Man Scrawls World’s Biggest Message With GPS ‘Pen’

Atlas Shrugged is a great book with a lot of very interesting view points. I can see why it's been as successful as it has over the years.

I still haven't finished it... maybe I'll pick it back up
 
Oldie said:
Her works are considered some of the greatest American literature of all time; you not being familiar with her is a clear failure of the educational system. It doesn't matter if you agree with her or not, her writing has been extremely influential and is worthy of discussion in an academic setting.
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so are you saying she's on the same level as hemmingway or faulkner? I don't think so.
 
The only thing Ayn Rand's has to teach anybody is how to be a petulant, self serving, infantile, self righteous, greedy asshole.

I might have found it intriguing when I was, like, 10. Before I was introduced to the cold, harsh realities of real life for the vast majority of people that weren't born shitting diamonds and pissing liquid platinum.
 
UrielDagda said:
If hard work was an actual real world benchmark for wealth, there would be a hell of a lot of people who are poor now that would be rich, and a lot more rich that would be poor.

Today, the opportunity of wealth in most cases are a matter of connections... Being rich is more collectivist than anything else these days.. Cadres of wealthy people who decide who gets into the club!

Everybody else can work their souls to a nub just to have the selected wealthy turn around and call them leeches. Take Paris Hilton as an example. If she had been born to some lower or middle class family, she'd probably be giving handjobs and blowjobs for crack in some rundown tenement right now.
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yeah, because most wealthy/successful people are just like Paris Hilton. :rolleyes:

sounds like you have a pretty large chip on your shoulder. Let KILL the rich and STEAL their money.... WE deserve it more :eek:


get a grip
 
distortion69 said:
.. Does he have a choice? This guy doesn't like it.. what is he supposed to do? Try to promote his ideas, or live in a remote part of the country in the woods living off the fat of the land trying to stay free of government and the society that was there before he came along.

First problem I have with your statement is.. You assume that because government took your tax dollars to implement this stuff that they were the ones who invented it. Roads were invented thousands of years ago. And GPS technology was already well under way in the private sector before the government got involved.

I'm not going to sink to saying you are an idiot.. but this particular post was dumb as shit. It would be akin to criticizing someone who thinks health care should be socialized for paying for health care coverage now, so they don't fucking die.

Just because the guy thinks your interest in making money is going to lead to a cheaper and more innovative road than the governments interest in spending money to get re-elected doesn't mean that he is going to boycott roads... and live the life of a hermit.

Get a clue.
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Little testy are we?

"What choice does he have?" The two obvious ones are to create a private sector road network and create a private GPS network. (He could also create a private sector internet to promote it via Google Earth, but I thought that was piling on.) If the benefits of the private sector are always so obvious and the benefits so great, there are riches awaiting him, right? Or he could walk and send notes on where he was via a fine private company like FedEx, and then he could have someone create the same image with push pins on a map. Isn't a central tenet of Randianism that the individual always has a choice? Quit whining.

The US government did invent GPS, and the Internet, too. About private sector GPS technology being "well under way" before the government launched its system - you're wrong. The only technological difference with GPS over earlier radio navigation systems was using stationary satellites instead of ground stations. It's all radio triangulation. That technology dates back to the 1920's and was pioneered then by the US military for aerial navigation. Before GPS, and until it was opened to civilian use, there was LORAN, which was GPS from ground stations. LORAN wasn't just a US government project, it was the UN too.

Improved roads may have been invented thousands of years ago (by governments, too) but the roads he used were built and paid for by the US government, and the creation of the internet highway system by the Eisenhower administration became a massive source of private sector economic growth as it became available.

Your health care analogy is full of fail, too. Someone who pays for private health insurance is staying out of the Medicaid/Medicare health care system. (Except for the benefits they get from public health safety, but I'll let that slide.)

Public infrastructure and education spending does more than anything else to create private sector wealth, period. LORAN and inertial navigation (another DOD project) made it possible to fly almost anywhere on earth and know exactly where you are, which made international commercial aviation possible. GPS created a $5 billion in private sector wealth in Garmin stock alone. I mentioned the economic impact of the Interstate system earlier, but look at the difference between rich and poor countries and at the top of the list is a system of roads to get goods to markets. No roads, no wealth, and no wealth means no private money to build them. The GI Bill following WWII created the modern middle class, and slashing access to affordable higher education beginning in the 1970's saw the beginning of the decline in our middle class that carries forward to today.

