Property Rights and Rational Selfishness
Property Rights
The right to life is the source of all rights—and the right to property is their only implementation. Without property rights, no other rights are possible. Since man has to sustain his life by his own effort, the man who has no right to the product of his effort has no means to sustain his life. The man who produces while others dispose of his product, is a slave.Bear in mind that the right to property is a right to action, like all the others: it is not the right to an object, but to the action and the consequences of producing or earning that object. It is not a guarantee that a man will earn any property, but only a guarantee that he will own it if he earns it. It is the right to gain, to keep, to use and to dispose of material values.
by: Les CarpenterRational Nation USA
The above words are taken from page 110 of "The Virtue of Selfishness". This book was first published in 1961 by Ayn Rand and it defines the moral principals of Objectivism.
More specifically it provides the ethical and moral justification for living ones life guided by rational selfishness. Understanding the concept of rational egoism is essential to understanding the principles and values on which this nation was built.
Unfortunately our nation has slowly, yet most assuredly over many years of social progressivism , accepted the self destructive beliefs offered by the advocates of altruism.
For anyone who advocate human rights the concepts above are generally understood. Those who wish to understand the concept of rational selfishness and proper egoism better, and in the positive light of Objectivist thought Rand's book, "The Virtue of Selfishness" is a recommended reading.
More on property rights at Rational Nation USA and the Left Coast Rebel later.
Cross posted to the Left Coast Rebel
Come on Les....you need to quit playing the same ol' scratched record...
ReplyDeleteWhat we have today is a system of SELFISHNESS...
We have the wealthy who believe they are due the benefits they enjoy because of their wealth.
As the chairman of Goldman Sachs recently said, "...we are doing God's work...."
It is not altruism that is the issue but greed.
Greed is selfishness.
The world that you claim progressivism created doesn't exist....
Unless you consider altruism to be the fact that we worship the wealthy because they create jobs?
Does that mean that not taxing interest, dividends, and capital gains at the same rate as wages is a tithing?
I suspect that without both government interference AND government aiding and abetting, the market place would tend to weed out the corrupt rich from among the honest rich. Of course to the jealous and the petty, there's no such thing as an honest rich man.
ReplyDeleteTao,
ReplyDeletethere is a difference between selfishness and self-centeredness. There is a difference between taxation and tithing. and there is a difference between honor and worship.
but most important is the difference between the reality of individualism and the altruism of collectivism.
and remember, greed is the desire for something that belongs to someone else and the willingness to use force in order to obtain it.
and the forced distribution or redistribution of wealth is an example of greed applied.
and the left uses their altruistic collective values to justify their own greed.
the problem with the left is that they are unwilling to apply the same principle of values to the collective as they do to the individual.
Actually George maybe without government, which include the court system, maybe it would be the the honest rich who get weeded out....
ReplyDeleteGriper, would you care to enlighten us as to the difference between selfishness and self centeredness and explain how they differ?
Then as far as the rest of your drivel...
You seem to believe that individualism is something that only the right holds dear. You tend to forget or choose to avoid, that corporations are collectives as is the US Chamber of Commerce and all the little 501 organizations that the right sets up to ensure their grasp on power.
RATIONAL SELFISHNESS - The concern for ones self interest, It has NOTHING to do with screwing others because rationally that would not be in ONES SELF INTEREST.
ReplyDeleteTAO, read the book my friend. Think outside the box that progressives, and yes even RINO conservatives have used to shackle and destroy the concept of individualism and liberty.
Griper - It is clear my dear friend that you are thinking outside the box and indeed understand. Your Socratic method and wisdom is sorely needed in these times.
Gorges - I see your point and would hope you are right. However, I recall the "Robber Barons" {by education of course}and as it turns out they failed to recognize their real LONG TERM self interest. This is a shame really because if they had understood the concept of "rational self interest" we would likely not be shackled with the myriad of governmental regulations that we are today.
Correction last sentence...
ReplyDelete... that we have today.
Tao,
ReplyDeleteby your definition of collectivism that would apply to every business or organization and that would include States and cities as well as small towns.
but it is you that doesn't understand that collectives are without competition. another term for it in the business world is a "monopoly". when you have competition then you have "individual" businesses each competing with each other for the dollar. that is individualism on the large scale and the basis for private enterprise.
unions are examples of monopolies or collectives for they seek to prevent competition.
government utilities are examples of monopolies.
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as for the difference between self centeredness and selfishness. the self centered person focuses on the self and selfishness focuses on possessions.
the self centered person recognizes that his first obligation is to himself first and to those who belong to him and determines the distribution of his possessions in accordance to this principle. free will rules. from this he knows "liberty".
and for those dependent upon him they only remain dependent only as long as they are subordinate to him. dependency is temporary.
the selfish person seeks not to distribute his possessions but seeks to get others to distribute their possessions to satisfy the needs of those he is responsible for as well as himself usually by the means of force. from this he and those who belong to him knows permanent "dependency"
TAO,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned this specific line in your first posting on this thread:
"We have the wealthy who believe they are due the benefits they enjoy because of their wealth."
I'm not trying to sound ignorant or stupid, but could you elaborate? I am taking away from your comment that you despise rich folks because they are...rich? Or are you saying rich folks are snobs who mistakenly believe that they should have preferential treatment because they are rich?
Why do liberals hate rich folks so openly? I mean, look at Hollywood- full of rich liberals- but no one seems to want to lambaste them.
Curious, that.
I'm all for killing rich folks and taking their money to give to poor bastards who have been weened on the government teat and brainwashed that they cannot exist without the Democrats to fight for them. Hell, yeah! Down with those rich richies! Let's get this class warfare started off right!
Always a pleasure!
Donald in Betel, CT
tao,
ReplyDeleteand one more thing, if you noticed i never tried to demean your words by referring to them as "drivel".
Donald, you said...
ReplyDelete"Why do liberals hate rich folks so openly? I mean, look at Hollywood- full of rich liberals- but no one seems to want to lambaste them."
Indeed curious. But you and I, along with tens of million others understand why. Now don't we?
>What we have today is a system of SELFISHNESS
ReplyDeleteCorrect. Selfish politicians and so-called "liberals" and "progressives" (both complete misnomers, of course) want to steal money from me and give it to other people, fund their social-engineering schemes, and tell me what I can and cannot do with my own life and my own property.
However, whether a person chooses to be selfish or not is his or her business, and nobody else's. The only problem is when a selfish government wants to violate my inherent right to my own property, the results of the use of my life and liberty.
Do what you want. Just do it away from me, and with your own property.
Bastiatarian - Rational selfishness as defined in the philosophy of Objectivism is indeed a virtue.
ReplyDeleteIt recognizes property rights rest at the foundation of all other rights, whether they be intellectual, wage or income,
investments, gifted issues, or tangible properties...
Inherently we as individuals intuitively realize this. However, altruism {IE: society at large has accepted this flawed moral hypothesis} has resulted in our current willingness to accept the subjective and immoral right to your property and by extension life.