Redefining American Capitalism | Libertarianism and Ayn Rand

[@KnowingBetter]

Confused about the shoe metaphor? Check out the start of this whole project. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpXdZ52uqMh3Ztk And JJ's History of the Christian Right - kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKGvdHyZarWph9k For a summary of this project, check out my Reddit post - www.reddit.com/r/KnowingBetter/comments/lvmw9k/all_that_changed_in_1972_a_summary/

[@PanchoVilla-fe8pt]

Wow. Educational. And Fun in the comments lol 😂 . Get some sleep mate

[@froggywam]

So ayn rand wrote 50 shades?

[@PanchoVilla-fe8pt]

Holly f**dge. Bro. Mind blown 🤯 And I learned a lot. Idk. 🤷🏽‍♂️ where do I-err WE go from here?

[@cornfed420]

Oh, that guy late in the video. Man his cocaine like movements made me crazy. Seemed like he was having withdrawal symtoms . Was it a skit he was doing or is that how he is? The only thing he was missing from me just turning off the video was that way of talking that the kids do. You know, when each sentence ends in a higher pitch that makes it seem like a question. I am sure there is a name for it. Actually, if he did that I may have liked it more, It may have been entertaining. Anyway.

[@sebrr039]

I've seen every one of your videos but I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "this project"

[@am19970914]

"I've been an adult for a while now..." Yeah man, I understand, my condolences

[@lauramarschmallow2922]

Also: this is the EXACT same intro as the one about the running shoes.

[@jeremytuttle9439]

Same. But I still paused to like the video when he said "nice."

[@nilesbutler8638]

When he said "If you where born after ´55..." My first thought was - "wouldnt be me" (although I was drafted two years before the practice was set out over here. Then I got depressed, because I wasnt *that* much off....

[@uss_04]

And all the stores we knew as kids are now closing

[@jeffreygao3956]

Adulthood>>>>>>>>>>>>childhood then, now, and forever.

[@QuantumRead]

"Whats so wrong about helping people?" "Nothing, if you do it by your own choice and it's not your primary aim in life" absolutely incredible. Ayn Rand has done the impossible by insinuating that if your main goal in life is to help people you're actually a bad person

[@beentheredonethatoriginals5673]

No, she didn't say it made you a bad person, YOU added that. And how is that anywhere near as bad as KB saying that all white people wanted segregation? How many examples of rampant bigotry have to spew from his orifice before you see it for yourself? This is the least objective review of Rand that I've come across. Might as well ask Hillary what she thinks of Donald Trump. It's gonna be just slightly to the right of CNNs coverage of him. Check out Milton Friedman some time. His interviews are very concise and accurate and typically have a great deal of historical factual evidence to support what he says.

[@nicolarivarossa4027]

you don't get to decide what makes a person good

[@EyeonthePrize247]

@@nicolarivarossa4027 Isn’t that exactly what Ayn Rand is doing in OP’s comment?

[@nicolarivarossa4027]

@@EyeonthePrize247 that's rand's opinion. the point of her philosophy is that you don't impose your opinion on others.

[@EyeonthePrize247]

@@nicolarivarossa4027 I’m not sure I’m understanding where you’re coming from since Ayn was doing just that (telling people her opinions should be implemented).

[@thedemongodvlogs7671]

This is the most ambitious crossover between KB characters ever

[@TheBigRedskull]

The KB Expanded Universe’s Avengers

[@setlerking]

It’s a collection of individuals. It’s a clever play on Rands ideas

[@thecharlemagnekid9997]

yeah that new canadian character he introduced is great!

[@Prodigious1One]

Absolutely.

[@chrisborne1646]

KBU>MCU!!!!

[@Sebastian-fn1qg]

I had a libertarian teacher who had us read Atlus Shrugged. I remember thinking, "This... doesn't feel quite as thought out as the rest of the books I've read in school."

[@jeffreygao3956]

I never got assigned that pile of paper thank goodness.

[@jeffreygao3956]

@@azlanadil3646 I only call the ones I dislike piles of paper as an insult.

[@warlordnipple]

At a public school?

[@Sebastian-fn1qg]

@@warlordnipple yes. Graduated in 2014 from a public school in Michigan.

[@warlordnipple]

@@Sebastian-fn1qg sounds pretty dumb as he was likely in a union and got all the government benefits the book derides.

[@werther7871]

incredible that the pinnacle of individualism would create a cult called "The Collective"

[@thenoblepoptart]

They aren’t individualists, they are insanely collectivist, they literally view anyone outside their cult as ignorant parasitic beasts, and consider it deserved if they meet a gruesome fate. They don’t care about an individuals life or prosperity, only that of their cult collective of “enlightened industrialists” prospers. Jeff Bezos space colony/Total Recall philosophy.

[@enitsu-142]

bruh xD

[@mnxt2329]

A cult? You mean the circle of people she socialized with??🙄 Who called themselves "the collective" as a joke?

[@rottendrestantje]

In Europe we simply call them nazis.

[@undead_corsair]

The pinnacle of irony.

[@goodsocksproductions9397]

"she changed her name to Ayn Rand" Well that was an unexpected twist

[@cdw2468]

i was like “who is he talking about?” and then that line dropped and it was a serious “ohhhh... oh no...” moment

[@TitanBait]

That part hit me like a truck

[@DarthVader1977]

nomed

[@makkapakka8895]

I mean he showed a picture of her

[@goodsocksproductions9397]

@@makkapakka8895 I was just listening to the audio :- P plus not everyone knows her face

[@maxheadrom3088]

The term "Social Darwinism" would have really offended Darwin if he heard about it.

[@Ismael-kc3ry]

Without a doubt lol

[@blugaledoh2669]

@@Ismael-kc3ry why?

[@Almanich94]

​@@blugaledoh2669 Because "social darwinism" has nothing to do with Darwin's actual work, because Darwin himself said the theory of evolution applied to species as a whole and not to competition between members of the same species, because Darwin passionately fought against social injustice and the trite "social darwinists" are advocating for his entire life.

[@tj-co9go]

He did hear about it in his lifetime. They already started making such theories right after publication of his work on evolution. Spencer for example

[@nebunezz_r]

@@blugaledoh2669 because Darwin theory of evolution doesn't explain the cause of extinction. Darwin explained how does a species or a member of ecosystem thrive in the place they are in, and compare it to their contemporaries that is under the same genus but in a different species doing in other completely different ecosystem. Put it simply, it's about the difference between Sperm whale and Orca way of life, not the cause of Indian lion extinction.

[@johncarlson1862]

Ayn Rand: Altruism is bad; you should never have to sacrifice yourself for someone else Also Ayn Rand: We need a military that’s willing to die to defend our country and our right to own property

[@zs9652]

I know right? That proves the whole thing bunk lol.

[@felinecontrolled]

It's not entirely a contraction when she saw those who would be sacrificed as lesser and thus deserving of their fate. But I see your point. ;)

[@TheRealE.B.]

Fun fact about Ayn Rand: Frank Lloyd Wright, whom she took as inspiration for her *Special Snowflake That Knows Better Than Everyone Else* character Howard Roark, was kind of a sham architect. His "masterpiece", Fallingwater was new when The Fountainhead was released, and may have inspired the title. But the main reason Fallingwater is famous today is because it's a museum, and the reason it's a museum is because it's a sh*t house that no rich person actually wants to stay at or pay to maintain, and it would have been sh*ttier and possibly collapsed under its own weight if the client and builders hadn't vetoed some of Wright's dumber ideas.

[@DarthVader1977]

@@stephenpincetich2099 cinatas nomed

[@mr.l8527]

@@zs9652 It doesn't prove the idea as bunk - only that one of it's figures was imperfect. It is immature to expect that those who advocate for an idea or ideal should be perfect avatars of them. Like you and I, they are human. As humans, we are imperfect and prone to faults. We are, (all of us) faulty, hypocritical, prone to benevolence and malevolence... and we are ultimately selfish. We are walking contradictions as a result of our ideas and societies evolving quicker than we ourselves are ... and it is reflected in the facts of our daily lives and our species' history. Look at who many major historical figures were as people (beyond what they represented) and you'll see for yourself how flawed or "of their time" they were. You must look beyond the individual and look at their ideas for their merits (or lack thereof). It is the ideas that matter - not the purveyors of them. A wonderful person can have terrible ideas ... and a terrible person can have good ideas. A wise or educated person can have foolish notions and ideas whereas a foolish or uneducated person can have intelligent ideas. And an idea may not be perfect but there can be something there from which to grow upon. It's the idea. Not the person.

[@timothytikker3834]

"This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." -- Dorothy Parker, reviewing Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged"

[@demian5631]

I need to steal that one, it's perfect.

[@chaotickreg7024]

It's a hefty book

[@jeffreygao3956]

@@chaotickreg7024 And boring as it is hefty.

[@defaultkoala2922]

@@jeffreygao3956 I enjoy the story. I find the politics to be the insane rambling of a madwoman though.

[@benjaminhenderson7059]

Only value is as emergency toilet paper

[@ScienceAsylum]

50-minutes is insane, dude. You're one of the few channels I can watch videos that long in one sitting, but dang! It must have been so much work!

[@knoahbody69]

He recycled all of the time he spent on costumes for the last couple of videos.

[@hexramdass2644]

Science Asylum! Great to see you here, love your videos too!

[@chaiti1985]

Yea...a lot of work from him misunderstanding and misrepresenting topics and themes. A toddler taking a crap on the floor and smearing it around for an hour could seem like a lot of work too - but it's probably best if we stop it after a few minutes.

[@FragmentJack]

@@chaiti1985, it’s fine if you believe he’s misrepresenting topics and themes, but not pointing out specific examples only makes it look like you’ve maybe have some passing knowledge on the subject and can’t actually identify said elements that you take issue with.

[@chaiti1985]

@@FragmentJack continue to find my comments. I've pointed out examples for your dissertation.

[@chcknpie04]

I love how Ayn Rand is totally against collectivism, but then names this consortium of great men the collective

[@snowballeffect7812]

She was not the brightest bulb. She seemed very insecure about her barely-average intelligence, as well.

[@BigWheel.]

@@snowballeffect7812 you knew her?

[@Eudaletism]

I'm pretty sure she was aware of the irony and was joking.

[@codex8085]

The first thing an Individualist should do is liberate himself from the dogma of socialist meanings

[@Eudaletism]

@@codex8085 It took a long while for socialism to click for me. We're not exactly embedded in it. The concepts to first liberate yourself from are liberal and capitalist ones, since we are swimming in liberal capitalist "water".

