All watched over by machines and Loving Grace

Angelique wrote:I am not trying to promote the programme - just that the programme links this woman to the Banking Crisis - if you can catch on iPlayer it's worth a watch - quite boring in places but its the reason we are paying through our taxes for the Banking crisis.





Ayn Rand: a profile
Ayn Rand's theory of Objectivism didn't appeal to everyone, but she remains an influential figure.

The writer and philosopher Ayn Rand in New York 1957 Photo: Getty
By Catherine Gee 7:30AM BST 23 May 2011
2 Comments
Ayn Rand - whose work is scrutinised in BBC Two's new documentary, All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace - is something of a Marmite figure. Some love her, some hate her and her philosophic system of Objectivism has certainly attracted widespread criticism over the years. The system is a complex one, essentially meaning that man should put his own happiness first and foremost, spend his time improving himself to his utmost limit and use common sense and reason at every opportunity. His primary motivator should be his own existence and altruism and charity have no place.
Rand was born in Russia in 1905 and moved to the US after becoming one of the first Russian women to graduate from university. It was in this post-Revolutionary country that she was introduced to the works of Plato, Aristotle and Nietzsche and decided that she was an atheist. She first travelled to New York in 1925 to stay with relations and when she first glimpsed the city’s skyline she said she cried "tears of splendour". After marrying a budding actor, Frank O’Connor, she became an American citizen.
Her relationship with the US, in part, defined her. "America is the land of the uncommon man," she wrote. "It is the land where man is free to develop his genius - and to get its just rewards."
She set out to write for films and the stage and had modest success before the release of her first major hit: the novel The Fountainhead in 1943. Her beliefs were dominant in all her works and in this novel the character of Howard Roark, a fiercely determined, cold, uncompromising architect, embodied all of them.
It took her seven years to complete the book and she was prescribed the amphetamine Benzedrine to fight the fatigue. The book was initially rejected by 12 publishers but became a worldwide success. Rand then wrote the screenplay for the film version which was released (after being delayed by wartime restrictions) in 1949 and starred Gary Cooper as Roark. Rand, however, rejected the finished version, saying she “disliked it from beginning to end”.
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All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, review 23 May 2011
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Adam Curtis: the perils of binary thinking, interview 20 May 2011
It wasn’t until 1957 that she released her most powerful work, Atlas Shrugged. It was over 1,000 pages long and depicted a dystopian world where the government is extending its control over the leading innovators who refuse to be exploited by society. It posed grand philosophical questions on themes of ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, politics, economics, and sex but, despite being a popular success, the critics generally disliked it.
This work was also a drain on Rand and she became increasingly dependent on prescription drugs while also beginning an affair with a younger man, Nathaniel Branden. Branden was also married and the couple were close friends with Rand and her husband. Their affair, which would last years, began with the full knowledge of their spouses. Branden became an advocate of Rand’s theories and established the Nathaniel Branden Institute to spread her principles. His opinions on the subject of both Objectivism and Atlas Shrugged varied somewhat over the years, however, and he later apologised for "contributing to that dreadful atmosphere of intellectual repressiveness that pervades the Objectivist movement".
Rand remained an outspoken activist all her life and continued to write and speak on her philosophy. A cult swelled around her and she has an army of dedicated followers to this day. She thrived on debate and was outspoken on a variety of topics. Above all she valued egoism and reason – allowing little time for emotion or mysticism. By the time she died, three years after her husband, in 1982, Branden had remarried and she had become estranged from many of her closest associates. Her works, however, have remained influential and are read by millions around the world.
- 'All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace' starts today, Monday 23 May, on BBC Two at 9.00pm

Angelique wrote:Hi Panda

I'm onto it - can't figure downloading - got a friend coming round and he will sort. Have been watching it - I understand about the Banks and the invention of the money all too well. what annoys me is that when they lose their shirts we still have to pay, over and over again!

Panda wrote:

Angelique wrote:Hi Panda

I'm onto it - can't figure downloading - got a friend coming round and he will sort. Have been watching it - I understand about the Banks and the invention of the money all too well. what annoys me is that when they lose their shirts we still have to pay, over and over again!

It"s not banking any more, it"s gambling, not with their money either!!! Years ago, a bank had to retain a percentage in liquidity and a person could only borrow two and a half times their income. the Housing boom got out of hand and banks were lending 1OO% . To add insult to injury the Banks got the bl***y cheek to pay their Executives huge Bonuses.

Angelique wrote:

Panda wrote:

Angelique wrote:Hi Panda

I'm onto it - can't figure downloading - got a friend coming round and he will sort. Have been watching it - I understand about the Banks and the invention of the money all too well. what annoys me is that when they lose their shirts we still have to pay, over and over again!

It"s not banking any more, it"s gambling, not with their money either!!! Years ago, a bank had to retain a percentage in liquidity and a person could only borrow two and a half times their income. the Housing boom got out of hand and banks were lending 1OO% . To add insult to injury the Banks got the bl***y cheek to pay their Executives huge Bonuses.

Panda

Noooooo! not the dreaded bonus word - don't get me started - Fred the b****y shred and all the rest .......If we don't pay these big fat bonus they'll go abroad - you know that!

Hi angelique

The corruption in Britain is beyond belief when you think about it. RBS is owned 70% by the Taxpayer , yet we can"t stop these Bonuses? All we would
have to do is vote them out at the AGM. Moody"s the rating Agency is considering several British Banks and a couple of Building Societies being
downgraded, including Santander, who were supposed to be an alternative Bank to the big 4......who is going to clean up the Banking System?

Networking -Bonuses and we get our wages cut or no increases and DC then says we have to have these cutbacks in services. strange they don't ever seem to be able to control the bonuses.