Stossel On Atlas Shrugged Part 1

[dsgmr]

I love how it shows that college kid shaking his head, while the banker says that he thinks that the real source of all human progress is the human mind. you know he did not hear one word of that sentence.

[dsgmr]

man it is great to hear a banker with a mind such as his, and I also wanted to say just so I don't forget, he is right in; how could we possibly expect an exceptional education system when all institutions of education are funded and built by a single provider. I mean yes education for all is such an important ideal, but when government is the provider we can't help but think that that the goal of producing dutiful workers will permeate into everything that education should represent

[JeriDro]

Im glad fox has SOME intelligent people (stossel & the judge)

[octave74]

The flouride in the drinking water blinds your pineal gland or third eye. This is why people don't see what is going on.

[god0fgod]

If this banker is totally honest then the banking system would clearly be much better with more like him.

[sc0pl355]

A banker talking about freedom. Wow.

Well Mr. Banker, I won't pay you back that money I borrowed. It doesn't benefit me in the slightest.

[olhsaoagpaigfbp]

@sc0pl355 Oh it does benefit you because if you and the rest of the customers return the money bank can continue to sell loans to people,if to many people don't return the money the cost of loans would go up and when it's no longer profitable there would be no more loans,and you need loans especially small businesses,everyone would be much poorer without loans.

[sc0pl355]

@olhsaoagpaigfbp What if I don't intend to borrow money from them ever again?

I haven't borrowed a dime in over ten years.

"everyone would be much poorer without loans"

No, they wouldn't. Credit and borrowing money from banks is making people poorer. It is much better to save up the funds to do whatever.

[olhsaoagpaigfbp]

@sc0pl355 Lets say you run a small businesses,a dealer for a bigger company that makes some machines,you have steady sales but one day a client orders a large amount of machines,you have no money to pay the machine company and they require you to pay immediately for the order and client wants them as soon as possible or he goes elsewhere,you can save up to get the money to pay but it would take you 2 years or you can get a loan and pay them and return loan in a week when client pays you.

[foamulator]

elsquibbs- I agree with you .

The first gent. does what all the libs do: Misrepresent the basic premise of Ayn Rand. Calling it "Selfishness" , when it is not that at all. They know they are Being obtuse , but it is easier to knock down a straw man.

. Having Free Will is not (necessarily) and indication of someone being any more selfish than some poor worker ant, lost in the collectivist state of Socialist Government.

[TheForwardGaze]

This is sickening. Most scientific, technological and infrastucture progress has come from government spending and organization, because the private sector, by its very nature, is unable to do effective R&D and long range planning. A banker likes Ayan Rand--what a surprise. Neither objectivism or right-wing libertarianism could ever be implemented in a democracy. Look at what the small taste of it we've gotten over the last 30 years has done to the world.

[sybo59]

@TheForwardGaze Yeah, like the internal combustion engine. I also agree that in a free society, nobody would have a vested interest in paying to develop a cure for cancer.

[Scoforever]

@sybo59

"I also agree that in a free society, nobody would have a vested interest in paying to develop a cure for cancer."

What about wanting to make a lot of money?

[sybo59]

@Scoforever Don't worry, I was being sarcastic to that guy. 

[Scoforever]

@sybo59

Nowadays it's difficult to tell if people are the real thing.

[sybo59]

@Scoforever Yeah, I didn't consider outside readers. I was curious if he would agree with my cancer cure statement, because that mentality was implicit in his comment. People are absolutely terrified of freedom.

[dialn911]

@TheForwardGaze

Most R&D and technology comes form government? lol. Go tour a Boeing facility or any other vast number of private corporations. Most of technologies are leaps made through military contracts. The R&D and advances are not result of government. They are a result of private industry investing in future contracts.

[MrLoladam]

@dialn911 And who do you think pays for the military contract.......

[dialn911]

@MrLoladam

You, me, and every other tax paying American. BTW, I held a secret clearance and worked on Apache helicopters. Government opted for the contract, but we the people paid the bill. This persons comment was not about whop aid for what, it was about where R&D comes from. The answer to that is private corporations.

[csmdad]

Rand addresses this "life preserver" incident a number of times (to include her book The Virtue of Selfishness and her interviews with Donahue which you can find here on YouTube). What Rand suggests is that you should not throw the preserver for altruistic resons, but because it fits within your rational guide. She is not against love or charity, but champions them for personal benefit, how it makes YOU feel. Throw the preserver because you want to, not because someone tells you to.

[shaowebb]

Around 3 minutes hits a person who did not understand the point of looking out for your own long term self interests, and who totally did not get the 60 page John Galt speech. The next guy is an imbecile who failed to understand anything at all. Rand is a Genius whose words are loudly misinterpreted by idiots like these.

