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The Truth about Ayn Rand?


Clay

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Stefan mentioned in a recent call in show that he read one of Natanial Branden's book about Ayn Rand and it upset him to hear that she fell rather short of her ideals in her personal life.  

 

I really enjoy "Truth about" videos on Karl Marx, Ghandi, MLK and others, and I was thinking it would be pretty interesting for him to do one of those videos on one of his greatest intellectual influences.

 

Just a recommendation, since I know Stefan has a ton of free time and is looking for more work to do. (kidding)  :D

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Once all the idols have been torn down, Michael will conclude the series with The Truth About Stefan Molyneux, usurp the throne of philosophy and then it's hemlock smoothies for everyone. Muwhahaha!

 

So a roast of Stefan? Quite epic if Stefan did it himself!

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Yeah, to be fair Stef's highlighted Rand's many shortcomings, sometimes at length, numerous times, 

so accusations of bias would be pretty flimsy.

 

I think the whole idea behind the 'truth about' series is to reach out to the 'general public', 

who've probably never really looked in philosophy and so take their cues from the 

mainstream media and popular culture.

 

Where Gandhi, MLK and Mandela enjoy largely unquestioned cults of personality,

literally elevated to status of 'secular saints'.

 

While outside small conservative/libertarian circles characters like Rand and Thatcher,

are already hate figures.

 

Still should make for a very interesting video in the series though,

and maybe even shake a few lefties into giving FDR a fair listen.  

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"maybe even shake a few lefties into giving FDR a fair listen"

 

As much as I wish that were likely, I think it is probably that situation of defining terms before a debate. Lefties have a very different definition of "fair" than I and most here probably do. :laugh:

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I held off reading Rand until recently. I was very surprised by the level of thought and insight. I am disappointed with a lot of articles she wrote where she makes some decent arguments, but I don't really feel convinced at the end.

 

What is certainly true about Rand is that almost anyone who talks about her and her ideas isn't.

Once all the idols have been torn down, Michael will conclude the series with The Truth About Stefan Molyneux

 

It will involve Stefan revealing that he's been wearing a bald cap the whole time.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was triggered by the latest video about Ayn Rand on "Defending Ayn Rand - Peter Schiff Radio Show May 14th, 2014" I looked up some other material and was wondering if it is good read to read one of the books, but which one will be recommended?

 

The Fountainhead ?Atlas Shrugged ?

 

Any recommendations? 

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I would start with "We The Living". It's shorter than "The Fountainhead" or "Atlas Shrugged", and not so "in your face". Also, as she said once, it's as close as she would ever get to writing an autobiography.

 

If you want a really short read (under 100 pages), go for "Anthem". It's very well written, though a bit quirky and not particularly deep.

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In addition to what ribuck suggested, if you're interested in Rand's non-fiction writing, Philosophy: Who Needs It may be a good start. The book is a collection of her essays, and--for the careful reader--it can serve as an introduction to Objectivism (interesting, the spell checker highlighted this word and proposed I replace it with "Subjectivism").

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