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Ayn Rand Free Markets Have Spoken: AtlasShrugged was, Well, Shrugged!
I would also like to state that I agree with many of the things you say, but from where I sit, it looks like you have a lot of good points mixed together with a lot of voodoo economics.
For one example, Austrian economics is anything but "trickle down". On the contrary; it empowers the common people to have control over their own money. Economists of the Austrian and Monetarist schools have often predicted economic events coming our way. The ones who haven't are the Keynesians. And a theory is only as good as its ability to predict.
Sadly, discredited and downright disproven Keynesian economic theory is firmly embedded in today's Democratic politics. To the point that it is doubtful you could remove one from the other without a major struggle. The idea that the government can moderate the economy by controlling the money supply is interesting and inviting... but they've been doing it for 100 years now, and guess what? It hasn't worked. Even a little.
Stimulus spending (a Keynesian concept) prolonged the effects of the Great Depression for a good 10 years. And it hasn't worked at any time since, either. It sure as hell did not work this time. And it wouldn't have, even if had been real Keynesian stimulus spending, rather than what it really was: a giveaway to major corporations that benefited citizens little but increased their debt by an enormous margin. Debt which, by the way, is inflationary, contrary to what the Keynesians say.
Don't believe that the increased debt is inflationary? Then you haven't been grocery shopping lately.
YOU are paying to bail out Wall Street, while Wall Street has done nothing to help you. That's garbage, and you can thank the Democrats for that, just as much as the Republicans, if not more. The votes are in the history books.
While Ayn Rand was no saint, she is also often misunderstood, especially when it comes to her use of the word "selfishness", which was not used in the way most people understand the word.
If you had read Atlas Shrugged and understood it, then you would know that Rand's philosophy does promote "selfishness", in the sense that she believed that people are entitled to the benefits of their own work. HOWEVER, her version of "selfishness" also includes the principle that people should never ask from other people something that they have not earned.
It's that second part that many people do not get. But if you did, you would know that someone who truly follows Objectivism could never become a dictator, because Rand was all about the idea that power over others is abhorrent.
I'm not saying that Rand's philosophy is perfect (I'm not an Objectivist myself), and I am sure there are a lot of Rand's followers who misunderstand her. But obviously you do, too.
Both Political Parties are in the pockets of Corporate America. Thinking that Democrats have the answers is just a vote for "Progressive-ism". A simple search on the internet will show you what that is all about = Neo-Socialism. Sorry I do not what a world of shared poverty & pseudo Marxist ideas.
The current mess is a combination of deregulation from both the Clinton Administration & the Bush Administrations.
To try to summarize the entire Tea Party movement as an extension of "Rand-ism" is a false one. Your anger at the Tea Party is though well intentioned is misguided.
The real political battle going on right now is the battle of the free individual & free society vs the current Corporatacracy where the current government is largely influenced by corporate interests.
They own the media & the politicians so pretty much anything that does not serve their profitability will not hear heard about or addressed. Virtually the last place on earth where you can get true data & real stories is the internet but even that is a job sifting through the various viewpoints.
While disagree with the atheist aspect of Rand's work much of her writings had to do with the individual rising above the MOB or the Collective Subconscious which tries to strike down anyone who would rise above it. It is not that the individual is all & the group is nothing.
The real enemies lie in the vast Big Oil & Big Pharma cronies of the Bush administration & the Wall Street crowd of the Obama Administration. Ron Paul & the Libertarians are more YOUR friend then any other political group out there. You are believing the hype.
Actually, Rand didn't just "survive" after the revolution, she thrived! She left Russia before the horrors of Stalin. After the revolution, she was able to enjoy an education, which Jews and especially women were never allowed before, and even she recalled it later as a happy and fulfilling time. It's also where she learned enough about film making to go to Hollywood.
Russia didn't just instantly change into the evil empire it became. In the 1920s it was full of promise for many, and Rand got out while the getting was very good. She never suffered under communism - in fact, she owed it a great deal.