One major point I would also like to bring out- if government were not using money for social programs- the money would be at work in the economy - for people to save, spend and invest. Companies would create more jobs and the overall affect would be a higher standard of living for all of us.
Many more people would have more wealth to solve problems like poverty. If Bill Gates were not allowed to become as wealthy as he did - he would not have had the 60 billion dollars to spend educating and immunizing children in Africa. He alone has done more to help than the entire US government has done in 20 years.
Free markets and capitalism made it possible for that to happen- and more people like him would have the private resources to do what Gates has done - if the government would just stick to those functions that it was intended to do- and quit trying to be everything to everyone.
Dummy Up wrote: Annie was a whack job. A mediocre writer with very limited intellectual skills. Do some research folks.
Hollywood hired her as a screenwriter. (I don't know if that reflects well or poorly on her.)
For me, my favorite book of hers is "We The Living", a semi-autobiography of hers that took place in a Leninist Soviet Union until she was able to escape.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
Apparently, it ranked 14th... It pulled in about $1.6 million...(as compared to #1, "Rio", which pulled in $39.2 million...) Wait a week and you'll be able to see it for a dollar at the Elvis Cinemas...
Disappointed in the showing at the box office, I think it is still playing at the Denver West theatre if you want to make a trip down the hill. About $5000 per screen for 300 screens over 3 days.
I plan to see it with friends this Friday.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
The film is a meandering mess that has no idea what story it is telling. While I understand the notion of wanting to turn a 1300+ page book into a trilogy, the only way to make that work is to make sure that first chapter has its own three act structure rather than a slaphappy dash of everything you’ll need to understand a second (as yet unmade) movie. Here, entire scenes exist only to drive the film’s dogmatic adherence to its own philosophy – even in the face of reason – and the already stunningly dull narrative gets bogged down in even more ludicrous conversations that will sound profound only to the dullest of minds. ATLAS SHRUGGED is relatively plotless – a seemingly endless string of scenes of maneuvering against an enemy that just doesn’t make any f****** sense at all.
Lazy made-for-television production values mixed with community theater dialog and even worse performances make for a film no one will believe five years down the road was ever actually shown in theaters. Dyed in wool Randians will certainly be able to follow along with their copy of the home game, but the philosophy is so poorly presented that I’d be surprised if it won over a single convert. For a movie so dedicated to innovation and the exaltation of the creative, this is nothing but a sad imitation by the mediocre – a cinematic pissing on Ayn Rand’s grave as her ideals are distorted for cheap political points.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
The film is a meandering mess that has no idea what story it is telling. While I understand the notion of wanting to turn a 1300+ page book into a trilogy, the only way to make that work is to make sure that first chapter has its own three act structure rather than a slaphappy dash of everything you’ll need to understand a second (as yet unmade) movie. Here, entire scenes exist only to drive the film’s dogmatic adherence to its own philosophy – even in the face of reason – and the already stunningly dull narrative gets bogged down in even more ludicrous conversations that will sound profound only to the dullest of minds. ATLAS SHRUGGED is relatively plotless – a seemingly endless string of scenes of maneuvering against an enemy that just doesn’t make any f****** sense at all.
Lazy made-for-television production values mixed with community theater dialog and even worse performances make for a film no one will believe five years down the road was ever actually shown in theaters. Dyed in wool Randians will certainly be able to follow along with their copy of the home game, but the philosophy is so poorly presented that I’d be surprised if it won over a single convert. For a movie so dedicated to innovation and the exaltation of the creative, this is nothing but a sad imitation by the mediocre – a cinematic pissing on Ayn Rand’s grave as her ideals are distorted for cheap political points.
Pretty much as expected. The left hates and and Rand fans love it.
"Whatever their position on a topic or their bias toward a conclusion, true skeptics will ultimately follow the evidence where it leads. Deniers, on the other hand, interpret that same evidence only as it might support their foregone conclusions. - Dom Stasi"
But will Rand fans really love it, if they messed up the storytelling and distorted her ideals merely for cheap political points?
I have no opinion one way or another, as I've not gotten around to reading it yet, and am even less likely to see a movie based on it.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill