nach Ayn Rand, der Kultphilosophin von Elon Musk & Co., "...sind alle staatlichen Eingriffe unmoralisch, denn sie behindern nicht nur die freie Entfaltung der Menschen, sondern sie verschlechtern auch die Versorgung der Bevölkerung mit Ressourcen, Gütern und Dienstleistungen (einschließlich Bildung und medizinischer Versorgung), deshalb sei strikter Laissez-faire-Kapitalismus das einzig legitime Wirtschaftssystem."
Quelle: Wikipedia
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand
#NZZ #AynRand #Musk #BigTech -
#AynRand 's insanely influential Atlas Shrugged (1957). The novel is adored by Silicon Valley tech giants.
In a fictional America where the left holds sway, major business leaders—the only sources of true wealth—are on strike.
I could imagine #CoryDoctorow writing a version where big business leaders go on strike and things carry on as usual.
You don't have to read the 1000+ pages of the Atlas Shrugged :
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-great-political-fictions-atlas-shrugged/id1682047968?i=1000658864397 -
The pitch is simple: Read Atlas Shrugged. Win $100,000.
The Intellectual Olympics for Independent Thinkers
The future belongs to those willing to examine the world independently and argue persuasively for the ideas they believe are true. The Atlas Prize was created to recognize and reward the kind of thinking that drives progress: rigorous reasoning, philosophical curiosity, and intellectual ambition.
Why Atlas Shrugged?
Few novels have sparked as much debate or influenced as many readers as #Ayn Rand 's Atlas Shrugged.
The novel challenges readers to confront fundamental questions about reason, morality, ambition, and the role of business in human flourishing.
The Atlas Prize invites young thinkers to grapple seriously with these ideas—to analyze them, question them, defend them, or challenge them using their own independent judgment. Agreement with Rand's ideas is not required; deeply and originally engaging with them is.
Get your FREE copy of Atlas Shrugged here.
Note: The Atlas Prize is looking for shockingly original thinkers. Essays simply copied from AI will not make it past the first round of the competition.
The competition is open only to individuals aged 16 to 22 as of the start of the entry period.
#AtlasPrize #AynRand Objectivism #fiction #bookstodon #philosophy
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@jemmesedi After writing tedious fiction about living only for the benefit of one’s self, and that acolytes considered ‘#philosophy ‘, #AynRand ended her life living on #SocialSecurity payments from the #UnitedStates government. 🤷🏻♂️ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand
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Tooting this publicly, since the thread was unlisted:
Re: #Wikipedia and #JimmyWales,
Jimmy Wales is an #Objectivist (follower of the philosophy of #AynRand), and doesn't believe in #altruism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales#Personal_philosophy
He has rejected the notion that his role in promoting Wikipedia is altruistic, which he defines as "sacrificing your own values for others", and he states that the idea that "participating in a benevolent effort to share information is somehow destroying your own values makes no sense to me".
That alone doesn't make him a bad person, but union-busting Wikipedia certainly does, and is in character for Randian folk. :P~
I'm not very familiar with Objectivism, but I imagine that it positions itself as a positive individualist philosophy. That somehow by pursuing our own good, we pursue the good of others, too, or something.
Yeah, right. 🤨
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Happiness grows from honest action. Choose what lifts your life.
#Quotes #PositiveLiving #QuoteOfTheDay #AynRand
https://quotes.thisgrandpablogs.com/achieving-personal-happiness/ -
Your mindset shapes your life. Choose empowerment and courage.
#Quotes #Empowerment #FearlessLiving #PositiveMindset #AynRand
https://quotes.thisgrandpablogs.com/empowerment-ayn-rand-quote/ -
I think my goal is to specifically see what I can do to integrate both a collectivist and individualist sensibility in my philosophical view. I think to really have a complete philosophy, both of these things have to be considered: individuals cannot properly understand the consequences of actions taken at the personal level without understanding how those actions fit into and will be responded to by larger societal frameworks. At the same time, we cannot achieve collective benefit without considering how collective actions affect individuals.