[@lol-xs9wz]

"The Collective" This has to be deliberate irony.

[@3asianassassin]

No, Ayn Rand was just stupid

[@andrewbenbow9257]

It obviously was an attempt at irony, but if you believe people who are not the producers are ignorant, I guess the point would be self defeating. Ugh...

[@sammosaurusrex]

@@andrewbenbow9257 Do you mean “people who are not the owners?” Most people on the left consider workers to be “the producers,” since they’re the ones producing everything

[@bugfighter5949]

@XORRE Don't answer him, he has no idea what communism is.

[@BiH1980Sana]

I mean, it literally is, so...

[@nohbuddy1]

"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." John Rogers

[@jakelilevjen9766]

This quote actually made me laugh out loud. Thank you!

[@highjumpstudios2384]

That’s beautiful

[@jpe1]

I tried reading Atlas Shrugged when I was about 14 and couldn’t stand it; tried it again in my mid-twenties, still found it repulsive; from time to time I notice it still sitting on my “unread” shelf and pick it up, but always end up putting it down after a few pages. It seems to be a slog of a read with no payout at the end. Watching this video I have no regrets on my failure to read it.

[@lavendarcrash2941]

@@jpe1 same. I was tempted by the Ayn Rand essay scholarships but couldn't bring myself to finish the accursed books. No regrets.

[@AriKnits]

@@lavendarcrash2941 An Ayn Rand Essay Scholarship sounds like the sort of thing Ayn Rand might be against. I too read about half a page before putting it down, because *wow* are they awful. I dont know how someone could read through hundreds of pages of that.

[@PyrotechNick77]

Oh my gods, Ayn Rand did the "buy avocado toast vs save toward owning a home" analogy with the lipstick/doctor scenario.

[@Nerobyrne]

yup. Completely ignoring the point that medicine in USA is often too expensive for people to save up for. Of course she didn't care, she was on government assistance -.-

[@norml.hugh-mann]

@@Nerobyrne nor can anyone predict stuff like accidents of major illness.

[@Nerobyrne]

@@norml.hugh-mann you wrote that in the wrong comment lol

[@Nerobyrne]

@@Dynamo33 there is no reason healthcare should be private

[@Nerobyrne]

@@Dynamo33 why isn't it the norm? Because other countries place limits on what private healthcare is allowed to do, and actually enforce those limits. If those didn't exist, it would be the same everywhere. The only times private healthcare is good is when it's forced to be less private.

[@Jekyllstein_Gray]

I can't get over the hilarity of Ayn Rand forming "The Collective."

[@TheCarrShow]

You probably could if you thought about it.

[@codex8085]

If you haven't been brainwashed by marxism you would realize it's just a word

[@flameyay5207]

She also collected welfare. She was a giant hypocrite.

[@iammrbeat]

A great last episode of the season in which all the characters reunite.

[@ChromeStryder]

Bruh Mr.beast???

[@ry6651]

You're the dad of Mr. Beast

[@kraftymum]

Hey there Mr. Beat. Just wanted to let you know I’ve been fully enjoying your content for the past year and have recently gotten my 9 year old hooked. She loves your videos about the presidents. Thanks for your hard work. 👍🏼

[@PatriotMapper]

Hi daddy :)

[@SoapBurger]

mr breast give me money

[@setlerking]

She literally uses the “your nitpicking and biased I win, bye bye” excuse to not have to explain her beliefs

[@camperwithknife]

That’s just not true, you’re nitpicking and biased. I win bye bye

[@Usagi393]

“I judge your reasoning to be inferior to mine. Bye-bye!”

[@sekroz896]

It's the perfect Position. Since you don't agree with me, you must be crazy and therefore wrong, so I don't have to explain myself.

[@cooperross9495]

Yes, although anyone who claims that excuse is ALWAYS a bad one has not had to watch a fifty post discord conversation railing against "cultural marxism."

[@justderp5713]

This is just like arguing philosophy at Ayn Rand’s house! - shreks

[@mycool8980]

Is it ironic Ayn rand died living off Social security?

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

LMFAO

[@tabenstock7119]

No because the vast majority of hucksters don’t practice anything that they believe. It’s fitting!

[@SampatK164]

Well, it's the same way most red states whose Governors rail about federal overreach are the ones whose budgets rely most on federal loans.

[@ib8025]

I mean to be fair they are gonna take your money no matter what may as well take some of it back.

[@DJlovesjiujitsu]

About as ironic as Karl Marx leeching off of Frederick Engels. Somebody who inherited his wealth

[@ibnbob7847]

I have found that when reading Atlas Shrugged (or anything by Rand for that matter) it helps immeasurably in keeping one's sanity to imagine the dialogue as being spoken by various Looney Toons characters-- Bugs Bunny for Dagny Taggart, Yosemite Sam for John Galt, and so on. For the narration I like to use Graham Chapman's tut-tutting army officer from Monty Python.

[@elfieinblack4618]

I would like to formally nominate this human for KZbin commenter of the year

[@antlerbraum2881]

That’s wise

[@Sarah-re7cg]

I haven’t read anything by her and only will out of absolute necessity so as to understand what material has turned to many peoples minds into a toxic sludge dump site. I know not to psycho-analyze people, but there is absolutely no way in hell that Ayn Rand wasn’t suffering from severe, severe narcissistic personality disorder. It’s horrifying that a lot of people, mostly Republicans see this as some kind of inspiration or blueprint for how society should be. Delusional narcissistic psychopathy.

[@gsp4prez]

I need that audio book.

[@Rexini_Kobalt]

i have never, ever though of doing this for books i dislike. you sir, are an absolute revolutionary

[@zombielizard218]

The shoes were a metaphor? THE SHOES WERE A METAPHOR?!

[@brookslewis5220]

The shoes weren't the metaphor, all of the other videos about the government were just a metaphor for shoes.

[@the_algorithm]

There are no shoes

[@manuelalejandrolopezrodrig3786]

Should I get a NEW pair of shoes?

[@dheerajprakash1419]

Gotta appreciate him making an entire video just to be a running metaphor

[@Jonathan-pp5zc]

Didn't we already try the "new shoes" and it caused the death and starvation of millions?

[@H4hT53]

Hey, I have the same version of "Atlas Shrugged"! Most useful book I have ever owned. Propped up by broken bed frame with it, held open doors and windows, scared away unwanted people by leaving it on the coffee table...10/10, would recommend. Awful read, though.

[@sakatababa]

i use C# in the same way...

[@thewamp9306]

I keep a copy of Atlas Shrugged on hand as an emergency fire starter in case my heater goes out in the winter.

[@jizburg]

Put it in a pilowcase and you have a good improvised flail.

[@Craxin01]

Ah, Ayn Rand. The philosopher in chief of the intellectually and morally bankrupt.

[@rottendrestantje]

Hilarious!

[@PotentialHistory]

I too as a first year business major believe Atlas Shrugged is the model of a perfect society. This belief proves I am smarter and better than everybody else for making such a bold unique observation, completely validating my acting this way. No I will never change my mind about this or develop my beliefs as I get older and gain actual life experience. It's not a phase mom! I'm not just being edgy! I'm an objectivist and always will be! Also, the rules at 19:30 are incredible, how can someone be so egotistical with a strait face and 100% expect to be taken seriously? The world is a crazy place man.

[@treetheoak8313]

The worst part is that from my anecdotal evidence shes not too far off from any minority being abused from systems of power. A lot of people from her side of history who "make it" would like to believe they deserved it over the reality that their success was a combination of serendipity and old fashioned dumb luck. I know a lot of people who work hard. Work smart and are incredibly intelligent and through happenstance are living in poverty. And a lot of people who have the same qualities or dumb qualities that live the same way or as 1 percenter. Capitalism doesn't care if you have merit. It doesn't have space for it. Assigning a morality to it is asinine. But nope "I made it and I work hard so the system is fine!" is what the average person would rather believe. Also when's the next tank meme video?

[@TheSunderingSea]

As a first year history major *ahem* 5 Shermans 1 Tiger

[@MrOzzification]

@@treetheoak8313 Massive survivorship bias with those types. And its incredibly difficult to get them to understand that capitalism isn't the meritocracy its been promised to be.

[@leonst.7471]

Oi Wanabee hatch guy is the next video already on the cutting floor?

[@deffranca3396]

@@treetheoak8313 capitalism is not about merit, is about bringing value to others

[@shaurmiath6719]

Objectivism just sounds like the philosophy of "what I believe is correct because I say 'factually' and 'objectively' before I say what I think, and when you disagree, I say your thoughts are invalid."

[@nithinsrivatsa4726]

44:33 "Government is the problem. Vote for me to lead the government"

[@Nerobyrne]

I mean, that does make sense if you're a reforminst. The only other option is a violent revolution.

[@nithinsrivatsa4726]

@@Nerobyrne There's a difference between saying the government has problems, and the government is the problem. Only the former can claim to be a reformist.

[@Nerobyrne]

@@nithinsrivatsa4726 Yeah, that's why neo-liberalism is an ideological failure. They preach like revolutionaries but act like reformers. That's because the leaders don't really care about politics, they just want to make big number go up. And the specific number is the one in their bank accounts.

[@voxpopuli7910]

@@nithinsrivatsa4726 knowing what the American military industrial complex is, it is the government that is the problem.

[@josephang9927]

As long as they make government less powerful, why not?

[@tcg1476]

It’s funny how a libertarian made a group called the collective

[@LiveFreeOrDieDH]

My thought exactly as I heard that. I was like, "Wait... really?"

[@General12th]

Flat Earth Society has members all around the globe!

[@beaub152]

Reminds me of hitler calling his party "National Socialism"

[@manospondylus]

Also funny how Rand spent the last years of her life mooching off the government

[@burper-oe6tm]

@@beaub152 yeah he was nationalist, but far from socialist

[@racewiththefalcons1]

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate the fact that the third film in the Atlas Shrugged trilogy was literally crowdfunded?

[@rickrolld1367]

This book was funded via crowdfund, with special condolences given to our biggest donor, James Bissonette James Bissonette: "Wait, I actually donated to this? Holy shit, I want a refund NOW!"

[@parkermaki3799]

Were they threatened with force/jailtime/fines if those people didn't? You're dumb.

