Also: could this "teaser" be any more likely to put off prospective audiences? A bunch of the usual suspects, one of which can't seem to pronounce "Ayn", with Phil Donahue weirdly inserted from 30 years ago as if it was somehow current, followed by a clip of a downright scary-looking Rand muttering in a sinister fashion about ending welfare, (also forming a scary-looking poster frame for the clip) finally capped by a logo that looks like it was designed by the producer's teenage son on his first day at a Photoshop course. Clearly it is impossible for these people to learn from failure...;-)
Yyyyeah ... I had some trouble with the audio, but did she really say that late-50s America was a poor country with everything crumbling around her? I mean, there was poverty in the U.S. in the 50s, but nowhere near the levels they were in the 20s or 30s...
@Rey: ... did she really say that late-50s America was a poor country with everything crumbling around her?
Not quite. She said she felt ("like everyone else, only more consciously," whatver that means) that the situation is "terrible," that there's "destruction all around," and that the country was "heading toward disaster until and unless all the welfare state conceptions are reversed and rejected."
That was in 1959. Fifty-two years later, the "welfare state conceptions" haven't been "reversed and rejected." They've actually expanded considerably.
So where's the disaster? We're living longer, we're more prosperous, we take for granted technology that was only dreamed of in 1959 ... far from my definition of "disaster."
If the Objectivist Gnomes who produced this video were trying to impress the public with Rand's prescience, I think they failed about as completely as possible.
"a clip of a downright scary-looking Rand muttering in a sinister fashion about ending welfare"
That's the first video I've seen of a relatively young Rand. You're right, she does come across as scary. I can understand how she intimidated and even terrified her young, worshipful followers.
Updated Objectivist Gnomes Strategy:
ReplyDeletePhase 1. "Atlas Shrugged".
Phase 1. a) "Atlas Shrugged" movie.
Phase 2. ?????????
Phase 3. Utopia!
Also: could this "teaser" be any more likely to put off prospective audiences? A bunch of the usual suspects, one of which can't seem to pronounce "Ayn", with Phil Donahue weirdly inserted from 30 years ago as if it was somehow current, followed by a clip of a downright scary-looking Rand muttering in a sinister fashion about ending welfare, (also forming a scary-looking poster frame for the clip) finally capped by a logo that looks like it was designed by the producer's teenage son on his first day at a Photoshop course. Clearly it is impossible for these people to learn from failure...;-)
ReplyDeleteYyyyeah ... I had some trouble with the audio, but did she really say that late-50s America was a poor country with everything crumbling around her? I mean, there was poverty in the U.S. in the 50s, but nowhere near the levels they were in the 20s or 30s...
ReplyDelete@Rey: ... did she really say that late-50s America was a poor country with everything crumbling around her?
ReplyDeleteNot quite. She said she felt ("like everyone else, only more consciously," whatver that means) that the situation is "terrible," that there's "destruction all around," and that the country was "heading toward disaster until and unless all the welfare state conceptions are reversed and rejected."
That was in 1959. Fifty-two years later, the "welfare state conceptions" haven't been "reversed and rejected." They've actually expanded considerably.
So where's the disaster? We're living longer, we're more prosperous, we take for granted technology that was only dreamed of in 1959 ... far from my definition of "disaster."
If the Objectivist Gnomes who produced this video were trying to impress the public with Rand's prescience, I think they failed about as completely as possible.
Will they be releasing it on Halloween?
ReplyDeleteAny idea how far Part 2 will get? I'm waiting for the big train wreck - er, I mean the tunnel-crash scene in the movie, not the movie itself.
ReplyDelete"a clip of a downright scary-looking Rand muttering in a sinister fashion about ending welfare"
ReplyDeleteThat's the first video I've seen of a relatively young Rand. You're right, she does come across as scary. I can understand how she intimidated and even terrified her young, worshipful followers.