I'm not going to call you an idiot, but if you want to argue economics with me - pack a lunch.
 
Matrices said:
I point out she's a Russian Jew because it's ironic. American conservatives have a long history of hating Europeans and, until Israel became the latest fad, hating Jews, too. A common refrain against socialism and Communism was that it was a European Jewish movement.

So again, it is ironic that conservatives who worship the cult of "Ayn Rand" mostly don't even know that she was a Russian Jewish woman who changed her name to "Ayn Rand" to make it sound less Russian and Jewish.

Get it? Good.
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You can count to potato??
 
EvilWays said:
Create a "religion" as a tax shelter? :D
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Two authors that espoused a philosophy of using the power of the mind (as a separate entity from the body) to control your reality, thereby making you more perceptive, happier, and moral.

Objectivism is a philosophy created by the Russian-American philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand (1905–1982). Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness, that man has direct contact with reality through sense perception, that one can attain objective knowledge from perception through the process of concept formation and inductive and deductive logic, that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or rational self-interest, that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure laissez faire capitalism, and that the role of art in human life is to transform man's widest metaphysical ideas, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form—a work of art—that he can comprehend and to which he can respond emotionally.
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Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body that were invented by the science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard and are practiced by followers of Scientology. Dianetics explores the existence of a mind with three parts: the conscious "analytical mind," the subconscious "reactive mind", and the somatic mind. The goal of Dianetics is to remove the so-called "reactive mind" that scientologists believe prevents people from becoming more ethical, more aware, happier and saner.
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Getting rich is an obvious goal of the former, and we all know being rich is a pre-req for the latter. :)
 
I've read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

Interesting ideas. Sure beats a lot of what I'm seeing out of the MSM these days..made my brainbox grind its gears.

And in that sense, I'm a fan.
 
dr.stevil said:
yeah, because most wealthy/successful people are just like Paris Hilton. :rolleyes:

sounds like you have a pretty large chip on your shoulder. Let KILL the rich and STEAL their money.... WE deserve it more :eek:


get a grip
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Yeah, because we all know just merely allowing taxes on the rich to roll back to a saner level (which is causing all of these Randians to completely freak out like it's the end of the world) is equivalent to murdering them.

I don't think I'm the one that has to find one's grip on reality.

Hell, the wealthy would be a lot wealthier if they would stop spending billions of dollars buying out Washington just so they can save millions in taxes. Why aren't these Ayn Rand worshipers complaining about the corporate socialism that we've had going for decades, especially in the oil industry? The government cuts their taxes, they raise prices and pocket all of the money.. Yeah, that's true success for you.

I could be rich and successful too, if I could rip people off and convince them it was for their own good! I'd just have to take some damned heavy sedatives to be able to sleep at night.

Mark my words. The way things are going, the socialists, communists, poor, none of those will be the end of the rich. The rich will strangle themselves with their greed, once they have all the money and it becomes worthless scraps of paper because economy ceases to exist. You can't have industry if there is nobody left with money to buy anything.
 
wow! why has this thread turned into an agrument about ayn rand?! anyways....
steve, if you need any help labling canada with a large [H], i'm just outside calgary and would gladly give you a hand!

pendragon1
 
wrangler said:
I think your more likely to find her in an advanced philosophy class.
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She is simply not considered an important philosopher in academic environments and you will therefore not encounter her in any serious philosophy class. There is just too much important, complex and relevant work to cover before you get to this sort of concrete political discourse.
 
pendragon1 said:
wow! why has this thread turned into an agrument about ayn rand?! anyways....
steve, if you need any help labling canada with a large [H], i'm just outside calgary and would gladly give you a hand!

pendragon1
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The guy started it by 'writing' his message.

As for drawing an [H] up here, I think the first commenter on that article had a better idea:

"I would write "Don't" in Canada."
 
srangara said:
The guy started it by 'writing' his message.

