[SmartyBeardo]

If you like the God Delusion, which I did, try reading:

Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?
Edited by Preston Jones.

It's a discussion between a "Christian Libertarian" and a Phd of evolutionary biologu. Good back and forth

Thanks. I'll check it out.

[Snoop]

I love how Ayn Rand is somehow the basis for the neo conservative economic policy viewpoint, kind of ridiculous.

I mean I went into reading this book without knowing anything about Ayn Rand. All I know is that it's beginning to change my perspective, which I'm leery about.

[SmartyBeardo]

I mean I went into reading this book without knowing anything about Ayn Rand. All I know is that it's beginning to change my perspective, which I'm leery about.

Isn't that what books are all about? If the foundation of your education is sound then the evolution of your perspective can only be built upon it.

My problem with Rand's objectivism is not in its core Pursuit Of Happiness, but in its arrogant defense of Laissez Faire capitalism as the logical vehicle to realize it. It is a perspective that could only be conceived by the privileged and/or the ruthless psychopath.

You will never hear the clambering for laissez faire from a factory floor on the outskirts of Da Nang.

Rand is so wrapped up in her own Pursuit Of Happiness that she has no time to consider the same individual rights for those who have none.

Life (food + water + shelter + health care + education) + Liberty ( the rule of law + equal justice) = The Pursuit Of Happiness.

[Snoop]

Isn't that what books are all about? If the foundation of your education is sound then the evolution of your perspective can only be built upon it.

My problem with Rand's objectivism is not in its core Pursuit Of Happiness, but in its arrogant defense of Laissez Faire capitalism as the logical vehicle to realize it. It is a perspective that could only be conceived by the privileged and/or the ruthless psychopath.

You will never hear the clambering for laissez faire from a factory floor on the outskirts of Da Nang.

Rand is so wrapped up in her own Pursuit Of Happiness that she has no time to consider the same individual rights for those who have none.

Life (food + water + shelter + health care + education) + Liberty ( the rule of law + equal justice) = The Pursuit Of Happiness.

It is what books are about. But nobody should ever take the message of a book blindly, which I was unconsciously doing, and what I was feeling leery about. (I should have phrased it better)

[SmartyBeardo]

It is what books are about. But nobody should ever take the message of a book blindly, which I was unconsciously doing, and what I was feeling leery about. (I should have phrased it better)

And I wasn't belittling you, Snoop. I was only pointing out that the reason that you sensed the power of the message is because of the foundation of education.

The greatest danger to humanity is the rationing of education and knowledge.

[Snoop]

And I wasn't belittling you, Snoop. I was only pointing out that the reason that you sensed the power of the message is because of the foundation of education.

The greatest danger to humanity is the rationing of education and knowledge.

All good man. I didn't feel belittled, but what you say is true. Our respective realities are created by our experiences and how we're taught to interpret those experiences. Denying education and knowledge to a people is the easiest way to rule a society. Tricking people into voluntarily denying education and knowledge from themselves makes it even easier.

This post has been edited by Snoop: Oct 20 2010, 10:18 AM

[BrutalBodyShots]

I want to read "Basketball Diaries". I just saw the movie and loved it alot.

I still say that was Leo's best acting performance to date and he was just a kid.

[BigG]

I still say that was Leo's best acting performance to date and he was just a kid.

Agreed...my 2nd favorite is Shutter Island. But amn Leo played the depressed, druggie so well.

[Snoop]

I love how Ayn Rand is somehow the basis for the neo conservative economic policy viewpoint, kind of ridiculous.

And on page 578 of The Fountainhead, she finally drops in her economic perspective. Fucking crafty bitch.

[Warlord]

And on page 578 of The Fountainhead, she finally drops in her economic perspective. Fucking crafty bitch.

Well, to be fair, there aren't many authors who are able to write from a perspective contrary to their own. So I wouldn't exactly refer to Ayn Rand as a "crafty bitch." But then again, I've never actually made it through an Ayn Rand novel before, so what do I know?

If you guys want to read a good novel, I would recommend most of James Clavell's stuff. For those of you who don't know, Clavell was captured by the Japanese during World War II and sent to Changi, one of the worst prison camps in the world at that time.

After the war Clavell returned home a broken man, unemployed, spending most of his time at home on the couch in a hyper-depressed stupor. His wife finally threatened him with divorce if he didn't get up and do something with himself.

Clavell decided to write the novel King Rat, a thinly-veiled autobiographical account of his time in Changi Prison camp. This was actually the second novel I read by Clavell. And it is a novel that stayed with me for days after I finished it.

Clavell's other classic is Shogun, a novel that focuses on a shipwrecked crews experiences in Japan in 1600, most notably those of the ship's pilot, John Blackthorne. The novel is amazing, in that Clavell was able to write so beautifully and humanely of a nation that had imprisoned him just years earlier. Good stuff. These are 2 novels that I always buy as gifts for friends and family who've never read Clavell. And I've never heard from anyone yet that didn't fall in love with these books after reading them.