Mike
>>"Of course, kicking Ayn Rand's dead body in the street might be of more practical use in demonstrating the stupidity of her philosophy."
Hmm. Attributed to Thomas, right?
I'm a simple fellow, so I read her to enjoy the characters and situations without necessarily liking or even noticing the extreme conclusions- some of those characters are horrifying in their realism. They exist, probably more today than in the 1950s, and it can be clarifying to see them misbehaving so awfully.
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1