I'm a fan of yours, Flying Squid - I like your comments and posts.

And this meme is so very true. If I may quote someone named "John Rogers", who I don't know very well, but can find his words by searching "ayn rand lord of the rings orcs", here is something that I think others might find meaningful:

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

There is a very true Tumblr post that goes "it's really annoying, because "Atlas Shrugged" is such a raw title. The titan that holds up the world on his shoulders decides "no, fuck this shit" and shrugs. For it to be wasted on a book that's just "I hate poor people, actually." Is a travesty"

I'm neurodivergent and fell for this shit hard. It's actually pretty embarrassing to look back on. Luckily, I got better

I've read several books in the Objectivists library, including Atlas shrugged, the fountainhead, and the virtue of selfishness.

For a certain kind of person, I do think they have value in showing a different ethical/moral framework. To wit, if you have been raised on the principal that you must always sacrifice your own happiness for others, then Onjectivist philosophy is quite novel and can actually be helpful in moving towards a more self-actualized thought mode.

For most others, however, it can turn you into a raging a-hole.

In terms of how tenable the overall principles are in practice, just remember that Rand herself went on social security.

I commend you for posting this meme in the correct order. A lot of times I see this posted with the frames reversed so it looks like taking off the glasses is what lets you see the craziness.

Ugh.. Embarrassing memories of having read Atlas Shrugged when I was 17 and thinking it was deep...

Francisco D'Anconia was kind of inspiring with his, "I can do that," attitude but the strawman caricature of bad guv'mint was comical.

There's only one thing American libertarians hate more than poor people. And it's actual libertarians.

I read The Fountainhead instead, and it was interesting enough to keep me reading. "Okay, there's a lot of setup of characters and circumstances going on, I am curious to know how this plays out," and then it just ... doesn't. It was all a lead-up to a long, weakly written, and plainly stupid monologue about how completely ruthless all people should be at all times, only ever thinking in the shortest term about themselves.

I closed that book wondering why Ayn Rand was famous for anything beyond being a shitbag, when I was young enough to be kind of a shitbag myself.

There's a tech recruiting company called "John Galt Staffing." I don't know if they're run by Libertarians or it's just an unfortunate name conflict, but whenever they contact me, I respond with an email saying that I won't do business with them.

If I had that name, I'd change it. "I just don't know why little Adolf is having trouble with his classmates."

Edit Fixed the spelling of the company name.

Wtf is going on with his hand? Is this an AI image or something?

Ayn Rand was the villain all along?

"How to commit to the bit" by Ayn Rand.

"Everyone on this train deserves to die"

"Why being a selfish prick is ACTSHUALLY GOOD so stop treating me like the asshole that I am acting like"