Wednesday 18 April 2018

Q: Is Trump’s Brand Ayn Rand?





It's said that Donald Trump got his narcissistic, winning-at-any-cost philosophy from reading Ayn Rand’s books. We are told that by former US Labor Secretary Robert Reich, among others, who reckons “Trump’s brand is Ayn Rand.” But, explains Johan Norberg,  nothing could be farther from the truth. Reich et al are Dead Wrong®.
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8 comments:

Falafulu Fisi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Falafulu Fisi said...

"Woman cries with thanks to President Trump for the bonus due to Tax cuts"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMHc27BBqe0

Trump legislative achievements put a smile on citizens' faces. That's what counts, full stop.

Dinwar said...

A hit of crack puts a smile on the face of an addict. Is that what counts?

More formally: You are advocating emotionalism. The mere fact that something feels good does not tell us it IS good. The citizen may be wrong. She may have a warped value system (very likely in today's society). She may be mistaken about the facts. Emotions are not guides for living life.

Dinwar said...

Anyone familiar with Rand's philosophy--or even just her books--knows that Trump is not a follower. Tariffs alone demonstrate that he's not an Objectivist. Trump is more akin to James Taggart or Mr. Thompson than to Hank Rearden, let alone John Galt!

Falafulu Fisi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Falafulu Fisi said...

No, the money from tax-cuts is rightfully hers & she thanked Trump for actually following what Ayn Rand would have done if she's President today. Ayn Rand viewed taxation as theft. Well Trump torn down the regulations which then allowed the government to over-tax (or thieving from) it's citizens. That's what Ayn Rand would have done. If she's here today, she would have given Trump a thumbs up.

Deal with those facts & stop being emotional about a tax-cut that's long overdue which allow citizens' to keep more of what's rightfully theirs in the first place. That is moral. Trump's legislative actions helped to achieve that, in which Ayn Rand would have applauded Trump for that effort if she's around today.

Dinwar said...

"No, the money from tax-cuts is rightfully hers & she thanked Trump for actually following what Ayn Rand would have done if she's President today."

I understand that. My point is, I'm not convinced SHE understands that. Your entire argument is based on the assumption that her emotions stem from a rational code of values, and I do not believe we can naively accept that as true. At the very least, you must substantiate this assumption. Otherwise, your argument is mere Hedonism: what feels good is good.

I know all the arguments you're making. What I'm pointing out is that most people in our culture do not, and therefore we can assume (as an a prior) that this woman does not.

Steve D said...

'Trump is more akin to James Taggart or Mr. Thompson...'

You have to look further than Atlas Shrugged for the best analogy. Trump is essentially a loud-mouthed Peter Keating.