“America's abundance was created not by public sacrifices to "the common good," but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. They did not starve the people to pay for America's industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages and cheaper goods with every new machine they invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance -- and thus the whole country was moving forward and profiting, not suffering, every step of the way.”

A truth scoffed by the immoral, lazy, liar and socialist ideologue.

When the government steals your money, it's always for the "common good". Ayn nailed it in this quote.

All things productive, innovative and motivated are the result of private free enterprise unencumbered by government "help". The complete breakdown of our productive / industrial engine and the poverty that are about to become manifest the world over' are a result of the efforts of a few banking mafioso's and put forth through the use of socialist policies. Sadly too many people actually think socialism will work. It does not, it is a cancer on all things good.

She is missing some important points in this statement but I shall still give it five stars. Mike, I'm definitely not lazy, as you know, and I am not a liar, and as for socialist dialogue it has nothing to do with the your first two points. It's like aligning any ideology with lies and laziness. You must also look at AR's records on such issues to realize she was a proponent of laissez-faire capitalism but was also a pro-chioce atheist. As a Libertarian and a far-right Republican hero she is often quote by Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh and other far-right megalomaniacs. But enough, I could go on about AR all day but it is a day of thanks. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Robert

Ah, so the claim is that child labor and 80 hour work weeks are good for us... bull!

You know, I'm not too old to remember when what Rand said was true. It was true for my parent's generation and while such success was still possible in my youth, it rapidly became less and less so as greed once again reared it's ugly head. Several times in our history it has done so and it makes life nearly unbearable for those who don't hold the money because those who do pull all the strings and jobs disappear, opportunities for small business to create jobs disappear as 2% of Americans hold 98% of the wealth and shoot themselves in the foot by holding on to their exorbitant profits. This is the system of the kings and queens which our forbearers tried to flee. And they were successful until the Corporations and the Bankers took control of every part of their lives--success being counted as Rand puts it: "They gave the people better jobs, higher wages and cheaper goods with every new machine they invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance -- and thus the whole country was moving forward and profiting, not suffering, every step of the way." Until they no longer deign to be creators or to reach down to their slaves with beneficence. When people in this country talk about "entitlement programs" they are referring to government programs that help people get to their feet and stay there. These so-call "entitlement programs" are not about entitlement at all. Entitlement is a word that speaks of the "right" of those with "titles" to have everything because they own everything--they believe they are entitled by birth and by their station to give or withhold all which they believe is rightfully theirs. Our forbearers only traded one brand of "nobility" for another and we have been under their thumbs ever since. Have we made progress, sure but only what they allowed. Science and technology--only what they have allowed. We are not starved by them because they understand that slaves work better if they have a little food and a roof over their heads. You can try to deny this truth but the reality has nothing to do with "the American dream" they sold us to keep us in line. I agree with George Carlin, "They call it the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it!" And as for socialism, I have come to believe it is the only government that is TRULY Of the people, By the people and FOR the people---so stay asleep if you want to believe the other!

Joy, you make some good points, but you are blaming the wrong people. When the country shifted from 'reality' to 'promises' the game was fixed. Only in America could the common man own land outright -- which could never be taxed. In America, the lawful money was silver (a 'dollar' is another word for 'ounce', and the silver dollar is supposed to be the standard even today) and gold -- but where is the gold now? Who owns it now? Now that the economy is completely debt-based (that is to say, that every so-called 'dollar' in our bank accounts has been borrowed into circulation -- called monetizing debt, another phrase for using IOU's as money), all prosperity goes to the banks that have the power to issue 'money' out of thin air whenever someone promises to pay it back -- the banks are not lending real money that they have, they are creating money the instant you 'borrow' it, and it disappears into the void once the promissory note is paid back. It is not the entrepreneurs and geniuses of our times that are to blame for the bubbles and busts of a fiat economy. In fact, if it were not for the great factories and manufacturing enterprises in America, there would be nothing to tax. But now that our labors are taxed (even if our labors do not produce anything one can eat), unless production increases, we become but mere slaves headed for tighter and tighter binds. Don't blame the capitalists, Joy, blame the fascist/socialist/bankers which are not capitalists at all, they are totalitarians and essentially oligarchs that lay claim to everything and everyone -- all based on a 'promise' to 'one day' fix all the social ills of the world, while in practice being the source of them. Yes, Joy, we need to wake up, but stop hacking at the branches and attack the root. As long as the game is fixed, left and right do not amount to a hill of beans -- it is but a distraction while our 'owners' laugh all the way to the bank. BLAME YOURSELF because YOU will have to rehabilitate your practice of borrowing from tomorrow and taking from your neigbors to live for today. No one is innocent.

Right on, Joy. But I'm afraid your good sense is wasted here.

Dick and Anon...you two are extremely nutty and you really should get together. You're very premise is ridiculous...you don't think the One Worlder's are going to use you as slaves? Good sense? Get real! Our only hope is sovereignty and liberty.

"as for socialism, I have come to believe it is the only government that is TRULY Of the people, By the people and FOR the people" -----JOY. There are not words that can express how ignorant it is to think that socialism benefits the people of a nation. Socialism rewards those with government connections. Capitalism rewards those who provide things people want. I can prove that socialism brings people into poverty --- just look at the history of north Korea and the soviet union and compare that to free market societies like the early US and Hong Kong.

