triticale - the wheat / rye guy

Absolute Security

The essays, presented as speeches by the characters, which make up much of Atlas Shrugged, did much to shape my worldview, but aside from the fact that I did not buy the entire package, as a work of fiction the book sucked. The only bit of action I enjoyed was near the end when Dangme shot an underling of the other side not for blocking the heroes' way, but for refusing to take the responsibility to either block them or let them thru. This is one of the great evils of the modern era, institutional structures which deny individual responsibility. I refuse to buy my liquor any place where local ordinance or company policy requires the clerk to see my identification instead of judging my age by the laugh lines around my eyes and the grey in my hair. This policy purports to adress underage drinking, which is ultimately a cultural problem, but in fact presumes incompetance on the part of the clerk. The stupidities in the name of zero tolerance for drugs and weapons are too many to count, and some surely have tempted people to shoot those who refuse to make a decision which requires anyone to accept responsibility for that decision.

I don't tend to agree with the opinions of the person who sent me this link, but I am willing to accept his assurance that the poster is a reliable individual, and pass this on with the presumption it is accurate. My take, as per above, is that as important as ity is to keep the tools of terrorism of our airplanes, the people responsible for doing so need to be people capable of intelligent thought.