I do not yet fully know what philosophical and political frameworks would best help me construct this philosophy, excepting that I think communist theory will undoubtedly be a big part of it, and it will most certainly be very different than Objectivism, excepting the respect for personal bodily autonomy.
Rand was not a feminist, in fact she decried feminism, but she was pro-bodily automomy and supported the right to abortion and in general the right of women to work the same types of jobs as men. I think the thing that Ayn Rand and other right libertarians crucially misunderstand is that a larger social dynamic like misogyny will prevent women from having individual bodily autonomy. They don't understand it because they imagine the world as it is as a meritocracy where only the best rise to the top, and so they imagine the preponderence of men in high social positions is due to the inherent superiority of those men rather than misogynistic favoring of men regardless of ability. They don't understand that women will simply not be allowed bodily automomy in a deeply misogynistic society, that individual bodily autonomy in general will never be allowed most individuals in a capitalist society. -
I've read about Ayn Rand, and I've read short extracts from "Atlas Shrugged", supposedly her magnum opus.
Those extracts did not inspire me to plough through the whole of "Atlas Shrugged", but I thought to be fair I ought to read a complete work of hers, so I picked up a copy of her 1938 novella "Anthem".
In a repressive, techophobic, collectivist dystopia, a young man rebels, rediscovers electricity, and then escapes from captivity to be joined by his female lover. He hopes to rebuild a society based on individualism -- "Anthem" concludes with the protagonist determined to carve into the stone portal of his fort the "sacred word EGO".
Rand's writing is lifeless, with both characters and setting being little more than vehicles for the author's ponderous didacticism. The slight romance narrative smacks of sub-Hollywood teenage fantasy, with the protagonist renaming his lover "The Golden One", followed by her dubbing him 'The Unconquered".
The concluding pages are supposed to be a poetic invocation of egoism. Instead, they come across as Rand attempting to club the reader into submission.
I am pained to learn that this book is frequently assigned in US high schools, as it is devoid of literary merit and of no great significance in literary or cultural history. If teachers or school districts want to assign a mid 20C "antitotalitarian" work, why not press copies of "1984" into students' hands?
Nevertheless my afternoon was not entirely wasted, as I can now get through the rest of my life without having to read another word of this tiresome crank, yet have a clear conscience when I describe her as possessing not a shred of literary talent, because my judgment is based on a first hand acquaintance with her writing.
#Books #Literature #USLiterature #AmericanLiterature #AynRand #Anthem #RightWing
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Listening to Curtis Yarvin is like reading Ayn Rand, omg so bad.
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I figured something out this month that I’ve missed for 34 years.
I’ve been measuring whether I’m “enough” as a person—whether the chooser is adequate—rather than evaluating my choices. That’s a category error. There is no yardstick for myself qua myself. Only for things I do.
The Trap
From #AynRand’s Atlas Shrugged, Galt’s speech:
Man has no choice about his need of #SelfEsteem, his only choice is the standard by which to gauge it. And he makes his fatal error when he switches this gauge protecting his life into the service of his own destruction, when he chooses a standard contradicting existence and sets his self-esteem against reality.
I’ve been measuring myself instead of my choices. Asking “Am I rational enough?” instead of “Am I exercising rationality in this choice?” Treating the volitional entity—the chooser—as if it were subject to pass/fail evaluation.
But you can’t be “wrong in person.” You can only make wrong choices. The chooser is the precondition for those concepts to mean anything.
The Invariant
The concept comes from topology: an invariant remains unchanged when a structure is transformed. @gregeganSF’s Diaspora explores this for consciousness—what persists across memory edits, substrate changes, simulated deaths.
The invariant isn’t the contents of consciousness. It’s the structure of being the thing that experiences. The observer. The integrator. The chooser.
Applied to #identity: I am an existent with volitional consciousness. That’s my identity, metaphysically. Not “I have consciousness” (dualism), but “I am” this integrated entity.