[@benc.3128]

@@rickrolld1367 I’m disappointed that no one gets this reference

[@haceofspades7682]

@@parkermaki3799 how is that relevant? Thats the whole point of crowdfunding. I think the point their making is that donating to the production of something is most likely something Ayn Rand would disagree with, because your investing money into something that will likely make other people money but not yourself, hence its a selfless act, something Ayn Rand doesnt believe in.

[@parkermaki3799]

@@haceofspades7682 they gave money for a movie they wanted to see. Delete your comment.

[@clownfromclowntown]

I think it’s just a shame that such a cool title as “Atlas Shrugged” was wasted on such a politically bad take. However, for a long time I actually thought the title was “Atlas Struggled”, and in my head thought it was a really cool book about how a god tasked with holding up the entire earth struggled with that feat, and sort of was a narrative about Atlas’ internal dialogue as he underwent such an arduous and soul crushing task. I wish my brain version could’ve been the real one 😔

[@Desmaad]

There's no reason you can't use that title for your imagined story.

[@ernestoacosta7918]

I thought atlas shrugged sounded like they carried the world but still shrugged like “it is what it is”, but apparently the book has its atlas’s(industrialists) not shrug off a perceived burden to carry, but more whine and throw a tantrum to it and destroy the things that benefit people

[@letsRegulateSociopaths]

Atlas Shagged (the common man)

[@jeffersonclippership2588]

Especially since Atlas is an accurate metaphor for the working class

[@hogndog2339]

Seriously. “Atlas Shrugged” evokes vivid imagery, that the end result is so incredibly disappointing

[@-xphobia]

Game theory: She is the most successful destabilizing Soviet agent.

[@Mastercrazybird]

With the Troll Farm approach that Russia's taking now... Yeah, I can see that. But that's JUST A THEORY!

[@ulti-mantis]

@@Mastercrazybird Maybe they didn't send Rand as a destabilizing agent, but *learned* the technique from the effects she had in US politics?

[@Mastercrazybird]

No one said "a game theory" and I'm sad now.

[@this.is.spencer]

@Luís Andrade Well if you insist on using a private definition of "destabilizing", which seems to be "being a part of antifa", then yeah I agree, Rand definitely was not anti-fascist. If we're playing the private definitions game, I can say something like: "Ayn Rand murdered a school bus full of children." Of course I'm using a private definition of "murdered", by which I meant "wrote". And by "school bus" I meant "book", and by "full of children", I meant "called Atlas Shrugged." So, yeah, if you accept all those definitions, we can definitively say that Ayn Rand murdered a school bus full of children. Here in society, though, where language is a shared construct to convey meaning, we might collectively decide to use the word "destabilize" to mean "make less stable". And under that definition, it's not hard to see (and is demonstrated by the video) how Rand's ideology lead to politics that privatized and deregulated institutions, weakening them. For example, a lot of people would consider the subprime mortgage crisis both the result and cause of destabilization, which can be credited to Randian ideas.

[@onetwothree4148]

Yeah I'd call chanting "abolish the police" and "death to America" destabilizing (Google the videos if you didn't catch those protests on CNN)

[@charlieputzel7735]

Am I the only one who finds it hilarious that Rand was only able to get an education because the Bolsheviks opened up Russian universities to women?

[@Mix1mum]

And then pull social security at the end. Just buckets within buckets of hypocrisy.. like Russian nesting dolls.

[@tanizaki]

And newlywed couples in Nazi Germany could only afford a new house thanks to government loans. So what?

[@SuperKing604]

Yeah i noticed that to, so they did a good thing but also a lot of bad, real life is just complicated like that. Getting out of Russia as stalin was taking over was a good call.

[@robinthestate6548]

@@tanizaki exactly...🤦🏻‍♂️ people act like you're supposed to be thankful to tyrants and murder if they do a few good things. it's like saying people in Mexico should be thankful they have cartels because they pave some roads...

[@comradelayla5635]

Not only that but also make it free

[@GdEvInE141]

Wow an entire video on Ayn Rand that doesn't reference BioShock KB: "would you kindly subscribe" god damnit

[@TheJanitorIsIn]

I'm pretty certain he's familiar with it too

[@eccentriastes6273]

I think I spy an out of focus big daddy on the shelf in the background.

[@thejason755]

He had us all in the first half, ain’t gonna lie

[@ZRob23523]

As someone in Gen Z, I have constantly asked the question, “well if it’s always been this way, why has nobody tried to change it yet? It clearly isn’t working. I’m not blind.” And I almost never get a straight answer. Usually it’s “oh but that’ll disrupt ____” or maybe something like, “but who’s gonna pay for that? We got like trillions in debt.” And I hate every time I hear it. Especially since I come from a line of entrepreneurs who sorta subscribe to this kind of ideology. Whenever I bring up Wall Street, people avoid the topic. Whenever I talk about solutions that could improve the school system (getting rid of 100% lecture-style classes because they don’t work, changing the way we view grades / getting rid of them altogether and creating a new system, etc.), people are opposed to it despite DECADES of research. It’s really frustrating when people say that I’m wrong but provide no counter argument. Anyways, rant aside, great video! Loved the point at the end, and I think that it should be explored more deeply, as a good amount of that generation seems devoted to influencing our generations for fear of change.

[@jacofalltrades7610]

As a 32 year old cynical af American, I am banking on you, my friend. We millennials are having a tough time moving the boomers along. They totally locked out gen xers but in another 15 years or so it'll hopefully be smoother sailing

[@bongwelll]

It hasn't always been this way. After the great depression the government regulated banks and even before that Teddy Roosevelt trust busted. Franklin Roosevelt made a social safety net. Then every politician since Reagan has chipped away at both of those protections and let the rich bankers do whatever their greedy black hearts desired. Combine that with the war on drugs(aka war on the poor) and mass incarceration which is cheaper than welfare plus you can have prison labor work for corporations for 9 cents an hour. That's how you dystopian hellscape we live in now.

[@beentheredonethatoriginals5673]

@@jacofalltrades7610 hmm. I have 4 daughters age 31 to 36. 3 of them own their homes, one owns 2. 3 of them are successful and one not so much, but she has made a number of questionable life choices. None of them were handed anything, but they did have 2 supportive parents that helped them make appropriate choices in life, they are anything but "locked out" and they were never told they were victims, but the youngest one took that approach and that's the main reason she hasn't been successful nor has she purchased a home. I hired a 35 y.o. and a 38 y.o. to do work on my property. After 2 days I let the older one go and the younger guy worked for me for the next 6 weeks. A hard worker that stayed off his phone, paid attention to details, not the fastest guy but a meticulous worker. I set him up with my nephew (also 35) who is in charge of several HVAC jobs at the airport that are scheduled to take 4 years, and now that guy I hired makes 38 bucks an hour with good benefits. There's too many examples of millennial that are doing well for me to believe any nonsense about being locked out. Look at your options, always strive to do better, don't be afraid of hard work, and don't sit around looking for handouts and you have just as many opportunities as any previous generation.

[@beentheredonethatoriginals5673]

One question. How do you measure what a student has learned without grading a test? That's it, one topic. Really wondering what the alternative(s) is/are.

[@dominicgunderson]

@@beentheredonethatoriginals5673 Love it when geriatric boomers use anecdotale evidence to ignore systemic and social realities. What's it like to live in a world where you can pretend that the average wage does as much as it did back when you were in your 30's? What's it like to play fantasy and pretend that housing is purchasable with a middle-income job? What's it like to be so incessantly selfish and so cartoonishly binary in your thinking that you actually regurgitate 'bootstraps' philosophy. As a 19 year old it makes me pretty sad that someone can be as old as you are, and live in modern times with a brain stuck 50 years in the past. I hope you can change your mindset and stop being a bane on society before you die.

[@1337w0n]

My favorite part is how a single rail line is capable of threatening an entire transportation network. Because Somehow rail lines aren't a natural monopoly.

[@JETZcorp]

Back in the day, the rail lines really weren't much of a natural monopoly. If you wanted to get something from Chicago to LA, you had at least 4 competing routes. Some of them really were better than others for some stupid reasons. For example, Union Pacific's route was set in the original transcontinental railroad program, for which the government paid by the mile and also granted land rights for miles either side of the track. So Union Pacific built their line in a squiggly route in order to claim ownership of more native lands which they could then use or sell (after getting the Army to genocide all those pesky brown trespassers, of course). As a result, their line was long and slow compared to what it could have been. Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and Southern Pacific all could get passengers or cargo between the points, and depending on any number of factors, you could have a good reason to choose any of them. Even today a lot of these competing parallels still exist, even as the industry consolidated. SP and Santa Fe used to run lines right next to each other over Cajon Pass, and those lines are still both active with UP and BNSF. Here where I live, competing trains drag race up and down on either side of the Columbia River, while cargo barges ply a 3rd route up the middle. The idea of a single line being highly disruptive was probably based on the Great Northern, which was built late and avoided a lot of squiggles and heavy grades. Railroads did often try to collude to fix prices, and a hot new line like that would often blow up those plans. Some of the early function of the very first Federal regulatory agency was to actually limit this competition and "prohibit unfair discounting" (aka fix prices) with government authority. A lot of these early 20th century doings had the clumsy bluntness that Rand took to cartoonist parody. Guys literally named Vanderbilt put in charge of regulating the railroads, son-in-law of Rockefeller overseeing the energy department, just real cheeseball stuff like that. But anyway, railroads then and especially today face competition from cars, trucks, shipping, and air travel. The Interstate highway system and major airports really took huge bites out of the railroads, particularly in passenger routes where literally everyone switched to driving Chevrolets or flying United. FedEx really put the screws to freight rail when they invented overnight shipping. Nobody's competing with that with a train on Donner Pass in January. But even way back, things like riverboats and the Erie Canal were major external competition.

[@beentheredonethatoriginals5673]

Well you should look a bit more at those old systems, not only did they compete against other routes, they were heavily contracted by companies that held leases or had helped fund the RR even though they had competing business. Not that any of those things matter, the Reardon Steel represented a new material that would not only last much longer, take half the maintenance, but would also support much longer bridges, and thereby be capable of spanning canyons, reducing routes that had to find a way around. So this new metal was so superior as to threaten the long term viability of making or even repairing failing rail lines out of any material other than Reardon steel. It is fiction, and this guys bizarre and bigoted take on the subject is like asking Hillary Clinton what she thinks of Donald Trump. Completely one sided, a mixture of opinion, half truths and contempt. Not the most objective review, lol. Also the movies were not Oscar winning material to be sure, but I've sat through far worse, and they are intended to showcase one person's idea of what government overreach can become, and Milton Friedmans take was not only aligned with that vision but has been proven time and time again.

