Conversations about Rand and her philosophy are always of interest to me. I find the obvious point I glean from these threads are accepting her precepts on the whole, rather than the average. I absolutely do not agree with everything she says, but one cannot discount the philosophy based on what the masses see as hypocrisy. I see much of what she writes about in Shrugged happening today, from the vantage point of a self made and responsible individual- me. The very concept of sharing that which you do not wish to share is the most compelling argument- again, for me- to make your own path in life and not succumb to herd mentality and group think. It is perfectly fine to be a team player, but not every situation in life requires this. Rand saw society not as a place to fit in, as much to stand out. That my friends, is where innovation is born; and that I believe is the continuation of our life cycle. Just my opinion, of course.

I would take my family offline straight away.

Your arguments, although interesting, are a bit superficial. I hold both a resident and non-resident CCW. My reasoning is simply because I can. Now, I know how that must sound. But consider the indiscriminate way that criminals act. Try to post "reason" to their actions. Their reasoning is as faulty as the crime itself.

Years ago, a doctor friend of my father's was at a drive up ATM in the Cape Coral area of Florida. While being held at gun point for what was, at the time, a $200 max withdrawal, the assailant decided not to leave a witness, and killed the doctor. Meaningless crime, and loss of life.

I hope the need for my weapon to ever leave it's holster never arises. I wouldn't want to make the decision, or distinctions, that would end anyone's life; myself included. I can't honestly say that if surprised by a would be thief that was after my wallet that I would risk my life or those with me for a replaceable, tangible thing. The event I am on guard against is the one that separates my life, or my family's life, from me.

If, as you state, misplaced bravado is a faulty reason used to possess a CCW, then I would agree that that individual is not a good candidate. I am probably a bit older than most who post on this site, so I have a benefit of years, and a even tempered disposition to help balance the distasteful possibility of ending a life.

All cars have a parasitic load. These loads have increased considerably since the advent of computerized engine controls, where some vehicle systems are live all the time( a clock or remote receiver, i.g.). As these loads have increased since the mid-eighties, automotive electrical systems have had to grow more articulate to sustain the vehicles' needs. What little I know about the Tesla, it must have some electric braking module that when completely powered down, is in the "closed" or "on" position, resulting in the vehicle being immovable, for some safety related reason, I would guess.

My fix for this would be an alternate power source( another battery!) that would come on either by valet or when the vehicle is turned off for a specified period of time. It would activate and take the power cells off line to reserve power for start up. This can be fixed with relative ease, but dropping $40,000 would make me shit nails and I would drive it into a wall for less.

But I could be wrong.

I gained an interest in biographies about ten years ago, and when I decided to buy them rather than check them out at my local library, I got the idea to highlight them. What really sparked it was the fact that I owned the books, and it occurred to me that I could do whatever I wanted with them. I used to loan them out and let my friends do the same, but I have lost more than a few books in this manner and no longer do it.

I think we don't do certain things because we pigeonhole ourselves, or live in a paradigm - for whatever reason; so now I act as I see fit! They're your books, do as you see fit. Hope this helps.

I generally buy most books I am interested in(except fiction), because I read them several times. I use a different colored highlighter each time, to gain insight on things I missed on previous passes. Ultimately, I have a lot of books, but I like them much better than e books.