rec.arts.movies.past-films

On Feb 17, 4:19=A0pm, "*Anarcissie*" wrote:
> > On Feb 17, 12:17 pm, No Man wrote:
> > > I'm wondering if Rand was not really Chance the gardener from *Being
> > > There*. At the egging on of a friend, I read Atlas =A0Slogged during o=
ne
> > > long and dreary grind. In there, I saw an ethos of greed, yes,
> On Feb 17, 3:43 pm, calvin wrote:
> > There was no ethos of greed at all. =A0The ethos was of the
> > most able reaping the benefits of what they produce, and not
> > and not being enslaved to the less able. =A0You may disagree
> > with that, but it's not about greed.
>
> Greed is a desire to get stuff which exceeds somebody's
> notion of how much stuff one ought to have or want. =A0If
> you remove the moralization, it's just the desire to get
> stuff. =A0Getting stuff seems to be a precondition for having
> a life, from the bacteria on up. =A0 I don't see the point of
> attempting to construct some sort of universal moralization
> about the desire of living beings to merely get stuff.

The moralization is that honest trade is the right way to get stuff,
by trading value for value. Getting stuff by mooching, looting,
or enslaving is morally wrong. That should be obvious, but
governments and political systems give different names to
the mooching, looting, and enslaving that they promote,
making them appear to be high-minded and noble endeavors,
designed to serve the common good.

That's my interpretation of Rand; but she speaks better for herself.