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Paul Ryan comments on Ayn Rand

So if Obama had been an Ayn Rand fan at one point, but later 'refuted' it... and someone pointed out that Rand's philosophies are also the foundation of modern Satanism (Anton la Vey said on various occasions that his 'Satanic Bible' is basically Ayn Rand with added ceremony)... would Republicans and the Religious Right have let up on him?

Or would they have trumpeted those connections for all they're worth... and beyond... to the point of ridiculous extremes?

For those who have the desire for slinging mud I think Ryan's admiration of Rand is just as valid or moreso than Obama's connection to Bill Ayers.
 
Grim17 said:
When it comes to author Ayn Rand, this is what Paul Ryan has to say about her and her books:

Paul Ryan Rejects Ayn Rand's Objectivism Philosophy | RealClearPolitics
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Good on him, I'm certainly glad to hear that much.

The first two posts are just deflecting and trying what should be a good thing into a way to attack the right, not cool guys. If you like that he's not a believer in Objectivism, then say so and move on, you can still not like the guy's politics and say that much about him.
 
Simlasa said:
For those who have the desire for slinging mud I think Ryan's admiration of Rand is just as valid or moreso than Obama's connection to Bill Ayers.
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Fine, I can live with that. So when was it that Ayn Rand was directly tied to organizations that wanted to bomb police stations again? Which one was that?
 
pbrauer said:
I find it interesting that piece was done today. I'm not saying he is lying, but I wonder...
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I've never known Paul Ryan to be a liar... He just isn't like nearly every politician in Washington. You may disagree with his politics, but being dishonest just doesn't seem to fit him.
 
I'm saying it's stupid when either side does it... but merely posting 'the truth' shouldn't be expected to shut anyone up.
I'd like it if he weren't a believer in Objectivism... but his policies and those of the people who seem to be fans of his suggest otherwise.

As for bombings... if someone were desperate enough they'd point to Timothy McVeigh, an avowed fan of Ms. Rand.
 
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There are still things I question about how much Ayn Rand's writings influenced his views. During the interview Ryan mentions that he rejects Objectivism because he views it as "atheistic." As a devout Catholic, that is something he is strongly against.

He will divert away from the economic themes of Rand, one of producers vs. parasites, and assert his rejection of her views due to the differences in views on religion. He has done this in the past when the issue of Rand came up during interviews. And yet Ryan and conservatives, to a certain degree, have embraced the main theme of Rand's writings on economics. Not to mention that Ryan credits her with being one of the reasons why he became so interested in economics.

In the long run I do not think this is a big deal, but the way in which Ryan rejects Rand's philosophy is a good sleight of hand on his part.
 
Grim17 said:
I've never known Paul Ryan to be a liar... He just isn't like nearly every politician in Washington. You may disagree with his politics, but being dishonest just doesn't seem to fit him.
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You know Paul Ryan well enough to say he doesn't lie?
I can't right now prove it, but I've heard Ayn Rand's books were required reading by his staff.
 
Grim17 said:
When it comes to author Ayn Rand, this is what Paul Ryan has to say about her and her books:

Paul Ryan Rejects Ayn Rand's Objectivism Philosophy | RealClearPolitics
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Ryan makes clear where he departs from Rand and that is with her atheism. He goes on to say that he "enjoyed" her novels but rejected her atheist philosophy of Objectivism. He then goes on to mistifyingly claim that her novels were different from her philosophy, which is absurd since she specifically used her novels as a means of relaying her philosophy to the broader public.

Ryan, like many Christians, loves Rands views on the individual, the role of government and human rights, but just cant get beyond her outright hostility to mysticism. So rather than renounce his faith, he renounces his reason.
 
pbrauer said:
You know Paul Ryan well enough to say he doesn't lie?
I can't right now prove it, but I've heard Ayn Rand's books were required reading by his staff.
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That's based on what I've seen from him in speeches and interviews over the last 5 or 6 years. He seems to be a real straight shooter as many people on both sides of the isle have said.
 
pbrauer said:
You know Paul Ryan well enough to say he doesn't lie?
I can't right now prove it, but I've heard Ayn Rand's books were required reading by his staff.
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Eh either way its not the real issue. Imagine the two possibilities:
1) He's a fan of Ayn Rand, and he continues advocating the policies he's always advocated.
2) He's not a fan of Ayn Rand, and he continues advocating the policies he's always advocated.

What we, as in all Americans, need to do is analyze the second part of those two possibilities and form an opinion about them as they are the relevant and important things. Whether those policies are motivated in part by his reading of Ayn Rand, isn't really as relevant as what his policies are. In other words, we should look at his policies more than look at where they came from.
 
Paul Ryan and Ayn Rand's ideas: in the hot seat again | The Atlas Society


(1:45) I just want to speak to you a little bit about Ayn Rand and what she meant to me in my life and [in] the fight we’re engaged here in Congress. I grew up on Ayn Rand, that’s what I tell people..you know everybody does their soul-searching, and trying to find out who they are and what they believe, and you learn about yourself.

(2:01) I grew up reading Ayn Rand and it taught me quite a bit about who I am and what my value systems are, and what my beliefs are. It’s inspired me so much that it’s required reading in my office for all my interns and my staff. We start with Atlas Shrugged. People tell me I need to start with The Fountainhead then go to Atlas Shrugged [laughter]. There’s a big debate about that. We go to Fountainhead, but then we move on, and we require Mises and Hayek as well.
(2:23) But the reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. And the fight we are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism versus collectivism.

(2:38) In almost every fight we are involved in here, on Capitol Hill, whether it’s an amendment vote that I’ll take later on this afternoon, or a big piece of policy we’re putting through our Ways and Means Committee, it is a fight that usually comes down to one conflict: individualism vs. collectivism.

(2:54) And so when you take a look at where we are today, ah, some would say we’re on offense, some would say we’re on defense, I’d say it’s a little bit of both. And when you look at the twentieth-century experiment with collectivism—that Ayn Rand, more than anybody else, did such a good job of articulating the pitfalls of statism and collectivism—you can’t find another thinker or writer who did a better job of describing and laying out the moral case for capitalism than Ayn Rand.

​

I say Paul Ryan is a liar.:mrgreen:
 
Fletch said:
Since you clearly think that there is some sort of problem with having Ayn Rand as an ideological mentor, would you mind explaining why that is a problem for you?
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I didn't say it was a problem, I am just refuting the claim made by the OP. Why do you think Paul Ryan did this interview today?
 
pbrauer said:
I didn't say it was a problem, I am just refuting the claim made by the OP. Why do you think Paul Ryan did this interview today?
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What the hell do you mean it's not a problem with you. Of course it is, you called him a liar. The same as you call anyone on the right a liar.

Second, maybe because he was asked to.
 
pbrauer said:
I didn't say it was a problem, I am just refuting the claim made by the OP. Why do you think Paul Ryan did this interview today?
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Before he was the VP candidate it wasn't an issue, but now that the media made it an issue he felt he needed to clear it up.
 
azgreg said:
Before he was the VP candidate it wasn't an issue, but now that the media made it an issue he felt he needed to clear it up.
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Sorry, but if you listened to his speech to the Atlas Society in 2005, you would know he didn't clear up anything.
 
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