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The Speech

Posted by $ KSilver3 10 years ago to Philosophy
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Thought provoking question (hopefully)- Would John Galt's speech have any impact if given in modern times? I am doing my yearly reading of AS, and that question kept percolating in my mind. Not whether it is right of wrong, good or evil, but would it have any impact? I'm questioning this from two different angles. First, in today's partisan team sport of politics and economics, would he simply be labeled as a member of one team, and ignored by the others? Second, and sadder, would the vast majority of humans today have the attention span to listen to it in its entirety? In our modern 30 second sound bite world, would anyone actually stay tuned in long enough to gain from it, or simply tune out and wait for someone to interpret it for them? Of course, even in the book, most listeners missed the point, and simply wanted to abdicate their decision making to Galt instead of their current leaders, but it did have an impact. I am pessimistic that it would have any impact today. Thoughts?


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  • 13
    Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years ago
    Objectivists sometimes operate on the premise that all, or at least most, humans want a society based on reason. The biggest reason why Objectivism has not taken over sooner is because that premise is faulty. The majority of humans want what is easy, do not mind giving up their liberty for security, and are not worthy of our effort.
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  • Posted by Mamaemma 10 years ago
    I will be honest with you. I couldn't get through it in the book. I was able to find an audio copy of Galt's speech on tape and I listened to it.
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  • 10
    Posted by $ rockymountainpirate 10 years ago
    I think most people would tune it out because they would not understand it. It goes against everything they have been taught and see. Secondly, those that even knew there had been a speech would wait for the 10 second blip on the tv news, then wait for the 'reporter' to tell them what it said and for the late night comics to make fun of it.

    Patricia:" My father says that almost the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know. Everybody you see. Everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake and they live in a state of constant total amazement." - Joe vs the Volcano
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