[@codex8085]

Transport itself is not a monopoly however the social planners will have you believe it's better we just use rail

[@codex8085]

@@azlanadil3646 Well not for cost speed or reliability. It's possibly better for emissions that everyone drives to a local rail station, Burning more fuel because it's short-range. Then everyone Gets onto an enormous diesel engine. Only since the train will run the same distance regardless of number of passengers I don't see it

[@tomowens1571]

@@azlanadil3646 a 2$ ticket. Are you going walking distance? Try 60$ per week

[@mottebailley4122]

Also, by its own admission, 1984 rejects the idea that the average person (ie the Proles) could overthrow or change their dystopian world. Winston Smith, the protagonist, isn’t “average,” he’s an Outer-Party member, which puts him somewhere in the top 15% of the system.

[@sofijeffrey9797]

I’d argue it pretty much proves Outer-Party members like Winston’s can’t overthrow anything either.

[@tereziamarkova2822]

Well, that's kinda because Proles are too busy starving to death to rise up. Not that the complete bottom rungs of the society never rebel, but because of their lack of access to resources, their rebellions are usually easily crushed, although there are of course exceptions. I would also argue that this sentiment is Winston's more than the author's. Winston isn't a straight-up unreliable narrator, but he does have his own biases.

[@nwerner3654]

@@tereziamarkova2822 I dont even think it's a matter of starvation in the book. They've just reached a threshold where theyve been conditioned to be content with their situation imposed by the party. The proles in the book, by their sheer numbers, are the greatest threat to the party but are made completely docile by their lack of exposure to ideas and concepts that people like Winston become aware of. They aren't in danger of threatening the party with their own thought or expression because there is none that they know of.

[@nwerner3654]

@Motte Bailey I don't think it's that Orwell rejects the idea of the "common people" overthrowing a state, just that once a state becomes so hegemonic and powerful, transforms language, it becomes systemically impossible to alter that state of affairs

[@names_are_useless]

Conservatives and Libertarians LOVE to site 1984, but either don't know or constantly reject that Orwell himself was a Socialist.

[@demongrenade2748]

I love how knowing better cycled through literally all of his characters.

[@AlteryxGaming]

Not uncle Try Kno Betta. No one remembers pineapple man

[@ernestoacosta7918]

Not sin better 👿

[@vinceellis673]

satan and angel!

[@casualpequod6054]

Try Know Bettah wasn't there, but that would have fit. Try Know Bettah was just a joke after all.

[@nokiaarabicringtone1418]

The individualists literally formed a group called "the Collective" Beyond parody.

[@aformofmatter8913]

Even the most hyperindividualistic "objectivist" must bow before the reality that the individual can accomplish nothing, & that only collectives can take any effective action Such is the folly of the capitalist

[@xp_studios7804]

"All that changed in 1971" is basically the history of the modern United States

[@GregLanz]

Or people have short memories and always think that the time they're living in is completely different... Change that now to 2001 for modernization or go back to 1951 for another take on the same thing then 1931, 1911.......... this phenomena has been happening for multiple millenia

[@trash9378]

@@GregLanz Actually crazy you're saying we don't live in different times from 2001

[@tteotdead]

"Everything changed when the fire nation attacked..."

[@tamber5977]

hey nice tux icon =)

[@innovativeatavist159]

Curiously the middle class has been shrinking steadily since 1972...hmmmm.... I wonder...

[@magicthegatheringlover4277]

Drinking game: whenever kb says "but all that changed in" take a shot

[@atomicbamboo2453]

RIP your liver if you try this

[@faisal3398]

dead.

[@FireSeraph007]

When the Fire Nation took over.

[@Vi-XiphiqiX]

Only have Everclear... This will be my last post.

[@JackgarPrime]

But the Future Refused to Change

[@mentonerodominicano]

"The baby boomers never let go of that power." This is such an important point. Baby boomers changed the system, they're still in Congress defending that system and after implementing all of those austerity measures most of them are just moving to Florida (or any "low tax" State) so they can use all of the wealth they inherited to live in gated communities.

[@MTerrance]

Please...as a Baby Boomer I am on the left, even the far left. Baby Boomers are as diverse as any generation of Americans. Who do you think were the hippies? I understand people like to use labels, but the very people who decry labels seem as prone to using labels as anyone, long as it is Bay Boomers.

[@Quintinohthree]

@@MTerrance As we say, the exception proves the rule.

[@Magnulus76]

@@MTerrance Plenty of hippies grew up to vote Republican.

[@altrag]

Well there's one enemy they'll never be able to defeat - time. Sooner or later the boomers will have no choice but to relinquish power. Lets just hope we have a planet left to rebuild on by the time they do. (Though given we've got the likes of Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor-Green coming to the forefront, I'm not so sure that the boomer replacements will really be all that much better. Changing politics is one thing but more of an issue is that they've changed expectations about what society even _should_ be. And that will last a lot longer than any particular piece of legislation.)

[@IkeOkerekeNews]

@@Quintinohthree Nah, they only prove how stupid the concept of "generations" are.

[@PaulMcElligott]

Like the Bible, _Atlas Shrugged_ is a favorite book among people who mostly haven’t read it.

[@fallendown8828]

Same with Quran

[@jeffreygao3956]

But the Bible is actually good and Atlas Shrugged is worthless.

[@PaulMcElligott]

@@jeffreygao3956 The Bible is good? That’s a matter of opinion and an opinion I don’t share.

[@maxhasproblems4885]

don’t forget 1984

[@surengrigorian7888]

@@PaulMcElligott You have to admit, the teachings of Christ as established in the New Testament are an excellent basis for morality, as opposed to the philosophy of Atlas Shrugged.

[@JosephKerr27]

"No one can be a fully consistent individualist who disagrees with Ayn Rand on any fundamental issue." It's hard to believe this sentence actually exists, yet there it is.

[@rickrolld1367]

Do Libertarians not realise that there's more to politics than Capitalist and Communist?

[@steffengustavsen9678]

@@rickrolld1367 there is a scale and the longer to the right you go the better society becomes. Just look at scandinavia. Denmark is the country with less regulations and they do better than Sweden and Norway. I am norwegian and i can tell you that in many ways Norway is more capitalist than america. Most of the problems in america is caused by socialism. Expensive housing and healthcare is all because of government regulations.

[@rickrolld1367]

@@steffengustavsen9678 You do realise that Scandinavia has much more regulations on things, right? I mean they have taxes on addictive substances, 10% of the economy is owned by the government, healthcare and service are mostly public and are highly regulated to meet standards.

[@steffengustavsen9678]

@@rickrolld1367 i lived in the US and i live in Norway now. I can tell you there are lots of regulations in the US, Germany etc we dont have in Norway. Tax is not a regulation. For example Norway never had any regulations that tells people to wear a mask. Only regulation is that if you cant keep 1 meter distance in public transport then you must wear a mask. Taxes are also much less complicated than in the US.Anyways both countries would be better off without all the regulations.

[@stardustnation2480]

I mean that's technically true, but the world isn't so simple that an ideology based on non-contradiction would be adequate to administrate over society

[@classchair]

I remember as a high schooler submitting an essay on The Fountainhead to the Rand Foundation for a scholarship. Being young, naive, unaware of the possibility that Rand’s “selfishness is good” is somehow an actual fringe philosophy, and doing this at a time when googling was not an encouraged activity when writing essays...I submitted an essay about how it was a cautionary tale. The protagonist struggles against the world, becomes bitter, and descends to a rapey romance and committing criminal destruction of property because of his sociopathic “men take what they want and never compromise” behavior. In contrast, the former classmate who is willing to get help and work with others to get things done lives a comfortable life of plenty. Seemed pretty clear which one you should want to be. Needless to say, I never heard back regarding my submission for the scholarship.

[@ttthttpd]

Must not have finished the book (I certainly didn't), in the courtroom scene its made obvious that Peter Keating is an empty shell of a human being, that his "selfishness" is nothing more than becoming great in other peoples eyes, and has no personality, opinions, or thoughts beyond that. He is in fact truly, utterly, selfless in the most literal sense: he has no self, he is but a mirror. In fact I found the book annoying in how it beats the central metaphor into your head, page after page after page: a man's soul/personality is like a building, it should be built for a singular purpose, the layout/design geared only for that purpose (living for your personal purpose, ex design perfect buildings), you shouldn't focus on traditional styles for their own sake or to satisfy customers (your purpose and soul should exist for its own sake, not to impress others, and not submit to peer pressure), instead let the right kind of customer who understands your purpose/ideas seek you out. Keating is all about learning to impress others and manipulate clients (all facade), while Roark only cares about perfecting his architectural skills, even if he has to resort to manual labor to be near the art he loves (like a modernist building built for a singular purpose and uncaring of convention, esp. the facade) Seriously, all the talk of facades to satisfy others while the building itself is uncomfortable or unsuitable for purpose, how it is not obvious there is a metaphor there? No wonder you didn't win, you missed the point in one of the most repetitive and shallow extended metaphors ever. Also, Peter basically kills a man to climb the corporate ladder. Shmoop describes it as "another subtle-as-a-sledgehammer Rand moment"

[@NeostormXLMAX]

Reject objectivism embrace egoism, property destruction is based. Since everything is your property

[@bigayysfromspace2804]

You should've gotten that scholarship, damn.

[@cmdrcriton]

You sound like what is wrong with society...

[@Crowborn]

Good on you for trolling the people at that Foundation

[@anthonybeervor2265]

"a person she viewed as inferior to herself. That's why she ended it according to her, not jealousy." lol, still sounds like jealousy to me.

[@fab006]

BS. The romantic relationship had ended long before their break.

[@damonhage7451]

It wasn't the fact that he was sleeping with other people or who those other people were, it is that he lied about sleeping with other people. Also like fab pointed out, the timeline is relevant here.

[@Dancingonthesun]

Ayn rand going on social assistance later in life is endlessly funny to me

[@TheJoker137]

The JJ character has got to be KB's most impressive costume.

[@yee3771]

😂

[@thesage1096]

haha its an actual other person !

[@libu1968]

JJ’s inability to sit still was distracting AF!

[@thesage1096]

@@libu1968 ur new to jj arent you ?

