I don’t know where I read or heard this statement (as it is not my own), but when the economy/political state/world start to look bad, it seems a whole new generation finds their way to Atlas Shrugged and the sales for that book skyrocket.

And since this statement came before me, I have seen a ton of young adults (men and women) reading it on the subway. Mostly hipsters as well. Skinny jeans, big glasses, snarky 80’s reference/thrift store t-shirt, whacky 80’s accessory, even whackier shoes. I have yet to see some one in a suit or business casual dress reading it. Maybe because these folks are too busying working to sit down with that behemoth and read it.

A few disclaimers before I continue. First off, hipsters bug me in the HULK SMASH! primal way. The undeserved elitist/better then others attitude and stupid clothes do it for me. I cannot count how many times one of these freaks stands RIGHT IN MY WAY when I am trying to get of the subway. I make sure to throw a bit of an elbow each time, harder if I am in a particularly cranky mood.

Secondly, I have never read it myself. I thought about it, then went to Wikipedia to get the gist of it. I read about Rand and the book and decided it was not for me. I got the sense that it was an ENTIRE book of elitist/better than others attitude.

Thirdly, I find Objectivism to be a selfish and cruel joke on humanity. If you do not adhere to the idea that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one, then you do humanity as a whole no good. I am not saying that Socialism or Communism is the way to go, all I am saying is that the balls to the wall capitalism that Objectivism represents isn’t right either. In fact, there isn’t an ism out there that has been useful yet.

And finally, the kind of intellectuals in this book, that give up on society and go hide, are not the kind of intellectuals the world needs. And I am not one of those meatheads that thinks ALL intellectuals should go. The intellectuals the world needs are the ones that will continue to fight, continue to work, and continue to believe in humanity. No matter how many religious/populist/hateful nutjubs come at them. The MOMENT you stop fighting is the MOMENT you die. These elitist douche bags that up and decide that the world cannot survive without them and decide to go hide in a secret place until they can come back out and create an utopia for themselves are the kind of douche bags that can die in a fiery rollover. We don’t need you, you’re just dead weight to carry and you’ll be just as fucking worthless when things get fixed as you are now. Get a shovel and start digging or get the fuck off the worksite.

An Aside: The idea for this post has been in my head since yesterday, and even I had no idea it would come out with such teeth. 😉

Where was I? Oh yeah….

So anyway, when I see some one with the book I have the following thoughts in order:

• HAH! They’re reading Atlas Shrugged
• By the way they are dressed, damn hispster, I’m surprised they know about it
• They’re too young to be into that literature
• I bet they are reading it for a class
• I bet they are reading it because they’re hipster friends or hipster idol is or has mentioned it
• They probably have no idea what the point is, and see it like some sort of hipster status symbol, something to show off to prove their hipster cred, like skinny jeans.
• What a douche

This is just one of those things that the cynical side of me, the one closest to the surface right now, finds amusing.

Now, I’m not saying I am right to feel this way or that anyone else should feel this way either. In fact I can be wrong. I have been before, I will be again. I am man enough, and intellectual enough, to admit that.

I might decide to sit down with this book, read it in one sitting, have an epiphany, and save the fucking planet all by my lonesome. Or, I might listen to an Objectivist/Libertarian, have an epiphany, have my ‘Come to Jesus’ moment, become a card carrying member, and save the fucking planet.

But, more than likely, I’m right, and these folks are a waste of air. They can sit there and argue about it, but in the end they look like a bunch of emaciated stray dogs fighting over a piece of garbage; No matter who wins, they’re gonna end up getting hit by a car at some point and be dead on the side of the road.

If you want to read a bit of fiction in this uncertain times, read about the Gunslinger. The world could use more of them, that’s for sure.

This kinda shit pisses me off!

And NOT because they are on the verge of bankruptcy, no no no, it’s this statement that REALLY gets me:

The challenge is that all three parties negotiating with Chrysler will want to see terms of the other deals before they agree to their own deal. That’s because Fiat, banks and the unions will all likely end up owning a stake in the troubled automaker. The value of those stakes depend upon how much equity each party receives, and what Chrysler’s chances of avoiding bankruptcy are.

SERIOUSLY!!!

It’s like a man dying from exhaustion in the desert with the vultures circling overhead. He has to NEGOTIATE with his arms and legs to get them to continue forward, even though the chances of survival are unknown. HOWEVER, the arms don’t want to do anymore work than the legs and the same goes for the legs! Basically, because everyone now has a stake in the survival, they don’t want to do anymore work than anyone else. DO THESE MORONS EVEN SEE THE FUCKING VULTURES?!?!?!

If everyone sits around bickering about who is gonna do what and how they are going to be compensated, the vultures will have eaten their eyes out before they realize they are dead….

If one fails THEY ALL fail!

The government (and by proxy you and me) should have NEVER gotten involved with the auto makers. We should have let them fail. It would have been the slap in the face we, the mindless sheep that are the American populace, needed to get our lazy McDonald’s filled asses up and on the way towards recovery.

Instead we are allowing a SECOND administration to play fast and loose with our money.

In my opinion, the needs of the many (the American taxpayers) out weight the needs of the few (the auto workers and unions).

FUCK CHRYSLER! I hope they go bankrupt and get torn to pieces. Maybe once GMC and Ford sees what happens when you truly screw the pooch, they’ll stop pandering to the lowest fucking common denominator and start acting like responsible companies.

But i know better than that. Ten bucks says that come April 30th, some political wrangling will go down inside Congress and they’ll either get their money ‘with strict conditions’ (re: BULLSHIT) or they’ll be bailed out just because we ‘cannot let this American institution fail’ (re: BIGGER BULLSHIT).

I got the kinda change we need for those sleazy, old, corrupt bastards in government…IT’S RIGHT HERE!!

— from the Times Online

The anointed one’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action – and a blessing to all his faithful followers

Thanks Astatine for the link!