A quick question about Randroids

[james_davis_nicoll]

Does the word "trader" have a special meaning to them?

Comments

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

"The symbol of all relationships among such men, the moral symbol of respect for human beings, is the trader." -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

trader and rand produced that as result #35 in google.

[del-c.livejournal.com]

From the search string trader "Ayn Rand", I got this

"The symbol of all relationships among such men, the moral symbol of respect for human beings, is the trader. We, who live by values, not by loot, are traders, both in matter and in spirit. A trader is a man who earns what he gets and does not give or take the undeserved. A trader does not ask to be paid for his failures, nor does he ask to be loved for his flaws. A trader does not squander his body as fodder or his soul as alms. Just as he does not give his work except in trade for material values, so he does not give the values of his spirit - his love, his friendship, his esteem - except in payment and in trade for human virtues, in payment for his own selfish pleaure, which he receives from men he can respect. The mystic parasites who have, throughout the ages, reviled the traders and held them in contempt, while honoring the beggars and the looters, have known the secret motive of their sneers: a trader is the entity they dread - a man of justice."
-- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Good old Alice.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

The quote is the only thing I can think of--I don't know whether objectivists make a lot of use of it. Why do you ask?

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

I came across a Randroid review of THE INCREDIBLES, looking in particular at Edna Mode considered as modelled in part on Ayn Rand, that appeared to use "trader" as a perjorative. That seemed a little odd to me since I would have assumed trade was OK in their books.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

If it's the one I googled, I think the point was that trading is ok, but it's not central.

[supergee.livejournal.com]

I have seen Freepoid posts in which "trader" is an obvious error for "traitor"--e.g., "John Kerry is a trader."