[@TheJoker137]

@@thesage1096 *whoosh*

[@humanbeing7504]

who's this knowing better guy trying to muscle in on J.J's video, he clearly isn't even sitting on a yoga ball.

[@jakelee5456]

So that's why he keeps moving

[@flyingdeathcatsgo]

@@jakelee5456 I knew he seemed bouncy

[@cranknlesdesires]

Heck, I didn't know, I was going to question why Jj was so bouncy.

[@AlexanderKlimenko-y2s]

stop bouncing aboot

[@luddity]

He's bouncy in all directions, far more than the yoga ball can account for.

[@JJMcCullough]

Man, what a twist!

[@unagjac890]

Lol you and I are watching this video at the same time

[@masonator232]

THE GOAT

[@AllMustJump]

Omg, its a big KZbinr! I have to like his comment!

[@Scaffiddles]

I had this playing while I was working and I was like “wait I know that voice” . Great work!

[@vedrancorluka1332]

Everybodies favourite reader

[@dmrr7739]

Finding a “free energy motor” fits right in with Libertarian thinking.

[@danf3201]

Finding a free energy motor and not sharing it even though it's not yours in the first place is such a Libertarian thing. "Oh, look what I found, the solution to all of man's problems. No you can't have it second person to walk into this building, you're a useless parasite, just trying to mooch off my incredible and self-made success."

[@selfdo]

If such a thing were possible, what'd be wrong with an enterprising engineer developing and marketing it? Of course, it won't happen, so don't waste time in fantasyland.

[@Craxin01]

@@selfdo If you had something that produced infinite free power and you produced them, what would happen after everyone had one? No more market. In Ayn Rand's opinion, it'd be ideal, the "maker" would reap all the money, but then the "takers" (workers) would be out of a job. We'd benefit as a society from such a device, but a corporation would collapse. Why do you think everything is so disposable now? Built in infinite supply of customers.

[@selfdo]

@@Craxin01 Pipe dream. Come back to the REAL world. Neither matter nor energy can simply be created out of nothing. Now, if you're talking about getting usable power much cheaper and in a more practical manner, then you've got something that there'd be an inherent market for. Ultimately, free markets are the result of CHOICE, i.e., the consumer picks what he believes to be the best value or most feasible. It doesn't matter what Ayn Rand had to say about it.

[@Craxin01]

@@selfdo I wasn't saying infinite free energy is possible, I'm saying that, if it was (if being the active word), then it would destroy the company that makes it. Business requires repeat customers to survive. Guaranteeing your customers never need to come back would kill your business. Best case scenario, someone that created some mythical infinite free energy source would need to sell the energy, not the device producing it, like a power company.

[@brandondavidson4085]

Me: "This Alisa woman seems pretty nice, but how is she relevant to these issues?" Will: "Alisa Rosenbaum changed her name to Ayn Rand" Me: "She did WHAT?!" EDIT: Also, I think the sex scenes being a bit rapey explains why egotistical billionaires love Ayn Rand so much.

[@taylordavison6849]

We're going to need some cream for that burn.

[@toade1583]

Well, writers from her time usually did write sex scenes like that..

[@alangivre2474]

I think we got too much information of her kinks XD

[@xaviotesharris891]

@@toade1583 Really? Name a couple, please. I've read lots of books from her time and can't think of another quite so rapey writer.

[@jalexoneschanel1356]

@@toade1583 not really!!!!

[@racewiththefalcons1]

Rand: "I did everything all on my own!" KB: "Sales only started to take off after the film adaptation..." Couple that with getting free education at university and having relatives help secure her visa, it sounds like every moment where she achieved something in life could have been directly attributed to the actions and efforts of someone other than herself.

[@Nerobyrne]

It really is weird. This entire "cult of neo-liberalism" idealizes the leaders of industry, but never asks where these leaders would be without everyone before and under them. What would Elon Musk do without his workers? Without the people who invented all the stuff that went into his various projects? -without his family's mines in Africa staffed by "volunteers"-

[@Nerobyrne]

@@Original_Tenshi_Chan rules for me and other rules for thee

[@aetu35]

her political views were definitely a coping mechanism

[@murraymadness4674]

Of course. Hypocrisy is the leading traits of all these people, Trumpdums in particular, but GOP in general.

[@antonyduhamel1166]

@@Original_Tenshi_Chan Ayn Rand is a big reason why I believe in Socialism. For almost every one of her claims, there's an example of her committing the exact action she condemns others for, while acting like her hypocrisy is her God-given right. Capitalism has its benefits, don't get me wrong, but I'd rather help my neighbour than price-gouge him for his last dime.

[@than217]

"They can't even drive through a broken stoplight. That's how bad things have gotten." About 15 years ago in Oklahoma I sat at a stoplight for 11 counted minutes because a police car pulled up behind me 30~ seconds in. Finally the police officer got out and told me to just go through it. hahaha

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

I kept the windshield sticker from Grandma's funeral for that reason as well as for Buckethead performances.

[@Ulas_Aldag]

I also get nervous when a cop is behind me. It's so weird

[@TheRepublicOfJohn]

Does Okla. not have a provision in the traffic code that allows you to disregard traffic signals after a certain amount of time!?

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

@@TheRepublicOfJohn If there's no cop, no camera its legal.

[@moonlightning8269]

@@Ulas_Aldag because regardless of what anything says on paper, they have complete authority to make you do anything they want and if you resist they can murder you and make a fake story that the law will trust implicitly

[@AsbestosMuffins]

watching clips of her, she was a goddamn eugenicists and embraced by far too many people who knew better especially when we're talking about this being the 1930s, 40s, and 50s

[@samsargent284]

I wonder if the Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout New Vegas is meant to be an intentional reference to Atlas Shrugged. The way Rand describes the Men of the Mind maps perfectly on to how the Brotherhood think of themselves. Their headquarters is Hidden Valley and their Head Scribe is named Head Scribe Taggart

[@thenoblepoptart]

I wouldn’t be surprised if there is an intentional connection. They are elitist in the same way, but are mostly a quasi-religious military organization. Most of their doctrine is about surviving in a post nuclear hellscape, there’s much less pretense involved than most Randian bullshit.

[@hyhena-gaming9986]

May be possible

[@TheSolarWolf]

Considering the setting of Fallout and it’s themes, I wouldn’t be the least surprised.

[@crazymike7883]

I'm pretty sure that was actually stated in an interview with someone from Obsidian..

[@rileyernst9086]

No. The BOS are the descendants of soldiers. They did not leave civilisation to make a utopia. They did their job got betrayed emerged from their bunkers to find the apocalypse and decided to make sure the apocalyptise could not happen again.

[@icook1723]

I think it is in the second or third chapter, where Rearden metal is being examined by the science commission. And they (the scientist) ask to have a detailed description on how the metal was made. Rearden refuse to provide, feeling insulted, saying that they can test the metal and see it is superiors. As a young grad student, I can rember thinking, "Hey, thats peer review. That's how science works, show your methods with sufficient detail so other could repeat it. That is why you file a provisional patent, so that you can describe your methods freely." I am pharamcologiest who works in drug development, if a reviewer wants the methods for synthesis for a compound, they get the methods. They were almost certainty provided, but if they need details expanded, we expand the details.

[@Red-in-Green]

BUT MAN SHOULD NOT BE SUBJECT TO PEER REVIEW!!!! I’M RIGHT BECAUSE IT OBVIOUS AND IF YOU CANT SEE THAT YOU’RE STUPID. No Reardon. We just need to make sure you didn’t put Arsenic in it or something. And if you insist on being secretive, we’re just going to assume you did.

[@johnjones8850]

This is Ayn Rand's holy mystical, "Great Man," economy where all of the greatest inventions are made by a few great men, prime movers who don't need peer review.

[@icook1723]

@Brandon Tran not Ayn Rand. Liberarians are not a monolith, and Rand is notable for her support of patents.

[@dumpsockpuppet5619]

@Brandon Tran from what i've seen they tend to have doublethink about it, on one side when its their creation they want an absolute monopoly over it, to be the only ones benefiting, and if anyone else does, they are a leech and a parasite mooching off their success; and on the other hand when dealing with other's creation they are like "it's the free market, patents are goverment intervention and censorship, it's not our fault you can't cpete" etc, etc...

[@dumpsockpuppet5619]

@Brandon Tran oh ,no, they do have a pretty consistent ideology "First Me, then I, and finally myself" and everything else is just using whatever means to achieve that goal.

[@RequiemNocturne1]

“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” - Dorothy Parker on Atlas Shrugged

[@timothymclean]

But only if you're conscious of what you're throwing it _towards._ One thousand sixty-nine pages can do a lot of damage-you don't want to waste that chance.

[@RequiemNocturne1]

@@timothymclean I used to own a copy of Atlas Shrugged. I feel like the amount of trees killed in order to make copies of that book is an atrocity.

[@Kehwanna]

@@RequiemNocturne1 Fortunately you can PDF everything now.

[@RequiemNocturne1]

@@Kehwanna The only thing I PDF these days is guitar tabs.

[@metroplexprime9901]

@@Kehwanna Hell, it seems like a waste of drive space.

[@avery4149]

I studied this extensively in college, and it took my professor half a semester to help us understand how today's economy came to be. So thanks for the revision and summary of the stuff that I have learnt.

[@13Luk6iul]

„This is fiction“ was the same thought i had when reading the fountainhead. Rand is really good in arguing against political opinions, she has made up herself.

[@stephanklein257]

Watch out for strawmen - these suckers are everywhere ! ;-)

[@lights473]

But she wasn't making political opinions. She was explaining her ethics and her metaphysics.

[@robertromero8692]

The Fountainhead is obviously a work of fiction. Saying so completely misses the point.

[@13Luk6iul]

@@robertromero8692 i don‘t thinknit misses the point. Indeed I find it important to be aware, that her versions of socialism, welfare, egotism, egoism and poor people are fictional. So are her characters, that portray these characteristics. This is especially important, when she condemms some characters, who have these traits.

[@robertromero8692]

@@13Luk6iul Saying "fictional characters are fictional" is like saying "a cold place is cold". It's a meaningless tautology.

[@Trewwert12]

JJ is the only Canadian I've ever heard say "aboot" unironically

[@CocoHutzpah]

Clearly, you do not watch hockey postgame shows

[@MartyFox]

I always thought aboot was a stereotype and they actually said aboat

[@shotelco]

What are you talking ah'boot? It's ooh'boot , not Aye-boot.