As for drawing an [H] up here, I think the first commenter on that article had a better idea:

"I would write "Don't" in Canada."
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Too bad there isn't enough room to write READ KARL MARX up there just to troll the guy.
 
Oldie said:
Her works are considered some of the greatest American literature of all time; you not being familiar with her is a clear failure of the educational system. It doesn't matter if you agree with her or not, her writing has been extremely influential and is worthy of discussion in an academic setting.
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Educational system of my country? Well I must admit we don't really have anything to brag about, considering we're just a third-world country. But there must be a reason I never heard much of her. Oh yeah, she's only popular there but not popular in countries like ours.
 
wrangler said:
I think your more likely to find her in an advanced philosophy class.
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ROFLMAO.

No.

Ayn Rand is not a philosopher. She's a selfish hypocrite who advocated property over all else (including social responsibility) unless colored people were in question, in which case, she advocated taking their land because they weren't using it.

Oh and:

"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."
 
srangara said:
Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?
"No!" says the man in Washington, "It belongs to the poor."
"No!" says the man in the Vatican, "It belongs to God."
"No!" says the man in Moscow, "It belongs to everyone."

Andrew Ryan is about as close as I will ever get to Ayn Rand.
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"No!" says the company you work for, "We bill the client 5x what we pay you!"

;)
 
Daggah said:
ROFLMAO.
"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."
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Ha, Nice. No decent scholarly philosophy program would devote more than a passing chuckle on Shrugged. Maybe, an english lit or political science class... maybe. Shrugged is one of those books you read on the toilet since everyone who reads it and takes the time to really understood the content would shed a tear if it fell into the tub or whatever.
 
entropy13 said:
Educational system of my country? Well I must admit we don't really have anything to brag about, considering we're just a third-world country. But there must be a reason I never heard much of her. Oh yeah, she's only popular there but not popular in countries like ours.
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popular is relative, the only folks I've seen that give her books any weight are the right wing dingbats.
 
dawp said:
popular is relative, the only folks I've seen that give her books any weight are the right wing dingbats.
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While the Left Wing Dingbats are running this country into the ground overspending, ignoring the real people of the United States and still trying to use Bush as a scapegoat.

So when you're paying hyperinflation in 2012 you can thank your comrade leaders for bestowing an honor upon the people.
 
Daggah said:
"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."
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Love that quote.
 
soulman901 said:
While the Left Wing Dingbats are running this country into the ground overspending, ignoring the real people of the United States and still trying to use Bush as a scapegoat.
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Whoa whoa whoa, whoa! I take offence to that. As a left-wing dingbat myself, I reject the notion that the Democratic party is somehow anywhere near centre, much less left-wing.
 
Sl4ckm4st3r said:
Whoa whoa whoa, whoa! I take offence to that. As a left-wing dingbat myself, I reject the notion that the Democratic party is somehow anywhere near centre, much less left-wing.
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yup, both parties are basically the same. corporate whores.
 
BaldHeadedDork said:
Little testy are we?

*snip* *snip* *snip*

I'm not going to call you an idiot, but if you want to argue economics with me - pack a lunch.
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*clap* *clap* *clap*
Was worth going back to read, thanks.

soulman901 said:
While the Left Wing Dingbats are running this country into the ground overspending, ignoring the real people of the United States and still trying to use Bush as a scapegoat.

So when you're paying hyperinflation in 2012 you can thank your comrade leaders for bestowing an honor upon the people.
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This is always funny to me. Where do you think government-spent money goes if not to employers of Americans? Into the ether? Sure, I would prefer to keep my money in my pocket, but it should be noted that the stock market--and therefore, Corporate America that underlies it--has historically done better under Democratic administrations:
http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/futureinvest/3022
 
bacon said:
Is she not a Jewish Russian author? Put the race card back in your pocket please.
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Do you label someone as American Christian? Judaism is a religion and not a race and her family were non - observant Jews so she should not be described as Jewish at all just because her last name was Rosenbaum. I was baptized Protestant but am now non religious so certainly do not describe myself as British - Protestant.
 
srangara said:
*clap* *clap* *clap*
Was worth going back to read, thanks.


