> <<
> And, Joni Mitchell's philosophy of life seems to be very close to
Ayn Rand's
> philosophy.
>
> Regards, >>
>
>
> I very much hope this is sarcasm.
>
I don't see it as being totally wrong to compare Joni's *artistic*
philosophy to that of Ayn Rand. I'm thinking more of 'The
Fountainhead' in this regard than of 'Atlas Shrugged'. The
protagonist of 'The Fountainhead is a brilliant architect who
absolutely refuses to compromise his work - to garner critical or
popular acclaim or for any other reason. Rand's contention is that
great art can only be created from the artist's purely selfish desire
to fulfill his or her own unique vision. I don't think that's much
different from Joni's refusal to pander to critical or popular taste.
I don't, however, believe that Joni would agree with Rand's views on
wealth & 'the virtue of selfishness' (although Joni may like Rand's
view of cigarettes as 'fire tamed at you fingertips'.) There are
some good things that came out of reading her novels back when I was
in high school (and I have reread 'The Fountainhead' since then) but
like anything else, I find it's best to sift out what doesn't ring
true and keep what seems right. The older I get the less I am
inclined to swallow any given line of thought whole.
In that light I would just like to say to Kakki that, although I do
not necessarily agree with everything you have said in the recent
discussions of the election, I *always* respect the fact that you try
to take an objective stance and see things from all possible angles.
I appreciate your clear-headedness and lack of vitriol. I have to
admit my own bias as far as the candidates are concerned & that I did
not consider that some of the less than flattering remarks about Bush
might be offensive to some. And that may have been wrong considering
there are people here that voted for him. However, I definitely did &
do find it offensive when someone aims insults directly at someone
else's *opinion* just because it doesn't happen to agree with theirs.
Calling other list members stupid or ignorant just because they don't
happen to agree with you is arrogant & inflammatory. And I know
there have probably been times when I have been guilty of this myself.
But I certainly hope I have never been as nasty or arrogant as some of
what I have seen posted in the election thread. Kakki, I'm certainly
not talking about you here. I hope we are still buds. I certainly
have the greatest respect & affection for you.
Enough. I'll go away now.
Mark in Seattle
