Comments on: UPDATE III: Magic Manhattan, Matters of the Mind (&, Yes, Manhattan’s Magnificent)

By: sunny black

sunny black — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:03:41 +0000

I’d like Mrs. Mercer’s opinions on her impressions of Manhattan as a great modern city. I lived there for a few years, and at the time I considered it “Greatest city in the Universe”, etc. Since then I’ve lived in a handful of cities in the U.S. and abroad (I have no use for ‘Greatest Ever…’ designations now.) In retrospect, I can see the case for NYC, but I have no desire to live there anymore.

In the past 3 and a half years I view it more as a cesspool of sorts. A big theme-park of a once great city. But I’m certain my opinion is clouded by Bloomberg and the state and local taxes, as well as the pretentiousness of the Lefty cliques in media and fashion that define parts of the town. I felt I was paying extra for the (faded) prestige of living in NYC, and today, with more of a business background, I consider Manhattan overpriced and overvalued. (If NYC was a stock I’d have shorted it a few years back).

A TV critic wrote that the TV show Mad Men was a vision Ayn Rand would find interesting. The Manhattan skyscrapers, Don Draper as the model Randian protagonist with the no-nonsense masculinity. But, I suspect if Rand saw how the city itself operates today, she likely wouldn’t care much for it, skyscrapers and all.

(Also, while Draper represents an elite creative force in his field of advertising, would Rand care much for advertising itself as a worthy profession? Nothing of lasting permanence or value is made. And whatever the creative juices involved, advertising is, today at least, about crowd manipulation to the lowest common denominator.)

By: james huggins

james huggins — Tue, 08 May 2012 09:12:36 +0000

Mercer, I’m glad you’re back. You know how insecure I am when you are gone. To “Rebel”: Govt gun grab is an all too possible scenario. I think they will try to start slowly, as they have already. Waco was a thinly disguised grand stand play to frighten the public about cults with automatic weapons. Of course the bumbling feds botched it and turned it into a disaster. Likewise Ruby Ridge and Fast And Furious. Wish I could buy an M1A. Can’t afford one. I’ll have to stick with my old reliables. Of course my Dad always said “Beware the man who shoots his gun of choice because he can probably shoot it well.”

By: Contemplationist

Contemplationist — Tue, 08 May 2012 06:07:50 +0000

Great talk Ilana. Was a delight to be present and meet you. I must say i was surprised myself by how (relatively) orderly the proceeding went. They re-arranged the podium and the orientation of the chairs for a more formal event. [I mentioned a lesson you taught me in "Manhattan Le Magnifique."]

By: Rebel Without a Clause

Rebel Without a Clause — Tue, 08 May 2012 03:47:10 +0000

There’s nothing natural about “Natural Rights”. Like all else, they grow out of the barrel of a gun. The Reds and Globalists well understand this, which explains their ceaseless push for “gun control”. It also explains precisely what the flashpoint for Civil War II will be: a desperate gun-grab by the Regime. HardRights, if not Libertarians, get this too: Springfield Armory is selling M1A’s faster than it can produce them, with backorders extending months into the future.

By: Steve Hogan

Steve Hogan — Tue, 08 May 2012 02:52:18 +0000

You desperately need a photographer, Ilana. Next time you are in my neck of the woods, I’d be happy to snap some shots. They’ll be in focus too!