
Books No Woman Should Read - pmoriarty
https://lithub.com/80-books-no-woman-should-read/
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HelloNurse
Who is Paul Ryan? What did he do to be singled out like that?

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bmpafa
He is the leader of the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ryan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ryan)

My guess is he's being singled out because many (esp. on the left) view him as
intellectually disingenuous. He came to prominence as a 'thought leader,'
leaning heavily on Ayn Rand's objectivism to inform his 'small government'
politics.

ETA: actually, it's more likely the author thinks Ryan's preferred policies
are cruel, not that he's disingenuous.

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wahern
What's dangerous about Objectivism is that you can seemingly be both sincere
in desiring better welfare for all while excusing an utterly selfish and
debased ethical system, not to mention destructive social policies.

It appeals to people by (1) showing how good but naive intentions can lead to
immense suffering (i.e. communism) and then showing how (2) free market
policies seemingly predicated on selfishness counter-intuitively can lead to
greater welfare for all. It's wrong because both the original narrative and
inverse narrative are obviously hyperbolic rhetorical retellings (both in the
book and in the more popular narratives) that in many respects fail to reflect
the most substantive aspects of the political and cultural history. But
counter-intuitive narratives are so very, very appealing to certain
generations, partly because they seemingly expose others has hopelessly naive
fools while creating a special class of people who can see the truth.

