Ayn Rand's Objectivist Ethics - Rational Self Interest...
by:Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
Mitt Romney's choice of Paul Ryan to be his running mate has the left twisting themselves into knots in the early attempts to misrepresent Paul Ryan's intellect and ability.
Not content to attack Ryan the lefties have determined to attack Ayn Rand as well. Rand is the author and philosopher that Ryan freely admits had a positive impact on his thinking with respect to governance and ethics.
The reason the left has such obsessive fear (that borders on hatred) of Ayn Rand is she stands for individualism over collectivism, a limited and proper role for the federal government, and she vehemently denounced the very statism that the leftist power structure in America has grown to embrace and herald as proper government
Just as the founding fathers of our democratic republic were classical liberals and enlightened thinkers, Ayn Rand embraced, and advocated classical liberalism. Modern liberals (liberal today means collectivist) fear of the strong individual who is self reliant and lives their life by rational self interest is what drives the collectivist left to destroy individuals like Paul Ryan and distort and lie about the philosophy of Ayn Rand. They will stop at nothing, and will stoop to the lowest levels to defeat that which can and should defeat them.
Isn't it time those of us who value individualism, liberty, a non intrusive federal government, a government that takes a non interventionist foreign policy posture, and who desire fiscal sanity to not be afraid nor embarrassed to advocate for the Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand? Rational Nation over the coming days will be posting videos and pertinent excerpts from Rand's philosophical writings .
It is indeed more important than ever before to keep the philosophy that advocates for limited government, maximum individual liberties, individualism, and protecting the minority against the tyranny of the majority alive. Defeating the collectivist onslaught that only leads to dependency on the nanny state and thus loss of freedoms must be the goal of everyone that cherishes their liberties...
From the Virtue of Selfishness
Information can be found at the Ayn Rand Institute.
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
Mitt Romney's choice of Paul Ryan to be his running mate has the left twisting themselves into knots in the early attempts to misrepresent Paul Ryan's intellect and ability.
Not content to attack Ryan the lefties have determined to attack Ayn Rand as well. Rand is the author and philosopher that Ryan freely admits had a positive impact on his thinking with respect to governance and ethics.
The reason the left has such obsessive fear (that borders on hatred) of Ayn Rand is she stands for individualism over collectivism, a limited and proper role for the federal government, and she vehemently denounced the very statism that the leftist power structure in America has grown to embrace and herald as proper government
Just as the founding fathers of our democratic republic were classical liberals and enlightened thinkers, Ayn Rand embraced, and advocated classical liberalism. Modern liberals (liberal today means collectivist) fear of the strong individual who is self reliant and lives their life by rational self interest is what drives the collectivist left to destroy individuals like Paul Ryan and distort and lie about the philosophy of Ayn Rand. They will stop at nothing, and will stoop to the lowest levels to defeat that which can and should defeat them.
Isn't it time those of us who value individualism, liberty, a non intrusive federal government, a government that takes a non interventionist foreign policy posture, and who desire fiscal sanity to not be afraid nor embarrassed to advocate for the Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand? Rational Nation over the coming days will be posting videos and pertinent excerpts from Rand's philosophical writings .
It is indeed more important than ever before to keep the philosophy that advocates for limited government, maximum individual liberties, individualism, and protecting the minority against the tyranny of the majority alive. Defeating the collectivist onslaught that only leads to dependency on the nanny state and thus loss of freedoms must be the goal of everyone that cherishes their liberties...
From the Virtue of Selfishness
Information can be found at the Ayn Rand Institute.
The Ryan pick has unhinged the loony lefties. They are so dull as to assert that anyone who agrees with her cannot be a Christian.
ReplyDeleteSo does that mean if one believes something written by a Hindu that the reader must convert to Hinduism? Can an atheist never cite any work by a Christian or Muslim?
This is the sophomoric absurdities the left is now engaging in.
