“It looks like I’m making smart gestures, but really I’m just grabbing my boobs.”
There are some things I just can’t joke about. One of those things is the intense stomach cramping that occurs when I think of Ayn Rand. I’m only reminded of my aversion because someone over at the Guardian decided to blog about it.
Putting aside the fact that Rand sucked at philosophy, the pain worsens when I think of the thousands of ill-informed people who claim to love her most famous novel, “Atlas Shrugged.” These people generally fall into two categories. The first are the laypersons who are merely drawn to the neat plot, who have made it a goal to “read more” and have little idea the implications of Rand’s pseudo-philosophical rants (see Angelina Jolie). However, there is hope for these people because they are naive to the theoretical fail that is Objectivism. They just need someone to enlighten them. Someone like a bored blogger.
The second group is far more hopeless. These are the radical libertarians who, no matter how unregulated markets have contributed to the global economic meltdown (and despite the fact that Randroid Alan Greenspan has apologized for his policy’s failure), are still convinced that laissez-faire capitalism is a Good Thing.
I also despise the poor writing, and the fact that Ayn Rand cites the incomprehensibly brilliant Friedrich Nietzsche as one of her inspirations. Perhaps I’m mistaken but didn’t Nietzsche crudely compare libertarians to cattle?
~~
In more light-hearted news, the Chicago Reader just gave the award for Best Douchebag Watching bar or club. I’m so glad that I now have the option of going to a place like Small Bar, where I can make more objective observations on douchebag mating behavior, instead of Wrigleyville where, without fail, some dude will ask me to shit on his chest.