The invariant is the volitional structure itself. Everything else—memories, achievements, mistakes, consequences—is what that structure produces.
What I Wrote Before I Understood It
From my story “La Petite Mort”:
She wanted to keep being Thalindra. Wanted to keep having thoughts, even painful ones. Wanted to keep waking up every morning, tired and aching and alone, because waking up meant she was still there to do the waking. Wanted existence as what she was—this particular configuration that was specifically hers.
The preference was immediate. Simple. Undeniable. Hers.
And it was enough.
I gave my character what I couldn’t give myself: acceptance of the invariant without audit.
Now I have it too.
The Correction
I am the standard by which my choices are measured, not the thing being measured.
You evaluate actions. Not the volitional entity that generates them.
If you accept your choices as yours—made with what you knew, under your constraints—you can accept yourself. Not because you’ve proven worthiness. Because you are the chooser, and that’s A is A applied to you.
Clear. Weightless. Real.
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"Have you ever felt the longing for someone you could admire? For something, not to look down at, but up to?"
~ Ayn Rand, born 02 Feb, 1905.
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Never mind the low wages and the harsh living conditions of the early years of capitalism. They were all that the national economies of the time could afford. Capitalism did not create poverty—it inherited it. Compared to the centuries of precapitalist starvation, the living conditions of the poor in the early years of capitalism were the first chance the poor had ever had to survive. As proof—the enormous growth of the European population during the nineteenth century, a growth of over 300 percent, as compared to the previous growth of something like 3 percent per century.
—“Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World” (1960) by #AynRand, anthologized in Philosophy: Who Needs It (1982)
More quotes on #capitalism can be found at The Ayn Rand Lexicon. Or read Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.
(Not expecting good-faith replies to this.)
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#AynRand’s original introduction to The Virtue of Selfishness is now online--and it directly contradicts most of the claims people make about her #ethics.
If your picture of Rand comes from social media threads, YouTube rants, or second-hand “hot takes,” this is the text that breaks the spell.
Let’s clear out the biggest straw men right away:
❌ “Rand said selfishness means hurting people.”
No. She argues that rational self‑interest forbids coercion, exploitation, and parasitism. Predators aren’t “selfish”—they’re short‑range, self‑destructive, and irrational.
❌ “It’s just an excuse to do whatever you want.”
She draws a hard boundary between whim and #reason. Her ethics demands long‑range thinking, integrity, and principled action — the opposite of impulse.
❌ “#Objectivism celebrates cruelty.”
The introduction explicitly rejects cruelty as irrational. Benevolence is not only compatible with #egoism—it’s a natural expression of a rational, confident person.
❌ “Rand denies moral principles.”
She denies sacrifice as a moral ideal. She does not deny #morality. She argues for a code rooted in reality, reason, and the requirements of human life.
If you want to understand the argument instead of the mythology, read the primary source--it’s short, sharp, and surprisingly accessible.
Read more for context on the full book, editions, and themes.
#philosophy #individualism #reading #nonfiction #ideas #bookstodon
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I don't know what the masto theme is for today but perhaps it's time that Tuesdays were the day for #awfulPeopleInAwfulHats
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Proposal: a version of the speech at the end of the #AynRand novel #TheFountainhead, but instead of defending blowing up a public building, #HowardRoark is defending sending unsolicited #dickpics (illegal in many places now).
(He would totally send unsolicited dickpics to Dominique)
Waste: "A man is entitled to the sweat of his own brow!"
Based: "A man is entitled to send a pic of his own dick!"
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Elon Musk und seine geistige Ziehmutter Ayn Rand verdammen Empathie als Schwäche.
Für ein privates Forschungsprojekt (a.k.a. ich plane ein #Lied darüber) interessiert mich in dem Zusammenhang:
Könnt ihr euch an einen Moment erinnern, in dem ihr Empathie - bei euch, bei anderen um euch herum oder woanders - erlebt habt? Wie war das? Wie sah Empathie aus, wie klang sie? Wie roch, schmeckte & fühlte sich Empathie an?