[@larllarfleton]

Okay, this is something that's always bugged me, but J.J. is faking his accent. I'm Canadian, and also a linguistics major and he pronounces things completely wrong. To put it simply, Canadians do make a kind of /oo/ sound when they say about, out or house. But we also say the usual /ow/ in words like around, cow, or surround J.J., on the other hand, says the /oo/ sound for literally all of them. He says aroond instead of around, and if you actually listen to a Canadian with an authentic accent, they never say aroond, they pronounce around just like your average American would. This literally drives me up a wall. Go listen to Jordan Peterson, the Trailer Park boys, or Steven Ogg if you want to hear legit Canadian accents. Then compare to J.J. and you'll see what I mean.

[@G5rry]

​@@larllarfleton I agree. I am Canadian and have never heard anyone speak like JJ was speaking in this video. I thought I might have found the one "Canadian" who speaks in the stereo-typical way, but apparently he was faking the accent too.

[@sciencoking]

Me 10 minutes in: Why is everyone talking about crossovers? Me 30 minutes in: Oh my god

[@hendrsb33]

When I was still in school, ATLAS SHRUGGED was a compelling title. Made me want to read it. But once I found out more about Ayn Rand, I couldn't bring myself to touch that book.

[@revan7383]

I think the title is the best thing about the book lol

[@mousesteam7882]

​@@revan7383It's a great name for an apocalypse series.

[@RextheRebel]

You should still read it. Simply because it gives you a better insight into your enemy. As they say, know your enemy.

[@perotekku]

​@@RextheRebelI stand by that, to an extent. For example, I thoroughly detest Charles De Gaulle, yet I read his biography to better understand his motivations. However, I can't bring myself to read "Atlas Shrugged", or works such as "Mein Kampf". Outright delusional ramblings, I feel, only drag the mind down.

[@MrRaulstrnad]

you have a point but...telling someone to read it...more easily said than done, it really is a godawful book, at times you have to wonder if the author is the victim of undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenia this theory would explain a lot of things but really just the novel itself is the absolute lowpoint of literature @@RextheRebel

[@maxmazza2987]

"Were things always like this?" History: "Yesn't."

[@chinesesparrows]

So... *actually* make america great again?

[@tristenarctician6910]

Nos

[@TheAnalyticalEngine]

Well yes, but actually no

[@choiettech]

It kinda feels like that concept of things are actually older than they are, like hand portable cameras or sunglasses

[@genieglasslamp5028]

@@chinesesparrows See but things were wayyyy worse before.

[@bugfighter5949]

Who names their philosophy something like objectivism ? Oh yeah, my new philosophy ? It's called "smart chad thinking".

[@funnycat9962]

Oh, what, you don’t believe in powerful brain juice? Kinda cringe.

[@brutusthebear9050]

Because it's based on Objective reality?

[@briantime3762]

@@brutusthebear9050 yeah but its based on her view of objective reality which as the video explains A isn't objective and B nhst her opinion

[@franciscoflamenco]

@@brutusthebear9050 Point is that her "objective" reality is, obviously, subjective.

[@corymoon2439]

I for one have founded the new ideology Chadism, contrasted by the Virgins

[@Corporis]

This has to be the most ambitious character crossover in the Better Cinematic Universe

[@whiteorchid5412]

From my observation a consistent defect I've found in conservative and libertarian ideology is that they frame almost every issue in terms of a false binary choice based on extremes. For example either you believe in and support the primacy of individual over society or you believe that the best interest of the society exceeds the primacy of the individual and that is strictly an either/or proposition. When the reality is both things are equally important. Therefore a balance has to be found between the two.

[@KarlSnarks]

Funny how many left-libertarian ideologies on the other hand look at those things the exact opposite, that the freedom of the individual is inseparable from the level of egalitarianism and solidarity of the community and vise versa. So not just that they're both important, but that one can necessarily not function without the other.

[@MrMarinus18]

I think that's a false "centrist" perspective. Of course individual choice matters and it's not something either ideologies disagree on. What matters is when the two come into conflict. What should matter: The individual rights of the elite or the collective right of the larger majority?

[@mssouth1964]

Where's the balance when I have to pay property taxes on my home when I got a bonus at my job at the end of the year the government took 50 percent taxes on that bonus .if you have to pay property taxes you dont own that property

[@MrRaulstrnad]

but everyone has to pay taxes and you can always sell the house so yes you own it @@mssouth1964

[@Breakalegs27]

"I've been an adult for a while now..." "Yes I did, it's one thousand sixty nine pages, nice..."

[@ooshwiggity]

"In 1492 Columbus gave us a day off schoo'."

[@millermbe]

Nice

[@aradicalkiwi806]

“One gratifying aspect of our rise to some prominence is that, for the first time in my memory, we, ‘our side,’ had captured a crucial word from the enemy . . . ‘Libertarians’ . . . had long been simply a polite word for left-wing anarchists, that is for anti-private property anarchists, either of the communist or syndicalist variety. But now we had taken it over...” - Murray Rothbard, one of the first American Right Libertarians, and thought leader of Anarcho Capitalism, describing how the American Right purposefully stole the word libertarian from leftists, and redefined it to mean frankly, it's opposite.

[@michaelbuffamante3991]

And now people like KB are for some reason redefining libertarianism as Ronnie Reagan, Art Laffer, etc. At least left anarchists and ancaps are all welcome in the Libertarian Party (in spite of our endless arguments). Why they're equating those guys with Liberty is beyond me.

[@lukeanderson439]

@@michaelbuffamante3991 Wasn't it made up in the first place? They just called themselves something, failed a lot, and it was rebranded a few times until it failed some more and neo-conservatism cherry picked the wedge issues out of it and began dismantling American democracy?

[@thewilson452]

​@@lukeanderson439 Yeah, it is kinda weird how neo-cons identify as libertarian while the libertarian party is much more less hands on when it comes to domestic and foreign intervention. I think it may be related to the tea party wave, but I guess that is open to interpretation. Most neo-cons disagree greatly with most of what the current lp platform is, the only things that is similar is maybe fiscal conservatism, but idk the whole deal honestly. (i have no political party affiliation, but a political observer btw)

[@meekrob29]

To be fair, social democrats took the term "liberal" from it's roots in private property, free markets, free trade, and peace into the mixed economy, military interventionist meaning it has now. We merely started using another word that meant "believer in liberty" instead of the previous one.

[@sterd1149]

@@meekrob29 Eh, Liberalism has never been a pacifistic ideology though. I mean, look at the French and American revolutions. Peace was never an option against the monarchists and tyrants.

[@JohnJohnson-jr6hp]

The more I hear about Atlas Shrugged, the more I question why my AP Environmental Science teacher liked it

[@evanholt1752]

Because, “Let’s do something about climate change!” is way harder and more complicated than “Fuck you, got mine, let’s set the planet on fire and sell its charred corpse!”

[@adammazeli]

Because if everyone is selfish and willing to use government forces to advances their own selfishness the issue of climate change will be resolved much more easily than right now. The reason for us to mitigate the effect of climate change is purely for our own selfish desire. Which is ok cause climate change can destroy our way of life

[@truedarklander]

@@adammazeli yeah and Jonh cena is actually invisible

[@madsgrams2069]

@@adammazeli Yes...even though 90% of people that like Rand's BS are also rampant climate change deniers... Yeah...what you said is "TOTALLY true" :))

[@adammazeli]

@@madsgrams2069 yeah cause many people are gullible idiots that follow pseudoscience in opposition against established science against their own interests.

[@بِلَادٱلرَّافِدَيْنبِلَادٱلرَّ]

Ayn Rand and Ronald Reagan prove that human beings can live without a heart or a brain.

[@jeffreygao3956]

Maybe not; They at least had some good ideas.

[@AugustoSoehartoPrimoDeRivera]

​@@jeffreygao3956Or they never had. The impact we have now, can be traced back to his era, just as those of brits' can be traced back to thatcher's (UK's reagan, while we were having reagan, Lol)

[@jeffreygao3956]

@@AugustoSoehartoPrimoDeRivera At least Raegan did negotiate peace with the Soviet Union and Rand stood up for abortion rights and opposed organized religion.

[@ccv1929]

​@@jeffreygao3956"Peace" while funding muslim extremists in Pakistan and given them missile launchers to invade a former Soviet ally (Afghanistan). Search up operation cyclone.

[@azlanadil3646]

@@jeffreygao3956 Yeah, and H@tler supported animal rights. It’s actually very hard to go your entire life without eventually having at least one good idea.

[@Tehstampede]

"The government isn't this incompetent and corrupt." US Govt: Are you challenging me?

[@JackgarPrime]

Mostly because a lot of people who like her philosophies hold monstrous amounts of power. Self fulfilling prophecy.

[@greenbrickbox3392]

@@JackgarPrime yeah, those people become politicians to sabotage the government so that it works poorly so they can justify "starvung the beast" and giving private entities more power.

[@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan]

Always has been

[@ShnoogleMan]

Usually how it works is that the same people who call for "small government" because the government can be corrupted are the ones who are corrupting the government with their "small government" policies.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

@@ShnoogleMan Almost everyone on the left and right is an obvious big government statist. Who the fuck are you voting for?

[@GoErikTheRed]

Everyone: Avengers Endgame is the biggest crossover event in history. This video: Hold my shoe

[@jcorbo7518]

you win!

[@SeruraRenge11]

"I have always found it quaint and rather touching that there is a movement [Libertarians] in the US that thinks Americans are not yet selfish enough." ~ Christopher Hitchens

[@khalfrankisatool1162]

@@thetravelingmerchant1 They don't know the difference between selfishness and freedom

[@lordj3793]

Lol people who think any sacrifice for the greater good is oppression are hiding their selfishness with fancy words.

[@khalfrankisatool1162]

@@lordj3793 Any sacrifice made needs to be voluntary, otherwise it's coercion. And the same people forcing the coercion never have to sacrifice, and always gets championed for campaigning on stealing more from people.

[@lordj3793]

@@khalfrankisatool1162 nope that’s not how it works if some people don’t wanna pay taxes they shouldn’t have to how is that gonna work huh ??? Vague statements.