This is always funny to me. Where do you think government-spent money goes if not to employers of Americans? Into the ether? Sure, I would prefer to keep my money in my pocket, but it should be noted that the stock market--and therefore, Corporate America that underlies it--has historically done better under Democratic administrations:
http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/futureinvest/3022
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Your data left out something important, 2007-2008 under Bush and then you have Obama to add to that.

I'm not a fan of Ayn Rand by any means but I do agree that people who put in hard work should be rewarded by said hard work and that those that don't should be left behind. The free riders should be given the boot. The Government should not have any aid programs, should only provide for Public Safety(Police/Fire/Military), Roads etc... Any welfare programs including un-employment should be dissolved. Keep my Taxes low to pay for only what is needed. A Government by the People for the People != A Government by the People to hand out to other people.
 
Spewn said:
"No!" says the company you work for, "We bill the client 5x what we pay you!"

;)
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Then go independent or find another company to work for. Whats matter, that whole concept of choice and making decisions too hard for you? Need a government provided education, and a government provided job, which is well regulated by the government, so you don't have to do any thinking or decision making on your own?

Whatever happened to taking pride in your ability to take care of business on your own and make your OWN damn decisions about where you work? If you dont like your job, find another fucking job! Stop expecting someone else to solve all your problems for you.

That's why so many people hate Ayn Rands books, because they know they either cant or dont want to survive on their own merits, its so much easier to be spoon fed everything they need by their government nannies.

Now I will be the first to admit shes a terrible author, 1000 times more verbose then need be, but there are some very valuable core concepts/philosophies in her books that resonate with alot of people, people who want to work for themselves and not spend their lives supporting deadbeats and losers. Back in the day, those useless parasites either worked or starved to death, now they sit at home collecting more and more welfare (on my tax dollars!) for each useless kid they have.

What some of you call "social responsibility" I call paying for others peoples offspring. NOT my responsibility!
 
Monkey God said:
Then go independent or find another company to work for. Whats matter, that whole concept of choice and making decisions too hard for you? Need a government provided education, and a government provided job, which is well regulated by the government, so you don't have to do any thinking or decision making on your own?

Whatever happened to taking pride in your ability to take care of business on your own and make your OWN damn decisions about where you work? If you dont like your job, find another fucking job! Stop expecting someone else to solve all your problems for you.

That's why so many people hate Ayn Rands books, because they know they either cant or dont want to survive on their own merits, its so much easier to be spoon fed everything they need by their government nannies.

Now I will be the first to admit shes a terrible author, 1000 times more verbose then need be, but there are some very valuable core concepts/philosophies in her books that resonate with alot of people, people who want to work for themselves and not spend their lives supporting deadbeats and losers. Back in the day, those useless parasites either worked or starved to death, now they sit at home collecting more and more welfare (on my tax dollars!) for each useless kid they have.

What some of you call "social responsibility" I call paying for others peoples offspring. NOT my responsibility!
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Here here, this is indeed a valuable point I take to heart. Whatever happened to the American dream of people working hard? Welfare, that's what.
 
Monkey God said:
Then go independent or find another company to work for. Whats matter, that whole concept of choice and making decisions too hard for you? Need a government provided education, and a government provided job, which is well regulated by the government, so you don't have to do any thinking or decision making on your own?

Whatever happened to taking pride in your ability to take care of business on your own and make your OWN damn decisions about where you work? If you dont like your job, find another fucking job! Stop expecting someone else to solve all your problems for you.

That's why so many people hate Ayn Rands books, because they know they either cant or dont want to survive on their own merits, its so much easier to be spoon fed everything they need by their government nannies.

Now I will be the first to admit shes a terrible author, 1000 times more verbose then need be, but there are some very valuable core concepts/philosophies in her books that resonate with alot of people, people who want to work for themselves and not spend their lives supporting deadbeats and losers. Back in the day, those useless parasites either worked or starved to death, now they sit at home collecting more and more welfare (on my tax dollars!) for each useless kid they have.

What some of you call "social responsibility" I call paying for others peoples offspring. NOT my responsibility!
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If you want to act like you're fully socially independent with no responsibilities to your fellow human beings, then go find a small island somewhere and, you know, actually be fully socially independent with no responsibilities to your fellow human beings.
 
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