Capitalism benefits the Capitalists---and they tell us it will all trickle down-- but that's true only if the people keep an eye on them--keep them well regulated and paying taxes so that they don't destroy us all. Capitalism breeds greed and greed destroys but usually not the Capitalists. As for socialism, it's been a part of our country for generations and Great Britain, France, Spain etc. Socialism did not bring down either the USSR or Korea--it was top down control, and I'd call that a form of fascism---and fascism defined by Mussolini is just another name for Corporatism. Every time the corporatists have unbridled control of a country and this is true of us as well, the country is ground to dust beneath their feet. They don't care a lick whether you or I succeed as long as they are rewarded. Our government failed us because it failed to regulate and tax those who worship at the feet of capitalism. Their greed caused this terrible downturn (along with the elected representatives who gave them what they wanted in exchange for big bank accounts). And I never heard anything so ridiculous: "fascist/socialist/bankers"....yes blame the /corporatist/capitalists/banker/fascists--they will take control of your lives and tell you that YOU are the criminals for over-extending yourselves--after they led you down the garden path to "the American Dream"!

Robert, my statement may have been too broad but the general premise was true. I think capitalism is just the other end of the a socialist stick, such being adversarial to the free market. America's abundance was created by individual entrepreneurial endeavorers in large/most part with the State being the largest hindrance thereto. The State's role should be limited to representing the individual sovereign (where needs be, put into place rule, statutes, etc. in harmony with natural fiscal law).

Joy, you are correct in that Mussolini did call fascism, corporatism (they are basically the same). Both are administrative differences than 'Marx thought' for statist control of production, which is a primary definition of socialism. Socialism has been part of most the world's governments for a long while and, that precisely, explains the universal decline in morality, fiscal reality, spirituality, law, freedom, liberty, and individual rights. King George and Mr. Obamunist Goodwrench the assassin's implementation of socialism (communism / fascism) may differ slightly, but both are extremely antagonistic to natural law, justice, freedom, liberty, individual rights, the 'abundance of America', 'the common / individual good' and anything substantively wholesome or moral. Was your 'well regulated' stipulation to the capitalists in reference to the Second Amendment, if so, oops. Well regulated there was a military reference to regulation, i.e. arms, or a well armed militia. And, it is ridiculous to think that adding rules, regulations, and taxes on a capitalist would ensure trickle down. By the way, socialism did bring down the USSR and is bringing down Korea. Control from the top down is another good start to defining socialism.

I am stunned at how many people wish to give a government, consisting of officials they neither like nor trust and are always obliged to check, with more power and control over their own lives. The doctrine of socialism is found in the remaining ashes of every country that has adopted it. It is not a producer, its a destroyer. Wake up, claim liberty, accept its responsibility, and eat your own bread.

Yes, Joy, "fascist/socialist/bankers" ARE the rulers in a socialist society. Socialism is a stepping stone to communism as it embraces all the planks of the Communist Manifesto -- and yes, dick and Reston have expressed their support of these planks numerous times. The point I was trying to make above is that as part of this socialist system, a group of private bankers are given the power to create money out of thin air and loan it at interest to the government, corporations, and the people. Whoever has the power to create money and loan it at interest is ABSOLUTE master of the nation -- in fact, with this power, why not simply create money for all our social services and simply pay for them without 'borrowing' it and having to pay billions and billions in interest? Because the system is designed to exploit EVERYONE, especially those that produce something of instrinsic value. Central to the policies of communism/socialism is absolute state control of everything. When you say we must tax the capitalists, you are saying we must institute a system whereby people's property may be legally taken from them, decided by a council of some type to determine what amount people are to be 'allowed' to have. This is a severe corruption of collective power. While the 'rich' are supposedly greedy, who will check the greed of those wanting more of the property of others? How much debt may this generation place upon the next for simply surviving today? Your ignorance is enslaving billions of people around the world to a 'debt' to the bankers -- which are not capitalists, my friend, but socialists who have control of the money supply. You are being conned into hating 'the rich' for their 'greed' -- that is like Bush saying the terrorists hate us for our freedom -- BS! Do the math! Eternal debt, endless promises, and inherit the wind. Socialism is not the cure to our ills, it is the SOURCE of our ills -- we already threw off the 'Czar,' all are free from the dictates of a King, but the socialists are not happy with freedom, they want control of everyone and everything -- which is fine for the rulers, but not so great for the rest of us who have been bankrupted by an iniquitous system of exploitation: socialism.

Socialists are the greediest bastards on the earth. The rich are the most generous. You do not get rich by greed. That would just destroy you or land you in jail. Wealth comes from doing something well along with hard work. Few people have it handed to them. Those that do use class envy to try to prevent others from climbing up the ladder. This is the old money versus new money battle. Liberal old money trying to prevent conservative new money. That is what the tax structure is all about. Prevention of new wealth.

Thank you Ayn Rand, and thank you J Carlton for some common sense from north of the 49th...

By removing the common man from the farm with the lure of an easer life industrialist new the worker would eventually starve for lack of work. That coupled with oppressive taxsation on person and property will send some generations to their death homeless and starving.

The more I learn about Ayn Rand the more I hate Ayn Rand.

She is speaking of FACTS. Does anyone here know the history of industrialization in the soviet union vs the united states? If you think the 80hr week in a factory is the worst thing that can happen to an individual you are tragically ignorant.

Look at what the benevolent government did to 'it's people" IN THE NAME OF PROGRESS and you will see how altruistic socialists really are when they have full control. Nothing less than planned starvation and murder and dislocation of millions.