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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   2229 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 16, 2026

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Ayn Rand?

Really gotta read Atlas Shrugged. Tried The Fountainhead when I was like 19 and while I remember a lot from it, and even fondly, it kinda put me off Rand for a long time.

You really gotta read Atlas Shrugged, but not if the reason is that you want to fix being put-off from Rand. I haven't voted for a non-Libertarian for President since 2000, and I still couldn't make it through Atlas Shrugged without wanting to write various rebuttals in the margins to some of the endless monologues and endless-monologues.

But although I wasn't a fan how she wrote her protagonists there, her antagonists were perfect. I don't think I've gone a year since without running across at least one new politician or pundit who could be justly described as "an Ayn Rand villain".

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