I also love how they try to discredit her because of the books. I've tried reading them, and they are not my cup of tea. They are turgid tomes full of cardboard dialog, but I nonetheless find the philosophy contained in them to be rational and relevant since, as you say Les, it is an echo of what the founding fathers believed.
I also am not a fan of her personally. I find her sour and peremptory, but I don't hate her, and a person's persona or actions does not invalidate the truth or validity of what they say.
So, this is just another noisy, low-brow smear by the left designed to keep us from addressing the critical issues facing this nation.
I completely understand what you say with respect to Rand's writings. I too had great difficulty at times with her non fictional expression of her philosophy. But I stuck with it, reading to fully understand her philosophy and ultimately the logical and objective consistency within her philosophy. She was a mixture of Aristotelian and Classical Liberalism philosophically, with some very direct and to many offensive personal characteristics. But so what? As you say it is the message not the messenger that is ultimately important.
DeleteI actually believe there are few Ayn Rand purists. There are many like Raul Ryan that understand the immense value of her message as it applies to proper ethics and governance. Many saddly just do not even make an honest attempt to understand Objectivism. The wailing looney left is at the head of that pack.
Fact: Ryan is a government made man who has been living off tax payer money his whole life.
ReplyDeletePaul Ryan told National Review that he rejects her philosophy:
ReplyDelete“I, like millions of young people in America, read Rand’s novels when I was young. I enjoyed them,” Ryan says. “They spurred an interest in economics, in the Chicago School and Milton Friedman,” a subject he eventually studied as an undergraduate at Miami University in Ohio. “But it’s a big stretch to suggest that a person is therefore an Objectivist.”
“I reject her philosophy,” Ryan says firmly. “It’s an atheist philosophy. It reduces human interactions down to mere contracts and it is antithetical to my worldview. If somebody is going to try to paste a person’s view on epistemology to me, then give me Thomas Aquinas,” who believed that man needs divine help in the pursuit of knowledge. “Don’t give me Ayn Rand,” he says.
He was FOR Ayn Rand before he was AGAINST her--that is once he realized it wouldn't play well in getting voters to vote for him.
Ryan REJECTS Ayn Rand. You need to edit your post to reflect this newest "truth" from Ryan.
Consider your "new information" as update.
DeleteWhat I find myself chuckling at though is how you, as well as other liberal (collectivists) have have panties and pants all twisted up attacking Rand and using her to attack Ryan. Just more diversionary tactics to divert attention from failed Obie.
She certainly did something (apparently a whole bunch) right. She scares the hell out of the looney leftists.
Wrong, RN. She's dead. She can't scare anyone anymore.
ReplyDeleteWhen anyone challenges any conservative, or someone other than a pol that they admire or support, the fall back is ALWAYS:
"Oh, look! The liberals must be SCARED! of her, or him, or it"!
That tactic was used over and over again by conservatives about Sarah Palin.
Notice how scared we are of that has-been?
My dear Shaw, of course neither you, or the liberal collectivist left are scared by Ayn Rand herself. Yes, of course she is dead, and I imagine that when she was alive she scared no one either.
DeleteYou see it is not the person HERSELF the collectivist left is scared of, it is THE CONCEPTS SHE ADVOCATED AND DEVOTED HER LIFE TO FURTHERING that scares hell out of ya all.
As to diversionary BS tactics. The left is all over that like stink on s**t.
"THE CONCEPTS SHE ADVOCATED AND DEVOTED HER LIFE TO FURTHERING that scares hell out of ya all."
ReplyDeleteHow can something I don't care about or pay any attention to "scare" me? No one but Randians even talk about the concepts, so they're not an issue.
"As to diversionary BS tactics. The left is all over that like stink on s**t."
Man, that's one angry statement. Sorry you're so p.o.'d. It's only politics.
Delete
Angry, not at all! Chuckling, ABSOLUTELY!
DeleteAnd, dear Shaw, if you care not why all the misrepresentation and time spent on her? Is it because she is relevant? Is it because her influences indeed exist in the minds of millions? Inquiring minds are anxious to know the truth.
