First of all, I can't help but presume that most who claim they have read Atlas Shrugged haven't, because they can never define, except in a Cliff Notes type manner the message the book sends. This is the book that every leftist claims to have read and dismissed, but their words reveal that, at best, they skimmed the wikipedia entry on it and tried to decipher the basic jist.

And those who claim to have read it in their youth, were probably forced to read it in some sort of educational setting and ploughed through it ASAP, or again consulting the good ol' Cliff Notes.

The basic premise, the Objectivist mantra that is to be distilled for the novel is summed up in what can be easily described as anti-selfishness. Selfishness is all about using and exploiting others, particularly when such exploitation is harmful and against their will. The Objectivists, personified by Hank Rearden, Dagny Taggart and John Galt, are working for themselves but in this awareness of minding their own business, they are not exploiting others against their will.

The leftist creed has always declared that government must take from the rich to provide for the poor. Every leftist alive is suffering under the Robin Hood complex to some degree. Robin Hood is the perfect symbol of the Democrat, Green and Socialist parties. This is selfishness disguised as caring. If you rob a rich guy, it's not really robbing because the rich guy, by default is evil, and his money is ripe for plucking.

The simple reality is this:

The leftist believes robbing a poor person is a crime and robbing a rich person is good and altruistic.

It's hard to know where to start with such a premise. And no matter how you try to pin them down on this reality they have justifications for it. They have gone to all sorts of lengths to disguise their support for selective crime. Calling it "progressive" taxation, "redistribution" of wealth, sharing and the most oxymoronic: "equitable" distribution.

This premise can be used to justify robbing anyone. Once you are a thief - all you need is a justification. The poor who don't vote the right way, the folks who don't care enough about the planet, those who don't show enough concern for their health - all these can be used as justifications for looting them and spreading their money around to those who are more deserving.

Some folks who have "outgrown" Objectivism never understood it. And if they did, they were too weak and too selfish to imagine living life without the crutch of justified looting. Fear is a great motivation. What would happen to me if I become ill and have no money? Where will I live? How will I eat? Others are smarter, younger, faster or luckier that me - it's not FAIR! I deserve some protection:

I deserve others' wealth.

That's the bottom line. The least educated and the "most schooled" in the world share that same false assumption.

The infinite universe holds no such view. Those who take from others to survive, against their will are looters. The looters come in all shapes and colors. There are capitalist looters, altruistic looters, needy looters - but the basic flaw in their thinking is that they believe they, or others, deserve wealth, unearned. The AIG bonuses are a fine example of the looter mentality. So are those who would rather see that money given to them - because they need it more.

The poor folks who despise these looter executives are themselves a willing looter and would fight tooth and nail if the taxes levied against these folks were levied against their income.

The Obama Administration proves how flexible morality is when you have no fundamental moral principles except the leftist "looting some folks is good" maxim.

So folks like you and Bowser have "outgrown" the "masturbatory" fantasy that any looting is a crime. You are both sophisticated intellectuals who accept the looting premise as the basis for a more ideal society.

Equality is your cry and yet your actions bely that cry and demonstrate the reality:

Loot whoever has more than I do. Take from others and give to ME.

So equality in wealth is your only goal. Laws, treatment and everything else can be inequal so long as the looting has commenced freely.

Every intelligent person who has actually read the book and understood its message, and who has some degree of concern about the world, has an epiphany. They realize how selfish society is and how morally bankrupt are those who claim to "serve others." This is the delicious irony Atlas Shrugged reveals: the leftist, socialist contingent are the most selfish people on Earth - easily equal of the most ruthless capitalist exploiters and what's more they are less honest and delude themselves into thinking they are noble, fair, etc!

Objectivists realize that true wealth and happiness only is derived by objective compensation for real effort. That an ideal society doesn't DEMEAN any of its members simply by their financial status and turn personal wealth into a crime. In stead they seek everyone to become wealthy, and encourage this. They don't loot one citizen over another, they don't work against the good of all by pretending to serve all. The Objectivist understands they serve themselves and by doing so are not making themselves a burden on others. They are the only ones who really understand what "selfish" and "selfless" really mean.

I'm too smart to lie to myself that socialism is anything but legalized, enforced immorality and when pursued over capitalism will lead to universal poverty, misery and death and all the while create generations of looters whose only hope in life is to loot others - a nation of parasites that don't even realize that is what they are.

That's my "excuse."