I just finished reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
The book's a little over a thousand pages. I hadn't read a book from cover to cover for a while, and at first the task seemed a bit daunting, but as I read I couldn't put it down. Ten days later Paula was returning the book to the library. A lot of people have heard of the book, but it seems the number of pages have deterred many from reading it. I'm not going to do a book report here, but I highly recommend it for a read.
A couple things that stood out to me: first, the book was published in 1958, though Rand began writing in 1948. Despite being over 50 years old, I found myself amazed at the accuracy in defining the attitudes that are prevalent in our society and that I feel and sending it in a downward spiral. Second, there was a lot of talk about money and people who make money. One thing I noticed throughout my life and never understood was why those with money feel a need to apologize for their wealth and those who are poor seem to wear it as a badge of accomplishment. Am I alone in noticing this?
Even in high school, people would apologize for coming from wealth. Unless the money was obtained though some nefarious means, people should never have to apologize for making money. And I think the only reason people should brag about their poverty is if they were able to rise above it.
Finally, I'm going to be using the words 'looter' and 'moocher' a lot more than I did in the past. These two words were used repeatedly in Atlas Shrugged and the applications were apropos.
Today marks the beginning of the college football season. I love college football and am thrilled to be able to spend some time watching it. I was fortunate to marry a SEC woman - a woman who understands and appreciates the sanctity of a Saturday afternoon and evening. Paula provides not only guilt-free watching of as many football games as I can get a hold of, but encourages this. She even goes shopping on Friday or Saturday morning to pick up snack food for me to enjoy while watching. Incredible.
Colin Cowherd (ESPN Radio personality) was talking about Alex Rodriguez a while ago and said that it wasn't a big deal that A-Rod took PED's because it's a game, and that it wasn't like Enron or anything. I got to thinking about that and gotta disagree. A-Rod, in my opinion, is a cheating tool. Here's the deal - baseball isn't a game at that level: it's a business. And A-Rod cheated and lied his way to the top of his industry. A-Rod cheated on his wife. A-Rod has cheated in the two major aspects of his life - his work and his relationships. What else is there to judge the character of a man on?
Then you got Rick Pitino having an affair, paying $3000 for an abortion, and getting blackmailed for it.
Then you have another of John Calipari's NCAA basketball final four appearances being voided out. Two schools, two NCAA Final Four banners taken down.
Then you have Mark Sanford and Eliot Spitzer cheating on their wives.
Here's the deal: all these guys are liars. They are liars because they all apologized. None of these punks are sorry about what they did. They'd do it again if given the chance. And I don't know about the rest of you, but the first time I was pulled over for speeding wasn't the first time I sped; the first time I got in trouble for swearing wasn't the first time I swore; the first time I got busted for being somewhere other than where I said I'd be wasn't the first time I was somewhere other than where I said I'd be.
Bottom line, these guys are apologizing they got caught. That's all. That makes the liars on top of cheaters. That makes them bums. Throw the bums out.
The book's a little over a thousand pages. I hadn't read a book from cover to cover for a while, and at first the task seemed a bit daunting, but as I read I couldn't put it down. Ten days later Paula was returning the book to the library. A lot of people have heard of the book, but it seems the number of pages have deterred many from reading it. I'm not going to do a book report here, but I highly recommend it for a read.
A couple things that stood out to me: first, the book was published in 1958, though Rand began writing in 1948. Despite being over 50 years old, I found myself amazed at the accuracy in defining the attitudes that are prevalent in our society and that I feel and sending it in a downward spiral. Second, there was a lot of talk about money and people who make money. One thing I noticed throughout my life and never understood was why those with money feel a need to apologize for their wealth and those who are poor seem to wear it as a badge of accomplishment. Am I alone in noticing this?
Even in high school, people would apologize for coming from wealth. Unless the money was obtained though some nefarious means, people should never have to apologize for making money. And I think the only reason people should brag about their poverty is if they were able to rise above it.
Finally, I'm going to be using the words 'looter' and 'moocher' a lot more than I did in the past. These two words were used repeatedly in Atlas Shrugged and the applications were apropos.
Today marks the beginning of the college football season. I love college football and am thrilled to be able to spend some time watching it. I was fortunate to marry a SEC woman - a woman who understands and appreciates the sanctity of a Saturday afternoon and evening. Paula provides not only guilt-free watching of as many football games as I can get a hold of, but encourages this. She even goes shopping on Friday or Saturday morning to pick up snack food for me to enjoy while watching. Incredible.
Colin Cowherd (ESPN Radio personality) was talking about Alex Rodriguez a while ago and said that it wasn't a big deal that A-Rod took PED's because it's a game, and that it wasn't like Enron or anything. I got to thinking about that and gotta disagree. A-Rod, in my opinion, is a cheating tool. Here's the deal - baseball isn't a game at that level: it's a business. And A-Rod cheated and lied his way to the top of his industry. A-Rod cheated on his wife. A-Rod has cheated in the two major aspects of his life - his work and his relationships. What else is there to judge the character of a man on?
Then you got Rick Pitino having an affair, paying $3000 for an abortion, and getting blackmailed for it.
Then you have another of John Calipari's NCAA basketball final four appearances being voided out. Two schools, two NCAA Final Four banners taken down.
Then you have Mark Sanford and Eliot Spitzer cheating on their wives.
Here's the deal: all these guys are liars. They are liars because they all apologized. None of these punks are sorry about what they did. They'd do it again if given the chance. And I don't know about the rest of you, but the first time I was pulled over for speeding wasn't the first time I sped; the first time I got in trouble for swearing wasn't the first time I swore; the first time I got busted for being somewhere other than where I said I'd be wasn't the first time I was somewhere other than where I said I'd be.
Bottom line, these guys are apologizing they got caught. That's all. That makes the liars on top of cheaters. That makes them bums. Throw the bums out.
1 Comment:
Maybe its not that the rich go around apologizing, but that others are looking for an apology from the rich. Are the poor who wear their poverty on their sleeves any different than those who have risen above and now wear something new on their sleeves?
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