

Ayn Rand-loving CEO destroys his empire - andyjohnson0
http://www.salon.com/2013/12/10/ayn_rand_loving_ceo_destroys_his_empire_partner/

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networkguy
The problem with an article like this is that the authors want to make a broad
stroke claim against an argument which is far more nuanced than they claim.

And this works both ways; just like taxation and subsidies aren't cures for
the things they support with tax revenue or subsidies.

The truth is that people do act selfishly; we just don't understand the "why",
a great example is people lining up for the latest gadget, many people
question this as crazy but step into the shoes of the people in the line and
they have made a very specific decision that at and during that moment they
are better off doing what they are doing than doing anything else.

To the onlooker who thinks the people are crazy, this is completely
irrational, but to the person in the line, they are making a very rational
decision based on what they want.

People will always do things that are in their best interests, and that
doesn't mean people wont donate to charity, or help out the community or
exhibit 'selfless' traits, its important to understand that these traits are
an important part of who the person is, and they can be selfish, in
undertaking selfless acts because it furthers their goals which may not be
entirely money driven.

The trillion dollar question is why do people make the decisions that they do;
entire industries and careers are dedicated to trying to find this out.

A CEO destroying his company is more more evidence of a certain philosophy
being wholly wrong, than North Korea is an example that all forms of
government are horrible and will eventually lead to a North Korean existence
for it's citizens.

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jared314
> Lampert took the myth that humans perform best when acting selfishly as
> gospel, pitting Sears company managers against each other in a kind of Lord
> of the Flies death match.

Sounds a bit like how Microsoft was structured [1].

[1] [http://www.globalnerdy.com/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2011...](http://www.globalnerdy.com/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2011/07/microsoft-org-chart.jpg)

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maxcan
> discredited free-market economics

This is the problem with what Salon has become. Little digs like that that are
not citaed, vague, and just loaded with the author's biases. I don't remember
any part of Atlas Shrugged where death match style, internal bickering was
promoted as a management style.

Whatever opinions you hold of Rand and Libertarianism, this was a pretty
poorly written article.

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dharma1
My first visit to Sears was the Oakland store mentioned in the article, about
a year ago. It was close to our hotel so I thought I'd check it out. Stayed
for about 2 minutes, it resembled something between a squat and a jumble sale.

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a3n
I grew up in the sixties, when their motto was "Sears, where America shops." I
don't know if they can say that with a straight face today, but back then it
was largely true. The end of every summer we made the trek to the other side
of the county for school clothes for me and my sister.

I have no idea when's the last time I was in Sears, but I can't imagine ever
wanting to.

Businesses come and go.

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jqm
From the article...

'''Even Rand acolyte Paul Ryan (R-Wis) is now distancing himself, calling his
well-documented enthusiasm an “urban legend.”'''

I'm guessing urban legend really mean "political inconvenience" in this
context?

~~~
hindsightbias
We all grow up, some just wait until they're running for President.

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lmm
"His hedge fun is down 40 percent". Typo or clever dig?

