[Frozen]

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If I'm already mentioning books, I gotta plug my all time favorite here: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I got into her philosophy after noticing that every single highly successful person I'd meet just happened to also be devoted to Rand's philosophy. Just like communism/collectivism is magnet philosophy for bums & losers, Objectivism/Capitalism is a magnet philosophy for highly successful & self-sufficient individuals.

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I think one needs to be careful not to confuse cause and effect here. It's not that following Ayn Rand tends to make you successful. It's that people who are already successful, or on the road to success, tend to be drawn to this philosophy because it justifies their way of life.

There's nothing wrong with this, any more than it's wrong for a beggar to be pro-welfare. But he's more likely to be pro-welfare because he's a beggar, than the other way around.

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Ok, good point... but wouldn't a child raised on Objectivist ideals be more likely to achieve wealth than a child raised by egalitarianist parents & teachers? I say yes.