[@khalfrankisatool1162]

@@lordj3793 I never said no taxes. But the level of taxation we experience, the double dipping (triple, quadruple, sometimes pentuple dipping) we experience by the government is ludicrous and has only been around for less than century

[@w8ting4fri]

As someone who grew up in an objectivist household and hasn’t thought about this stuff in 10+ years, it’s wild to go back through all of this lol

[@KarlSnarks]

What was the experience growing up in such a household?

[@w8ting4fri]

@@KarlSnarks interesting

[@KarlSnarks]

@@w8ting4fri In a good or bad way, or a bit of both?

[@w8ting4fri]

@@KarlSnarks both.

[@DumDumHistory]

The more I hear about Ayn Rand, the more I'm convinced that she had a seriously warped and fragmented mind. She even based her first hero off a child killer that she interviewed in the 1920s. While it's true that Gore Vidal and other writers have written positive things about murderers before, what's so disturbing is that she admired his sheer psychopathy - she wrote that he had "no regard whatsoever for all that society holds sacred, and with a consciousness all his own. He has the true, innate psychology of a Superman. He can never realize and feel 'other people.'" Simultaneously, she lamented that he was a "degenerate" and a "purposeless monster", apparently without understanding that his "degeneracy" was inextricably linked with those qualities she wrote so glowingly about. The way I see it, the story of Ayn Rand is essentially the story of the death of old-style Conservatism - God, charity and consensus and all that - and it's replacement by something fundamentally rotten. You can't have a functioning society if you try to shape it according to the teachings of a woman who denied that society even existed.

[@everlastingdragon4520]

I'm not sure if Rand ever learned that in order to have a functioning society, or to even be a good person, you kind of NEED the ability to care for others outside of what material benefits they provide you.

[@seelcudoom1]

for someone who supposedly loved people thinking for themselves she sure seemed to love demanding everyone listen to her and take her word as law

[@FelipeGonzalez-le5jv]

Yeah, I agree.

[@jasonarmstrong5750]

She exhibits many traits of the typical sociopath

[@sybo59]

Except that wasn’t true.

[@ArkadiBolschek]

@@jasonarmstrong5750 Wow, so thinking that there's no such thing as society makes you a sociopath now? Then I guess Margaret Thatcher would also be a sociopathy according to you, right? ;)

[@erdfs6303]

@@ArkadiBolschek I don’t think that’s what they are talking about

[@inigo137]

this one is gonna be a spicy one folks, get ready!

[@justfrankjustdank2538]

:)

[@Unsensitive]

🍿

[@jameswood3936]

Here we gooooooo

[@Unsensitive]

@Spicyleaves 🍿 🍿🍿🍿

[@ethanblume4864]

Fear.jpeg

[@The2012Aceman]

"There has never been a truly communist country..." -typing- "...or a Capitalist one, for that matter." And that's why I like you.

[@zac5572]

This is a fundamentally misunderstanding what capitalism is, it’s simply the current system which what was given the term capitalism by Marx and other economists of his time

[@zac5572]

The initial use of the term "capitalism" in its modern sense is attributed to Louis Blanc in 1850 ("What I call 'capitalism' that is to say the appropriation of capital by some to the exclusion of others")

[@The2012Aceman]

@@zac5572 That sort of removes Adam Smith's role as the "founder" of Capitalism and Economics.

[@aaronjulien7331]

"If the background light is orange, I'm playing a character. Their views do not reflect my own and I refute their stances in their original videos." I was too busy paying attention the the KB cast to ever notice the light

[@jasonbelstone3427]

Instructions unclear. Smoking is good now.

[@zackschilling4376]

Ayn Rands depiction of Russians/Soviet Union sounds almost exactly like how the Soviet Union described Americans and the US system of Capitalism.

[@jalexoneschanel1356]

Both are mostly infactual propoganda

[@luquetmora1810]

Jasjjs maybe she learned from them

[@Tespri]

@@jalexoneschanel1356 Only soviet view. They were notorious over propaganda and lying to their people. This is why it got destroyed the moment iron curtain fell off and people could see the truth. Even the poor in the west had it better than middle-class in soviets.

[@stevepowsinger733]

I read a philosopher who points out the peculiar similarities of Rand’s narrative to soviet ideology.

[@Tespri]

@@stevepowsinger733 Most philosophers in history of this planet were full of shit.

[@Dontreadthis0]

that one quote by john rogers seems quite applicable to this whole video. "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"

[@Magnulus76]

Funny but true.

[@jeffreygao3956]

*kisses John Rogers*

[@noizeemama3697]

As an older Gen X'er, we were left out of everything. Our music (few movie sound tracks with real rock n roll and it was not played on muzak at stores), clothing (we are required to dress like our children or grandmothers), politics, and so much more. It's our fault (by being complacent) that the world it is the way it is now. We just sat quietly instead of continuing to fight for our rights. I truly am sorry about that Millennials.

[@mnxt2329]

What u talking about, you guys had some of the best music and pretty cool fashion

[@noizeemama3697]

@@mnxt2329 What I'm saying is that our music wasn't used for movie soundtracks during our youth. Once our clothes were out of style we were expected to dress like our children or our parents. For the most part this is still true.

[@mnxt2329]

@@noizeemama3697 shit that sucks, but at least the music from your youth wasnt Britney Spears and Limp Bizkit. Dont really remember many classic movies made thru the 2000's either😭

[@noizeemama3697]

@@mnxt2329 I had kids that listened to that shit so I had to suffer through it anyway. LOL Thank you for loving good music!

[@mnxt2329]

@@noizeemama3697 😂😂😂😂😭😭😭

[@bigpapa8225]

I love how without Soviet education Ayn Rand would be nothing.

[@erdfs6303]

Damn commies ruining America

[@eccentriastes6273]

So what? If someone is educated by a totalitarian regime, they shouldn't oppose it?

[@bigpapa8225]

@@eccentriastes6273 no I was just pointing out the irony and lack of self awareness. She was Jewish woman. The bolsheviks (although anti-Semitic) put an end to pogroms and allowed women to get education for free. This was far better than the empire. She should have recognized that you can oppose totalitarianism while also acknowledging elements were good and should be improved upon.

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

She started with Soviet education, and ended up using American social care. That's rather ironic for the 'mother of libertarian capitalism'.

[@felisasininus1784]

@@eccentriastes6273 I hope you realize that America is in fact an authoritarian oligarchy.

[@chancerobinson5112]

My favorite “Ayn Rand” quote: “I actually think very little of Ronald Reagan. The more I see him, the less I think of him.”

[@36inc]

While I dont believe everything she stood for- I do feel shes a hero to me. they scoffed at her ideas so she scoffed back, she was willing to be radical and they cherry picked her ideology when she was ultimately right. the neo-liberals must be defeated and we need to double down on the spirit of freedom and holding people to higher standards both morally and merit. the one thing I cant agree on is her more black and white view of success, the poor are poor because the liberals made them so, and so did the collective corporations. and if morality cannot always be swayed by policy than we merely need to recognize our power both as a unit and as individuals. the flaw in every system is the ignorance and fallibility of man, or baises corrupt us botrh in collective and individual power, so its responsibility we must turn to, not altruism . but rather transhumanism.

[@36inc]

@@xunqianbaidu6917 what exactly are you asking?

[@ethan4896]

@@36inc Someone doesn’t understand the term “neoliberalism”

[@36inc]

@@ethan4896 i dont think im in the minority saying the likes of reagan should be defeated.

[@jpe1]

@@36inc “Maxim 29: The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. No more. No less.” From The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries by Howard Tayler Just because Rand despised Regan, and Regan was a despicable person, doesn’t mean Rand was necessarily right about anything else.

[@terminallyonline5296]

I like the Mormon Elder character standing up for his principles by being anti-smoking.

[@scottwill19]

The biggest red flag of Ayn Rand’s philosophy is that she had the nerve to call it “Objectivism”. Since when is a mediocre fiction writer the authority on what is objective in the world?

[@rtmordecai1]

“Greenspan, of ‘there is no housing bubble’ fame?” “Yeah, that Greenspan.” “Oof.”

[@lucyann1573]

You have no excuse to be poor. Jusy use your home's equity as your own personal piggy bank. What could possible go wrong?

[@JK-gu3tl]

Paul Krugman advocated for a housing bubble in the wake of the tech market crash.

[@the0ne809]

He apologized in a congressional hearing after 2008 crash. He was almost a semi God in the 90s and early 2000s.

[@lucyann1573]

@@the0ne809 Oh I know. I'm old I was here for all of this lol

[@the0ne809]

@@lucyann1573 i lose my mind every time i see people like Larry Summers on tv saying that nobody needs 2k and that would overheat the economy. He was partly responsible of why the 2008 recovery took longer than it was supposed to. They are old and rich. Why don't they just retire and disappear? Enjoy the money and go away. Lol

[@ReikuYin]

Jeezus... That second half... The mingling of basically everything he's talked about, which seemingly felt random. Man... Well done.

[@paradactyl3729]

Ahh...social darwinism: the divine right of kings cross dressing as science. Edit: girls, stop fighting. You're all pretty.

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

Funnily that was how Medieval and Ancient society was run for the most part, on who had the bigger armies it was only later did the idea of a bloodline became more important than the army. (this was because Europe centralized in the Late Middle and Early Modern Period.)

[@josephburchanowski4636]

@@forickgrimaldus8301 It isn't surprising that the bloodline thing came about. Easier to maintain stable corruption if you know who the next ruler is. The youtube video "Death & Dynasties" by CGP Grey does a brief explanation of it.

[@Tespri]

Cross dressing as science? It literally is science based on our understanding of biology.

[@paradactyl3729]

@@Tespri Just go play with your phlogistons and lumeniferous ethers in the bell curve sweety.

[@Tespri]

​@@paradactyl3729 Set of questions for you: 1. Are all humans equally talented? 2. If you live in meritocratic society, are the ones in the top those with most merit or are the ones in the top with least amount of talent in the society? As someone who has actually witnessed poverty and grew up in slums... I know better than upper-middle class kid like yourself. Most people in poor areas even in countries with high social security and welfare payment... Are literally people with IQ less than 100. People with vile intentions and low cognitive abilities. People with mental disorders which makes them incapable to be around with. Sorry to break this to you... But we aren't blank slates. Just like with animal kingdom, humans work in same manner. Leader of the group is never the weakest member of the group.

