Who is Ayn Rand?

[Krevency]

I was at the JREF forums, talking about how I thought that this guy KRAMER, who works for the JREF, was unnecessarily rude.    So this other guys says:

If you don't like the Challenge, post in other places ! Ayn ****ing Rand ! Why is this simple idea so hard to comprehend ?

And that got me wondering: who is Ayn Rand?  I've heard the name before, but what is so bad about her and what does she have to do with me?

The rest of the thread is here:
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=1870910393#post1870910393

Also, let me tell ya', this is a nice forum here, full of nice people.  I wouldn't mention it to them, but the server that has the JREF website, and it's forums are on must just be dripping with negative energy.  Posting there feels like walking through a bad neighborhood at night.

But I always like to hear what the other side has to say.

[Nick]

Here's a nice little bit of information on Ayn Rand, picture and all

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand

[Krevency]

Interesting stuff.  But now I'm doubly confused by why the guy called me Ayn Rand.  I was complaining about how the KRAMER guy was rude, and how if he couldn't handle his job he should get a new one, but I'm not seeing the connection to Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism.

[no_leaf_clover]

Maybe that's just his way of cursing.

[TheJza]

Maybe he just hates you as much as he hates Ayn Rand and that is the connection.

[Nick]

It's hard to know for sure what the guy was thinking.  However, as no leaf and the Jza pointed out, the connection could be an associative curse. The guy seems to channel a lot of energy into people he disagrees with.

[soulforest]

One of Ayn Rand's best work is "Atlas Shrugged".  In the story, the best people (smartest, most creative, most productive) of society, oppressed by the manipulation of the rest of world,  one by one disappeared.  Later in the story, we find out that they were invited to live in a secluded place where they can pursue their work and contribute to their new society to the best of their ability without being encumbered by all the power play.

Ayn Rand has been associated with productivity to it's fullest.  At the worst, she is associated with elitism and looking down on the rest of society.

Your comment about the way he did his job probably triggered this reference.

[TheJza]

Also, there are 2 current threads in Astral Chat that are about Ayn Rand:

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2860

and

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1432

However, I have never read any of her works.