Children!

The US still leads the world in manufacturing. Railroads are profitable - here, go buy one: https://isd.bnymellon.com/plan... - $250 to gets you a piece.

Newspapers are not profitable (except WSJ).

I know who Ayn Rand is and what she has accomplished, but who is Paul Krugman and why is he always pouting? Will we still blog about him in 50 years?

I saw the movie. I took the day off from my productive work to see the 2pm matinee - 80+ in a 200 seat theater. It told the story. It worked. It will make money. There will be a part 2. We can talk more why so many stupid people went to see it.

Class dismissed.

We may not be talking about Paul Krugman in 50 years, but that will be because he has not made an incredible fool of himself and others through his work, unlike Rand. People talking about you is not always a positive thing.

She made a fool out of herself by essentially predicting our current economic condition over 50 years ago? Or by saying that people are not to be sacrificed for the sake of others?

"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." - Atlas Shrugged

I completely forgot that Rand was entombed with her Nobel and her satchels of gold! Thank you, JimS.

Save your $250 'to gets you piece.' Gets very expensive, those squeezers, right?

Merchandising, merchandising! Where the real money from the movie is made.

From Wikipedia:
Economist Paul Krugman posted this quote on his blog "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."

Well I never gave much care to mumbo jumbo philosophy pretending it is as valid as physics.

Classic example of letting someone else think for you. Sweet cut and paste.

The story revolves around railroad tycoons, and they try to set it in modern times? amtrak can't even survive without government subsidies...there are definitely no more railroad tycoons.

Shhhhh!

I will take a wild guess that no one here has actually read the novel?

I read The Fountainhead. That was enough for me. Ugh, ugh, ugh. I feel like 15 year olds who read Nietzsche > anybody who reads Ayn Rand.

You know what other books I haven't bothered to read? "Twilight", "Dianetics", and "How to Good-bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?"

I guess I don't understand why someone who never read the book could be so strongly positioned against it. What is wrong with the idea that being productive and able to think for ones self is moral and admirable?

Because it doesn't mesh with the Democrats' fiscal policy which is to take money from those who do work hard, and give it to those who don't. They'd rather read Robin Hood: Steal from the rich (and middle class) to give to the poor.

In order to redistribute wealth, someone has to create wealth in the first place.

Looks pretty bad. It's a story that doesn't really fit a contemporary setting; it's not like the U.S. really makes anything anymore. Atlas shrugged, and then died 50 years ago.

Don't judge Ayn Rand by the numbskulls who claim to follow her philosophy today. She was not a Republican and had pretty harsh things to say about Republicans. She was wrong about a lot of things in my opinion (the idea of voluntary taxes, endorsing Ronald Reagan for president), but she was a good writer who believed in freedom and personal responsibility.

One needn't judge Rand by those who proclaim her philosophy as an excuse for their behavior; her writing is bad enough on its own, even leaving out Rand's personal life (including her use of Medicaid). The Objectivist 'philosophy' totally ignores every complicated issue of societal obligation, epistemology, teleology, and government in general. Not much to praise there, much less words about freedom & responsibility. Responsibility includes the need to be critical about one's own ideas and those of others, as well as the need to still receive new information from the outside world.

You sound like one of the numbskulls who follow her philosophy. And one can say "harsh things about Republicans" and still be a talentless moron.

"Your a numbskull, she is a talentless moron." When you have no logical way to propose your argument, I guess name calling is the go to move?