Okay, in honor of the fall semester and beginning a brand new graduate program, I am reviving my blog from its summer rest. At least that's the way I like to think about it and NOT about the sheer laziness involved. Anyway...
I really wanted to begin by talking about Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (It is pronounced like "Ein" not "Ann" by the way, I did not know until recently), because I undertook this whale of a book over the summer and much to my dismay and despite my best efforts, I actually finished it. I mainly read it because my honey Val (you can read his nerdy blog here) is a dedicated Objectivist and I wanted to understand his point of view. In turn, he agreed to read a modern feminist book; I chose Feminism Without Borders by Chandra Mohanty, (which he still has yet to read past the Introduction I might add.) I'm not really going to rehash AS bit by bit; it's already been done and dear god it would take about two weeks to read. Many feminists have torn this book apart as the glorification of capitalist greed and hegemonic masculinity that it is, and in many ways I share their sentiments. But it gave me so much food for thought. I find her ideas slipping into my arguments, more particularly the parts about us taking responsibility for our lives and being the best we can be, valuing individual freedoms and eschewing imposed self-sacrifice for the sake of it. Wouldn't counseling titans Alfred Adler and Carl Rogers say the same thing to an ailing client? And say what you want about Rand being too individualistic, she grew up in a collectivist society and saw it go to its most dangerous extreme. That's why she came here. I really don't think Rand's ideas work on a global scale - she was writing at the very dawn of globalization and has not seen the effects of global capital on Third World countries. But I can take her ideas and live them in my personal life for self-empowerment while avoiding her fatal mistake-wanting to impose the ideas on every culture, regardless of its context. It simply won't work. Rand would certainly not have agreed with sexism and racism, but she also wanted to act like those societal factors don't exist. (And don't get me into her ideas about "hero worship," I want to barf in my mouth a little bit.) But let's face it, Dagny's a badass and she has lots of sex with whomever she wants. That's awesome.
So in conclusion, if you're looking for two completely different points of view on global economy, read AS and the Mohanty book mentioned above. They are both enlightening. If Val ever gets around to it I'll let you know his thoughts.
Next time: Mockingjay! I finally finished the trilogy, and will share my thoughts on it.
