No, I'm not tackling her fiction: call it enlightened self-interest on my part. Have you seen the size of those things?

But I enjoyed Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. It's a great sort of libertarian primer.

I'm also getting a kick out of The Virtue of Selfishness, but naturally I don't think Rand was as good an ethicist as she was an economist: living under Communism scarred her too deeply.

When man unfocuses his mind, he may be said to be conscioius in a subhuman sense of the word, since he experiences sensations and perceptions. But in the sense of the word applicable to man—in the sense of a consciousness which is aware of reality and able to deal with it, a consciousness able to direct the actions and provide for the survival of a human being—an unfocused mind is not conscious.

Psychologically, the choice "to think or not" is the choice "to focus or not." Existentially, the choice "to focus or not" is the choice "to be conscious or not." Metaphysically, the choice "to be conscious or not" is the choice of life or death.

You know, I tried that continual-focus thing; it made it awfully hard to sleep.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:34 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Attila, If you read books like that it will turn you on to Hillary in 08. Do not read the Fountainhead or Atlas shrugged, it will require you to wake up for long hours of the night. And that focus, well I don't think you want to become consious yet.

Posted by: azmat Hussain at September 22, 2007 11:58 PM (mdszq)

2 Someone who reads (and agrees with) Ayn Rand supporting Hillary? You've got to be smoking the wrong stuff, Azmat. Stick with the Kool-Ayd. Mandy spells it "conscious." You need to be more like Mandy, Azmat.

Posted by: Darrell at September 23, 2007 03:12 PM (Gq8GB)

3 Someone who reads (and agrees with) Ayn Rand supporting Hillary? You've got to be smoking the wrong stuff, Azmat. Stick with the Kool-Ayd. Mandy spells it "conscious." You need to be more like Mandy, Azmat.

Posted by: Darrell at September 23, 2007 03:12 PM (Gq8GB)

4 Someone who reads (and agrees with) Ayn Rand supporting Hillary? You've got to be smoking the wrong stuff, Azmat. Stick with the Kool-Ayd. Mandy spells it "conscious." You need to be more like Mandy, Azmat.

Posted by: Darrell at September 23, 2007 03:12 PM (Gq8GB)

5

Posted by: Attila Girl at September 23, 2007 09:06 PM (REMb7)

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