#ElonMusk #AynRand #Empathie #Sinnlichkeit #Sinne #Gefühl #Musik
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To understand why #AynRand’s #ethics of selfishness inspires millions of readers, we need to get beyond the popular conception of what #selfishness involves: https://NewIdeal.AynRand.org/can-selfishness-be-a-moral-ideal/
“Instead of callous climbers and exploiters, we find [in #TheFountainhead and #AtlasShrugged] individuals of integrity, purpose, and intelligence … who guide their lives by reason, pursue productive careers and take pride in themselves, their work, and their capacity to live.”
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I am in possession of The Fountainhead.
"The Fountainhead?"
Yes, The Fountainhead.
"That Fountainhead?"
Yes, that Fountainhead.
"That one movie called The Fountainhead?"
Yes, that one movie called The Fountainhead?
"By Ayn Rand?"
Yes, by Ayn Rand.
"The Ayn Rand?"
Yes, the Ayn Rand.
"The philosopher, Ayn Rand?"
Yes, the philosopher, Ayn Rand. If you can call her "a philosopher."
"Are you one of her... *gulp*... fans?"
Hell no! I've watched The Fountainhead a long time ago, and I remember being entertained by the idiotic histrionics of the plot.
"Oh..."
Maybe, this time, for full effect, I'll watch it while high.
"I see. Well, nothing to see here. Carry on!"
Will do!
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@ricmac “By combining a distorted interpretation of #Nietzsche with a pretty accurate one of #AynRand, they end up with a belief that while 'God is dead’, the übermensch of the future can use pure reason to rise above traditional religious values and remake the world ‘in his own interests’.”
@Rushkoff is actually distorting *Rand.* She repudiated Nietzsche's ideas and removed much of his influence while revising #TheFountainhead: https://newideal.aynrand.org/nietzsches-influence-on-the-fountainhead/
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@tawtovo #Musk, the #Guardian, and popular media all misunderstand #AynRand the same way, and you’re being taken along for the ride.
The #Nietzsche equivocation is the icing on the cake—Rand admired his poetic sense early on but had explicitly repudiated his philosophy and deliberately went about removing much of his influence while revising drafts of #TheFountainhead: https://newideal.aynrand.org/nietzsches-influence-on-the-fountainhead/
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@DrHyde I suppose you (along with the #ModernLibrary) prefer #JamesJoyce? https://newideal.aynrand.org/a-tale-of-two-novels/
The list from that editorial (https://sites.prh.com/modern-library-top-100) had a solicited correspondence from what’s now the Columbia Publishing Course. The latter’s director said at the time, “Our list reflects a young, more #feminist crowd. [It] shows a difference of age and taste.”
#AynRand’s #TheFountainhead was #43 and #AtlasShrugged was #92: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1998/7/24/class-ranks-top-100-novels-of/
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In a world of cynicism and endless calls for self-sacrifice, #AynRand’s #TheFountainhead is a profound source of inspiration. Young people in particular need a “confirmation of the spirit of youth, proclaiming man’s glory, showing how much is possible,” as Rand observed.
“There are very few guideposts to find. The Fountainhead is one of them.”
Register today to hear about the impact of this life-changing novel—and how together, we can bring it to more young people: https://hubs.la/Q028gnw60
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This month: What is the actual relationship between famed #architect #FrankLloydWright and #AynRand’s fictional hero Howard Roark from her novel #TheFountainhead?
