Quote:
Originally Posted by pilotbob
I'm sorry, but to what do you attribute not wanting to read his books. Did you read the full answer that included that line? He didn't say that gang rape was good or he approved of it. His point was that people don't always do the right thing because they are allowed to decided what to do.
BOb
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I should have been more clear. I followed the link, and read the whole interview. The quote is more or less out of context (in fact, there's no context or explanation provided within the interview text for the quote).
I find his views (and Ayn Rand's views, for that matter) overly simplistic. By my reckoning, there are very few people on this planet-- especially in the "developed" countries-- who live without the benefits provided by the communities they live in. A lot of these benefits are provided by someone else they will never meet or hear of, often without adequate compensation. Goodkind dismisses the example of the person who has do decide whether to jump into a river to save someone who is drowning as unlikely, and he's right. The everyday decisions are much more subtle, like whether to drink coffee or eat chocolate that is harvested, effectively, by slave labor.
Of course, Goodkind might be a person who never uses products produced by anyone else, but based on the interview, it seems likely to me that he regards the circumstances of the laborers who make his lifestyle possible as not his responsibility. That's what I disagree with, and that's why I'm not interested in reading his books.
That being said, I think he has a right to tell his stories any way he wants, and I'm not trying to make any point about anyone who reads and enjoys his stories-- or anyone who agrees with his stance on objectivism. I'm simply saying that on the basis of this interview, I would be unlikely to enjoy his books, so I won't read them.