Another reason I hate Ayn Rand.....

[EgoDeath]

Ayn Rand ultimately made the stupid fucking argument that "greed was good".

Well, depending on how one views the word greed, and the connotations that come along with it, greed can be very ugly or quite amazing. If greed is "an insatiable longing for material gain," then many great people have been borne of greed. Without greed, or jealousy, would people strive to be better than the composer, or woodworker, or painter, or poet or warrior, in the next town over? I think greed can motivate people to strive for greatness, because they want more, they need more, they have to be better and accomplish more. If we look at greed in this way, greed can be pretty fucking awesome.

So, I agree, in that sense, that greed is good!

Where greed gets really ugly is when there are billionaires sitting on piles of cash; ofttimes billionaires who were born into money, and never really worked hard a day in their life (guys who were just taught by their parents and mentors alike to move money they inherited around in ways that allow them to never have to work), who have this hunger for more that will go on and on, even if they have to fuck over, directly or indirectly, lower to middle class people, or even rich people who are not as rich as them. That's when it gets to be fucked up.

As with anything, there's more than one side to the story. I think greed can cause talented people to strive for greatness, and it also can cause rich assholes to destroy the world around them in pursuit of being richer and more powerful.

However, given how much we benefit from the accomplishments of great women and men, I'd probably say I too think that greed is good. But it's quite a simplistic representation of an idea that can be quite complex, no?

We're taught today that "materialism" and "greed" are dirty words, but I suspect this thinking to be remnants of the religious. Nothing, in reality, is wrong with greed or materialism, but rather how they're used.

So, overall, greed is a good driving force in the world, but it can also be a very ugly thing. Both truths can exist.

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I don't have much else to say about what you wrote.

I own a copy of Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, by Ayn Rand, and I plan to buy Atlas Shrugged. I've read neither, but I've heard she writes quite well, whether you agree with her or not.

My initial reaction to her is that her views are quite, well, reactionary, but I do like some things she has to say. I suppose, though, that you can look at any character in human history, or, almost any character, and find one or two things they said that you like. That doesn't mean you have to embrace that person as a whole, nor does it mean that you promote their entire body of work; it means simply that you like some things that they said.

So, given the context I laid out, sure, greed is good. Like I said though, that's quite a simplistic, dumbed down version of how I think of the issue.

But as with everything else Brian, you're so damn excited about all of this! Don't get yourself so worked up dude. I still think you need to go on a date. I can hook you up man.