"At the heart of it is the idea that the only person responsible for and capable of securing my own happiness and fulfillment in life, is me. [Ayn Rand] taught me to look at the world as an active agent, not a passive observer; to realize that, while there are many things beyond my control in life, I can still use my mind and my life to be productive, positive, and great in the things that I do. And not only that, I learned to look at other people that way too. That's one reason I started the ALT.NET group -- because I believe that there is greatness in people, and those are the people I want to be around. Another thing her books emphasize is that people are "traders" -- that we give and take, in both material and non-material ways, and this trading is what allows many individuals to act in concert as a society. Its easy to understand this in terms of physical things -- I trade my labor for a paycheck, for example. But we also trade in emotions, encouragement, knowledge, etc. Because Rand views people as heroic, and capable of greatness, she emphasized that when you trade "value for value" with someone, you should always trade your best for their best, realizing that by doing so, you have increased the sheer amount of AWESOME in the world. This is the honest way of living."
@nicholascloud
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