Theresa lent a book of essays by Ayn Rand. It contains many that I read back in my college days, although I admit I skimmed a lot. But I also learned a lot. This round, I’m taking my time, reading more deeply. Surprisingly, I’m not getting any more information from Rand by deep-reading, as I have always agreed with her on objectivism.Long before I’d heard of Rand, I had already drawn many similar conclusions such as, for instance, my belief that man exists for his own sake. There she was, proof that not all women were bubble-headed feminists, that some women could take a long hard look at reality, she studied the topic. I only thought about it. This explains why she uses the proper words and mine were self-derived. For instance, she says “altruism” where I said “tribalism”, although both are correct terms for what we were describing.
Her most influential essays were (to me) the old “Why Johnny Can’t Think”, and the other, the only one where she touched on economics. That last is a title I forget, but it might be in Theresa’s book if I can find it. The one where she points out that the level of progress in society can be measured by the ratio of things it does not consume. The loser-peasant, which Rand terms the “subjectivist”, consumes everything he produces every day. Like my family, zero surplus at day's end. At the other extreme, I doubt if I (on a daily basis) consume even 1% of my resources.
In itself, that last statement reveals a point over which I differed originally (from the first, that is) from Rand. She believes that money is the measure of unconsumed surplus. If you have money left over at day’s end, she considers it “savings”, a store of value that you could invest or go to a movie. Rand had something I didn’t—an unlimited supply of money. This stopped her from grasping the whole picture, she has never been poor.
Her money was constant and unearned, mine was not. I knew that all money could be taken away, a point which never seems to have crossed her mind. Thus, if you read closely, I said 1% of my resources, not 1% of my money. Most people don’t have money either, they smugly use a credit card. At the end of the day, I have my resources. As in, I go to the movies on a free pass or I don't go. (My free passes stopped when we closed the computer shop.)
Furthermore, I honestly believed, and have believed for many years, that resources are more valuable than money. Rand is silent on this topic, but she was correct that America is headed for disaster. That disaster is now arriving: the collapse of the entire middle-class pension system. Those dependent on government hand-outs and invested pools (like a house) are soon to re-invent poverty, and with zero resources to fall back on.
Incidentally, I have always assured my resources are indivisible; they cannot be split up or taxed without my agreement. And that is an all-or-nothing environment. The moment others try to calculate their "share" (of my property), they won’t get it. The world is full of such devious people.
I’ve finished “The Codex”, which turned out to have a conventional wind up after a great start. An impressive read though after 400 pages, everyone, including the author, is pretty tuckered. Only two obvious errors, a typo in the third paragraph of chapter 60 and a techno referring to an AUG as a rifle instead of a machine pistol. In all, bad guy dies horrible death, boy gets girl, family reunited. Zzzzzzz.
The author, Douglas Preston, worked a museum which explains a lot. He’s overlong on that pedestrian late-century eye-to-movie-rights something-for-everybody schlock writing. Said boy is pushing 33 and girl 29 (for sure), both barely believable unless you subtract ten years apiece. A lot of the coming-of-age stuff for seriously late bloomers. Lest any Puritans miss the woman’s age, it is mentioned four or five times. Add a lot of that Ivanho-esque knack for bumping into missing relatives in the midst of forest deep.
Preston over-describes the action scenes so accurately you can almost smell the cordite and consulting fees. Overall, the book contains enough twists and minor surprises to make it a worthwhile read. Particularly if, as I did, you pick it up second-hand for 50 cents.
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