Bourbon_no?

Fun but ultimately naive

Revisado: 03-15-22

My first impression was that this was a pretty decent attempt at making western philosophy palatable for a slightly more common person than most other books have done. I've taken a fair few philosphy courses and a lot of this was review.

When I got to chapter 8, though, I was stunned. Michael spends only enough time on one of the 20th centuries greatest and well known philosophers to call her stupid. I was truely looking forward to an inteligent critique but Michael was to lazy to provide any tangible points beyond Ayn Rand is an awful person who thinks its a good idea to be a dick.

Aristotle makes the point, as Michael the author notes, that the life worth living benefits society and you individually. This is the point Rand is making. Objective Selfishness isn't about being a dick. It is about being the best person you can be and putting yourself as number one always in your life. Brené Brown, and many others, say that you cannot love others more than you love yourself. This amounts to the same thing! I am a huge fan of Brown having read most of her books atleast once and some I have read many times. It turns out that when you are honest with yourself and looking at the bigger picture loving others brings you joy but you can only love other people as much as you love yourself. Therefore you get the most joy by loving yourself the most but only if you show love to others in a similiar way. In this way the world becomes a much better place where we love ourselves and because we love ourselves we love others and around and around it goes. For the record, most people suck at loving themselves and this has alot to do with issues related to honesty and self esteem but now I am getting off track.


Example - I did not have kids because I thought it would be fun. I had kids because, after much consideration, I thought they would bring me joy. Turns out I was right and that doesn't make me a bad person. Furthermore I want my kids to be awesome humans because that will make me proud and will bring me more joy. I will be happy for them and for myself. They are alos more likely to be happy because they have been brought up knowing they must love themselves and that they are capable of great things. They will form healthy relationships with others because they love themselves and are capable of doing so. I will become happier because they are now awesome humans and I had something to do with that.

Perhaps Rand's biggest flaw in her novel Atlas Shrugged (The famous one everyone talks about but not her only work) is that she does not focus as much as she could on the human element of her ideals. This does not make them untrue and she does not omit it completely. one of her character's Riordan, is a steel producer married to an awful woman. This was his biggest mistake, he was miserable because of this woman but in the end he never should have been there in the first place. It was lack of honesty to himself and a desire to conform to social norms that made him do so and then to become so entrenched in his work. Point is, he did not love himself or was not honest or courageous enough to stand up to the social norm. He was miserable for this.

There are literally an infinite number of examples where putting myself first has benefited others just as much, if not more than me. But this is not an essay, it is an Audible book review so I am going to stop writing.

Michael's naive and outrageous lashing of Rand's work (Which he admits to not even being capable of reading) is appalling and I am extremely disappointed in him. All that said, Michael is still a funny guy and I will continue to watch shows like The Good Place and The Office because that thing where our society hates on one imperfection or false move someone makes is and basically boy cots them and tries to destroy everything they do or ever did is stupid, too.

One last thing, I am blind and come from an abusive family. I understand a lot more than most about how life can suck and that some folks are disadvantaged. Still I adhere fully to the ideals put forth by Rand, and many others before her.

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

Very chatty

Revisado: 06-03-21

Good as always but there is a little plot development relative to other books in the series and the increased Chaddy behavior of Skippy and Jo was a little annoying

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Refreshing

Revisado: 08-23-20

Very few books feature someone who is blind as a protagonist. Still fewer others feature a blind protagonist in a remotely realistic way. Freaks not only takes the listener/reader on an intriguing and compelling adventure, it subtly exposes the idea that someone with a disability is often more limited by erroneous and narrow minded social constructs than by the disability itself, while simultaneously working in the normal challenges of everyday life.

Freaks does a great job at illustrating a real person in a messed up world and I have nothing but praise for the work.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Super cheesy at times

Revisado: 06-25-18

I made it through this book but at times I wish I was listening to something else because it was so cheesy. Also, it’s socialist themes were disheartening and unrealistic

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Like Finding Water In The Dessert

Revisado: 05-19-18

Solomon does a great job here. If you have questions that you feel your 401k / employer sponsored retirement plan / ira / broker cannot seem to confidently answer in a satisfying way then you NEED to learn more of what Solomon is talking about here. He is clear and precise and is presenting a way of thinking that can change the game entirely for you and your family.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Eh

Revisado: 05-10-17

Couldn't finish it after multiple attempts… I just got bored… The stories were fine but not enticing or all that relatable or interesting

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