[@cryo311]

the problem with the atlas metaphor is that rand has it completely backwards. if anyone’s “bearing the weight of the sky”, it’s not capitalists, it’s workers, a pyramid topples without its base. THAT’S LITERALLY THE IDEA BEHIND A STRIKE

[@johnnynick6179]

It is YOU that has it backwards. The industrialists, entrepreneurs, business owners and risk-takers are the people feeding and housing and clothing you and keeping YOU alive. Workers are fungible. They do ONLY what they are told and taught to do by those industrious and energetic enough to provide them with the tools necessary to accomplish the tasks assigned. When one worker drops out there is another waiting to take his place.

[@maksimfedoryak]

​@@johnnynick6179without slaves from Asia and Africa i doubt ability of "energetic people" to "feed and clothe" workers in modern western world 🌝

[@MarkelMathurin]

​@@johnnynick6179no, it is the workers who maintain the economy. Industrials, entrepreneurs and risk takers are all at the mercy of the populace

[@johnnynick6179]

@@maksimfedoryak _"without slaves from Asia and Africa i doubt ability of "energetic people" to "feed and clothe" workers in modern western world"_ What a preposterous proposition. Slavery ended in the US over 150 years ago. How have we been feeding and clothing people since then? You people just keep getting dumber.

[@johnnynick6179]

@@MarkelMathurin _"no, it is the workers who maintain the economy. Industrials, entrepreneurs and risk takers are all at the mercy of the populace"_ Another ridiculous comment. Take 100 average workers. Give them free access to an empty building and leave them alone to manufacture a pencil.... a simple pencil. In a year, come back and see what they have accomplished. The vast majority of workers are mindless robots - incapable of doing anything except what they have been PROGRAMMED to do. They are taught to do a specific task. They don't bother to think. That is the job of the PRODUCER.... the INDUSTRIALIST... the ENTREPENEUR...the ENGINEER..... the ARCHITECT... the men of the MIND. YOU - the men of the MOB - the ones who disdain the producers - who complain about the industrialists - who rebel against the entrepreneurs - YOU are the tools of the very people you despise - the corporatists - those who have no actual ability except to convince government bureaucrats to pass laws that favor themselves. YOU have allowed THEM power over you. Yes - people are getting dumber every day.

[@morganhunt8051]

“Candidates were chosen by party insiders” man, sure is good they don’t do that anymore... wait

[@maximilianbeyer5642]

Non-American here, how is that? Don’t you have primary elections?

[@morganhunt8051]

@@maximilianbeyer5642 we do but party influence can ultimately undermine that, Bernie Sanders was the most popular candidate in the primaries until top Democratic Party members stepped in to really push for Biden and secured him the nomination

[@userJohnSmith]

@@morganhunt8051 Among millennials, yes. Not in any other demo though. He is also unelectable.

[@userJohnSmith]

Yeah they really don't. Trump and Sanders's prominence kind of process that. The establishments hate both.

[@morganhunt8051]

@@userJohnSmith Bernie’s only unelectable because the establishment won’t let him be.

[@BoisegangGaming]

The idea that any sort of "f*ck you got mine" philosophy could improve society is hilariously laughable because that goes against the very point of communities and societies. And we had something like that before. It's called "the status quo".

[@canadianmale7610]

I've been reading The Fountainhead, and I don't see how the message you got was "fuck you I got mine". She seems to write archetypical characters, but the only ones that are greedy don't end up fulfilled.

[@BazzBrother]

@valcaron good thing you didnt criticize the actual video of the man who read it and still calls it BS, because youd have to pull whatever else trumplican mental gymnastic out of your butt to keep your garbage delusion alive.

[@haceofspades7682]

@@canadianmale7610 But the video is very focused on Atlas Shrugged, which seems to very heavily have that message?

[@drumraider]

@@haceofspades7682 @Hace Of Spades The book is a tome, it's 1,000+ pages long. Like a netflix drama that has 10 seasons, it has no one, single "message" One primary theme of the book is the ease of government theft via collectivist thinking, when it merges with defeatist attitudes towards the contemporary economy and its future. None of the book's main characters seem have a "f*ck you" sense to society, they aren't trying to stop other businessmen from running their operations. They dont look down on people in lower jobs, they respect and admire when other jobs are done well because they recognize the other person's own individual craftsmanship into theur occupation be it building engines, making a burger, seeming a dress, whatever. There's various scenes of this in the book. The main characters are only rrally stubborn to the government and other parasitic humans, who are incessantly impeding their own ability to operate. The realism of this struggle is up for debate, but you read a different book if you got "f*ck you, got mine" from its themes.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

I just see it always ending in feudalism, which did so much harm to humanity, where individuals wielded massive power to fulfill their petty needs, constantly destroying civilization because they believed some land on a chart was theirs

[@loganiushere]

So _this_ is where the Ferengi come from... I'm reminded of how Nog said that "It took Hu-mans 5000 years to go from a simple barter system to an interstellar federation. It took [the Ferengi] twice as long..."

[@BazzBrother]

I also remember Quark saying "We never degraded ourselves to enslave others" when Piccards crew was literally enslaved to work mines by ferengi.

[@thebighurt2495]

@@BazzBrother Early Installment Weirdness in action

[@murraymadness4674]

Now I also get the John Galt references.

[@1SaG]

I think Jon Oliver put it best a few years ago: Ayn Rand and her "philosophy" are something you're supposed to grow out of after puberty. Like hand-jobs. On a side note: The more I learn about Ayn Rand in general and Atlas Shrugged in particular, the more I think I really should've read that book (or at least a Cliff-Notes summary) before I ever played Bioshock.

[@YamiFlyZX]

'No one can be a fully consistent individualist who disagrees with Ayn Rand' you can really tell she grew up in Russia

[@chameleonh]

It's funny how they're supposedly "trying to save America from communists", but end up doing their dirty work.

[@1mag1nat1vename]

It was great how he distinguished objectivism from Libertarianism. That really helps my favorite ideology's image.

[@nomad5544]

I get a kick out of that line. "The only way you can be *individualist* is to completely parrot and agree with the positions of our idol." The irony is palpable.

[@loaf6700]

"Second hand smoke is a myth" I say as a pregnant woman coughs in the crowded elevator I smoked an entire pack in before reaching the 3rd floor.

[@Miss_Darko]

One of the things that gets me about the whole 'I will never live or sacrifice myself for the sake of another man' thing is how that couples with the disdain for the 'parasites' that comprise the lower rungs of society. Let's say they really are just naturally less gifted and destined for mediocrity, in a society operating under objectivist philosophy they would be pretty much screwed. A lifetime of poverty and hard, humiliating labor is all that's in store for them, if not outright homelessness and starvation, because wealth will become increasingly concentrated to the few special, powerful individuals who run everything, and they won't intervene for their sake. But... if the working class and the destitute fight for some form of wealth distribution, aren't they essentially acting in their own rational self-interest? Nobody wants to live in poverty, yet they are simply just naturally not 'ubermensch' enough to become owners, so the only option to avoid that fate is to take from the rich, either by force or pushing for certain policies and regulations. Simply submitting to the system and allowing things to carry on so that the rich can keep getting richer is... sacrificing themselves for the sake of other men. That's supposed to be bad, but if they did act in their own rational self interest, that makes them looters mooching off the 'men of action'. This worldview is inherently contradictory. Basically, the only real message here is "get fucked, poors", because there's no room for them in objectivist philosophy. You can't even really pretend that it's about anything other than framing fucking over the poors as morally just.

[@highjumpstudios2384]

Yeah but if ayn rands worldview isn't true then how will I justify my next super yacht?

[@pt8306]

Welfare is predominantly to the benefit of the rich, because it means the poor can be kept poor, but not poor enough to revolt or steal, so they will leave the rich alone.

[@gabemerritt3139]

I feel like they just expect the poor to die out over generations, not realizing that poorer people have more children that will also be disadvantaged and have no opportunity to contribute to society.

[@CitrianSnailBY]

PRECISELY.

[@nicolarivarossa4027]

wow so much idiocy in this comment

[@NickGuy0320]

The fact that this video started with a girl born into a rich family makes everything else just fall into place. I never knew ayns origins, all her stupid selfish ideas make so much more sense now

[@jakeherald6932]

I love that Ayn Rand was like the Collective is in no way a cult, all you gotta do is believe I'm the greatest human being to have ever existed and my word is law. Yeah no ma'am that sounds like a cult

[@benjaminprewitt4281]

I say this honestly, Anthem is not a good book and it really shouldn’t be mandatory reading in high school.

[@unluckyone1655]

It is a short book, but gods does it feel longer than it is

[@KoreaMojo]

It's propaganda supporting the status quo, that's why some people have to read that. Thankfully coming from an underfunded "urban" school, they never even bother with that type of propaganda with us.

[@MiguelThinks]

This was honestly the first I ever heard of the book being MANDATORY. Seriously? Do schools even still require it..?

[@hagoryopi2101]

Anthem is a book which calls everything 1984 called, just a decade earlier. It's a pretty good book.

[@benjaminprewitt4281]

@@hagoryopi2101 Well to start of 1984 and Anthem aren’t alike really what so ever other then the fact that they’re both dystopia novels. George Orwell (a socialist) based many of his novels, including 1984, off of criticism on the Stalinist model. With his criticism of totalitarianism come quite clearly through the work as a whole. Anthem is not a critique as much as it is libertarian fan fiction.

[@zZGzHD]

19:30 "no one can by a good individualist if you don't follow the collective's dear leader" lmao

[@moonlightning8269]

Fits right in with her instantly dismissing any skepticism as the products of a lesser mind. Definitely a cult

[@Nerobyrne]

reminds me of that Emo song from early youtube. "I'm as non-conforming as can be, you can be non-conforming too if you look just like me!"

[@CaptainApathetic]

@@Nerobyrne or that scene from South Park where the goths tell stan "To be a nonconformist you have to dress like us, talk like us, and listen to the same music as us"

[@1st1anarkissed]

It's so weird how I read Ayn Rand vs how the world, and apparently she, meant it. I read her stuff as satire, like A Modest Proposal. I was a kid, read everything she ever wrote, and came out a social anarchist. With the idea that we are responsible to each other but may not try to force conformity. Because the worlds in her books were so awful. I really honestly thought she was a socio anarchist, not a liberalist. Just from reading her books!

[@MrRaulstrnad]

not only were her books totally unrealistic-one guy at the top leaves and the whole organization collapses (that happened many times in real world history and the result was that the underlings just took over like nothing happened), free energy machines (violates scientific laws) but her make believe world was a world of slaves and rape and devoid of children Rand was a very unbalanced individual