| | What he said. I agree that "... an active dislike of Rand is a deal-breaker. "
The question could have asked what percentage of your friends are Objectivists. In my case, I have few friends -- not even people I "socialize" with; my wife and I are reclusive -- but those few are all Objectivists -- and some are more than friends, being my brother and my ex-wife. My ex is Coletta Perry of Avatar DPS, perhaps better known among the QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign crowd, though, again, many of her friends -- though not all, or even "most" -- are also Objectivists.
Same with my brother and his late wife. He read Atlas when I went off to college. After they got married she read it. She borrowed my Objectivist Newsletters and wouldn't give them back. (Maybe I can get them back now that she is dead.) My brother, however, is as Ted said about others, a small-o at this point in life, as I am. Being an anarchist pretty much demotes that capital-O and the small-o removes the incentive to argue over who deserves the big one. (For instance, I would say that Leonard Peikoff is not an Objectivist, but you can see where that would lead.)
I have two friends (not relatives) who are also Objectivists. We called and wrote over the years and now we email and we see each other every few years. I have one other who read Atlas, but I am not sure how much of it affected how much of her, but since she is a science teacher, all that reason and rationality stuff probably seemed like common sense. That is about the extent of my friendships.
Perhaps a good poll would be:
How many friends do you have:
A. I would not be paranoid if I could find someone to trust.
B. You mean, besides me?
C. 1 or 2
D. 3 to 5
E. 5 to 10
F. Everyone loves a lover.
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