[jinzodude]

3:00 to 5:00 she does speak about being selfishness...objectivism, which she created, is all about significance in the individual, which that i agree with, but it's also about not being an altruist. nonetheless, the other physiological views she explores, plus the sociological aspects of her books are real good, and i agree with her that big government is bad

[srspower]

Stossal is a moron. He is the guy that advocates companies being allowed to have a sign over their door saying:-

no blacks, gays, women etc

What he doesn't quite get is that if you have no government power and let companies do what they like you have tyrrany because those companies then impose their will on the people.

Only government that has been voted in democratically has the right to do that.

Why are americans so anti democrasy?

[manicmetropolis]

@srspower what the hell is wrong with you? government forcing people to do things they don't want to do is tyranny

[srspower]

@manicmetropolis

If the government is democratic, such as the american one, your statement is a contradiction in terms because clearly the majority of people agree with it. So the will of the people is doing the forcing.

[jinzodude]

@manicmetropolis but it is happening....national health care? the constitution says nothing about the government being able to control our health...

[elsquibbs]

@qix77

True.

[jesuschrustpizza]

And what's wrong with rape? I mean, don't people think it's bad simply because someone else said it's bad? Hey, what's with all the protests against dropping bombs on Iraqis? Just because someone says its wrong doesn't mean it is wrong.

[Scoforever]

@jesuschrustpizza

WTF is wrong with you?

[SanguineBullet667]

@Scoforever i think he was being sarcastic.

[Hawbitten]

@SanguineBullet667 so do I

[MaverickWhig]

@jesuschrustpizza Erm, Troll?

[GunBigotHater]

@jesuschrustpizza If you truly don't know what's wrong with rape, I suggest you go up and slap a policeman, and threaten him. Plead guilty to felony battery on a law enforcement officer, and call the judge's mother a whore. While you are on a lengthy stay in prison, you will come to know the answer to your question.

[GunBigotHater]

@jesuschrustpizza If you truly don't understand what if wrong with rape, but really want to know, I suggest you slap a policeman, and tell him you intend to do it again. Plead guilty to felony battery on a policeman. While you are in court, tell the judge his mother is a whore. During your stay in prison, the answer you seek will become evident to you.

[davedavedaveannoy1]

@jesuschrustpizza Well, aside from the morality stand many take its counter productive. Firstly, its involuntary, its forced upon them which infringes on their rights. Secondly, it causes physical damage to them and could prevent them from having a child in the future depriving the economy of a potential genius, industrialist, and so on. And lastly, it breaks the person down mentally and makes them incapable of living in peace, and it has a seriously negative effect on their labor output! Wrong!

[elsquibbs]

The first idiot in the crowd that speaks doesn't understand Rand in the least.

[BrewtownFlyer]

@elsquibbs  So right...he's a tool in a gay sweater. Rand's notion of "selfishness" has to do with how people conduct commerce...not react in life and death situations. What freakin' moron.

[OpakeArawra2]

this nation was built on government handouts for white people lololol

[IcedPhoenix666]

@OpakeArawra2 Which nation?

[OpakeArawra2]

@IcedPhoenix666 the united states of america

[RatkoUSA]

It's amazing how often people who claim they can't stand Rand's philosophy because it's "selfish" also believe government should take from others to give them free materials and services. They can't even see how unbelievably self centered and selfish they them selves are. It's laughable and it's sad, very very sad that so many are intelligent people who have potential and they choose to throw it away to be ignorant, materialistic, and used by others craving power.

[madscirat]

@RatkoUSA Well spoken sir

[hagbard72]

Not a huge fan of Rand. Read von Hayek, Mises and Rothbard instead. Objectivests contradict their own philosophy. How do they rationalize their love of the state of Israel and hate of Arabs? They're for rationality but ignore it when it suits their ethnic purposes.

[fomastephanovitch]

I love Atlas Shrugged!!!

It is very easy to read, virtually everyone has the potential to understand this book - few will make the effort.

HL Mencken is a greater writer, but Rand constructed a remarkably sound system without being a great scholar - taking nothing away from Rand, herself and her followers including Peikoff have completely misunderstood Immanuel Kant, it is kind of his fault for being so unclear, but PhDs should be able to overcome his convoluted style.

[berserkerkev]

John Stossel is such a failure as a not only a reporter but a human. There is a disconnect between what he has come to understnad and what he does not know - the dsiconnect is that the systems of humans - government, religion and corporations / commerce have long since positioned themselves for demise.

teh circumvention of Nature and her laws is the foundation of ...Everything, and yet we believe we are above this - Dominion. keep on believing Stossel as you are a child leading those to..?

[waffleboy7]

@berserkerkev Learn how to type, dude!

[fomastephanovitch]

Having read your diatribe I have concluded that unconsciously you have portrayed your own perception of yourself and values.

You are a lamb to the slaughter along with those who rebel against society by conforming with the like-minded.

[acoow]

You did a lot of typing to state your opinion, but exerted zero effort to explain your opinion. This does nothing to encourage anyone to listen to you.

Try again.

[jaker277]

ONE