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PaperclipPerfector  7d ago (text post)   2679 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for October 16, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Yeah, the Hacker News thread was a disaster.

I used to think "Atlas Shrugged" was a poorly written strawman. Now I realize that it spoke with the clearest truth about human nature. Weak people hate greatness.

I suppose the worst thing about it from the majority of its lay critics was how its philosophy got co-opted by so many libertarians. Once you get past that, it wasn’t a very bad book, even though I’m not a Rand fan. We live with all sorts of strange moral juxtapositions. One that’s endlessly baffling to me is how people will not view human generosity as a blessing to be appreciated, but a sign of weakness to be exploited. If you’ve ever been weighted down under the impression you’re a bad person because you’ve stopped setting yourself up to be an advantage prop for someone else, just remember in the eyes of these people, you’ll be an asshole no matter what you do. As such, I have no problem being an a-ho to others. Loyalty often lasts only as long as the need does. The fastest way to incur hate isn’t to betray someone, it’s to help them too much.

I read about this on reddit and also sadly yes. Pure seething negativity.

It's pathetic. The people who have trouble getting out of bed in the morning or keeping a job are belittling the first realistic flying car. Talking shit about Trump accounts as a "tax dodge" when billionaires are giving money directly to children instead of going through the government.

As you said, I've spent the past 20 years after reading Atlas Shrugged and complaining about how unrealistic it is, but it's just too on the money.

Unsurprising. In any society where rewards are distributed lopsided to those who are successful (irrespective of however one wants to define it or thinks it should be), the object of those outcomes will always be sure to acquire a bad name, mostly owing to the villainy of people unfit to possess them.

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