R.I.P. Gore Vidal

[JuniperWoolf]

I only ever read Anthem. *shrug* Teen-me liked it a lot, I went around with "Liberty 5-3000" written on my wrist for weeks. I actually didn't know people hated her so strongly until online social networking informed me.

Soooooo many. Google "Ayn Rand meme." They're pretty funny.

Ah. No, it was on a reddit TIL yesterday and reminded me of this thread.

[Summer M]

I'm no Randian (aside from a brief spurt during my teen years) but I don't like when people go with this 'she was a hypocrite' line. All throughout her life, she did not condemn people legitimately using those programs as a way to claim back 'rightfully earned money' that the government 'took/stole'. It's a silly point used to disparage her by people who know little about what she actually said/believed. If they took the time to actually understand her beliefs, they'd find enough to criticise anyway.

Exactly! I was just about to write that. Let me just emphasize again that there's a huge difference between criticizing welfare and criticizing those who use it.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Exactly! I was just about to write that. Let me just emphasize again that there's a huge difference between criticizing welfare and criticizing those who use it.

You rarely get one without the other.