https://newideal.aynrand.org/howard-roark-and-frank-lloyd-wright/
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Watch the Oscar-nominated #biography #documentary “#AynRand: A Sense of Life” FREE by logging in to the #Kanopy streaming service with your public #library card or #university account:
https://www.kanopy.com/product/ayn-rand
Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/woFY7LhVlKo
#bookstodon #AtlasShrugged #TheFountainhead #Fountainhead #Oscars #AcademyAwards #philosophy #Objectivism
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CW: affiliate link
If you just can’t wait (or maybe you like #books instead), you can find the Mayhew-edited collections here: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AEPXNKEX73H7R3R3O3PRYYC36ZCQ/2ZT57WS3NQWGX?&tag=thephoenixtra-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=a3b2b8f8fe7f3e06152b6d4bb2e3898e&camp=1789&creative=9325
#AynRand #bookstodon #essays #ebooks #reading #Amazon #fiction #AtlasShrugged #TheFountainhead #Fountainhead #Anthem #WeTheLiving #Objectivism #philosophy
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Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, screenwriter and playwright. She is the author of vast doorstop-sized tomes like Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, among other thick, boring books espousing #libertarian themes and ideology. She empowered herself by trying to set the Women's movement back 50 years.
Rand claimed to be a philosopher, though she preferred the title "Objectivist." #Objectivism is a political movement based on Rand's teachings. In actual fact, her simplistic versions of philosophy were misunderstandings of #Aristotelian #metaphysical notions formulated thousands of years ago. Whether that makes it a philosophy ("Look, it's got an '-ism' at the end!") or just an excuse for being greedy, ignorant, and selfish is, ironically, subjective.
#RationalWiki #aynrand #libertariaism #atlasshrugged #thefountainhead
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand -
CW: Elon Musk, Twitter
From Ben Bayer: “An old trope circulating after #ElonMusk’s tweet [https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1650167554122366977] is that #narcissists like #AynRand because she affirms their greatness. But narcissists want to be thought great by others, and the whole point of #TheFountainhead is that seeking others’ approval is a failure of #SelfEsteem.”
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Live on #YouTube in one hour! https://www.youtube.com/live/6kgc8l9kWfU
To celebrate the 118th anniversary of #AynRand’s birth, New Ideal Live interviews Harry Binswanger on Rand's distinctively value-centered approach to #philosophy—and to living #life. Join us—TODAY (2/2) at 12 pm PT / 3 pm ET!
Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/ARIYT
#values #ethics #egoism #reason #RationalSelfInterest #selfishness #LaissezFaireCapitalism #capitalism #LaissezFaire #TheFountainhead #AtlasShrugged
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Content Warning: The book covers a sexual assault at one point
Picking apart Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand Review - Radical Reviewer (ft. Chill Goblin)
#books #review #breadtube #radicalreviewer #chillgoblin #aynrand #thefountainhead #essay #analysis
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Did you know that beginning on Christmas Eve, 1945, thirty-five newspapers carried a syndicated #comics condensation of #AynRand’s bestseller #TheFountainhead?
Produced by the legendary #KingFeaturesSyndicate, the strip ran six days a week across thirty installments. The 754-page #novel was condensed to 12,500 words, with #HowardRoark’s courtroom speech cut by almost 90% by Rand herself to occupy installment #28.
https://newideal.aynrand.org/the-illustrated-fountainhead-serializing-a-classic-novel/
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Do you have a public #library card or go to a #university? Then you can watch the #Oscar-nominated #documentary “ #AynRand: A Sense of Life ” for FREE on #Kanopy: https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/251271
Trailer: https://youtu.be/woFY7LhVlKo
The film sweeps from Rand’s childhood and escape from Soviet #Russia through her struggles in Hollywood to her eventual triumph as the bestselling author of #TheFountainhead and #AtlasShrugged. These books sell hundreds of thousands of copies annually after over half a century.
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A little late for #GivingTuesday, but I’ve set up an online #donation campaign for the #AynRand Institute for my upcoming birthday! Help me create a culture in which individuals are free to pursue their own happiness!
#Objectivism #charity #giving #AtlasShrugged #TheFountainhead #Fountainhead #Anthem #reality #reason #egoism #capitalism #RomanticRealism #America #USA #UnitedStates #LaissezFaire #individualism #IndividualRights
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Where are the other #AynRand #TheFountainhead fans on Mastodon? Be my friends! 🙋🏽♀️♒✍🏽📚