As far as Ryan's plan and his spot on the ticket, if it is he you're going after then why use Rand? Why not stick to the issue IN THIS ELECTION CYCLE that you find offensive, poorly reasoned, etc. and the provide the arguments as to precisely why Obie's plan is better? Oh, that's right, you can't because it isn't.
Diversion, diversion, diversion.
Before people hyperventilate fully on Ryan, a lot (no, not all) of the so-called cuts in his budget are merely cuts in the rate of increase. He starts off with a 2013 budget of 3.5 trillion and ends with a 2022 budget of 4.9 trillion. That's a 40% INCREASE in only 10 years and I would hardly call that draconian.......Now, he does in fact treat the defense department as a sacred cow and that aspect I definitely DO disagree with. But to demonize a guy who was successfully able to cut a deal with the liberal Senator, Ron Wyden, is definitely hyperbole.
ReplyDeleteI also do not believe the DoD budget should NOT be a sacred cow. It must be on the table as well to be fully palatable.
DeleteBut even given if the GOP were to include it and target military cuts the left would still wail about entitlement and the need to forever increase and extend them without a thought as to the dependency it creates or how they are to be paid for. Oh, that's right... TAX the RICH and the deep pockets of businesses.
And the characterization of the Ryan-Wyden Medicare reform plan as a voucher plan is also incorrect. It's a premium support plan that, in addition to Mr. Wyden, has also been championed by former Democratic Senators, John Breaux and Bob Kerry. The premium-cores on the left really need to be educated on this.
DeleteSadly they have cotton in their ears. Apparently.
DeleteLes, Ryan's trying to have to it different ways. You really can't be an Objectivist and strongly Catholic, as bishops and nuns have reminded him. You really have to be one or the other. These are not mutually compatible philosophies. I think he just plays the religious right and in reality doesn't care at all about them.
ReplyDeleteOn top of that, I've watched Ryan on the Hill for many years, and he's among the sleaziest, low-brow, pandering, lying pols there. He's a nasty piece of work. Terrible choice. Biden is going to make him look like the little smarmy punk that he is come the veep debate.
JMJ
Right-o jmj. Been tokin on the hopium heavy I see. Biden ='s Dufus and Dufus ='s Biden. s goofy and idiotic VP as ever there was. Well, I almost forgot about Quayle.
DeleteI do agree that playing to the religious socon right is not compatible with Objectivism. But stick to the issues of importance. Budget deficits, the debt, the nanny state dependency Obie, loves so much, the collectivist plan to destroy capitalism completely in America to name the most important.
?
DeleteI don't know what you're talking about. I was talking about Ryan, Objectivism, and Catholicism. And as for those issues you mention, historically, the GOP has been TERRIBLE about those things.
And Nanny State dependency? Really? What country do you live in? We're the least Nanny Statish of ANY developed nation! You really sound like Rand sometimes - living in an alternate universe.
JMJ
Situation mutual then jmj.
Delete.
ReplyDeleteShould cold selfishness become the template for USA society, or do we still believe in community?
"'Romney and Ryan’s disdain for the working class'
Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate underscores the central question posed by this campaign: Should cold selfishness become the template for our society, or do we still believe in community?
Romney wanted the election to be seen as a referendum on the success or failure of President Obama’s economic policies. Instead, he has revealed that the campaign is really a choice between two starkly different philosophies. One could be summed up as: “We’re all in this together.” The other: “I’ve got mine.”
....................................................... Eugene Robinson
So; are we the people all in this together?!
Ema Nymton
~@:o?
.
Pablum to feed the masses and fuel class warfare Ema.... Good job, we are sure His Wonderfulness will be most pleased.
Delete"...the collectivist plan to destroy capitalism completely in America to name the most important."
ReplyDeleteWith corporations making huge amounts of money and private sector job growth INCREASING, can you explain how Mr. Obama can be destroying capitalism?
Can you do that without repeating platitudes and unrelated talking points?
Thanks.
I said collectivist plan, I did not say Obama specifically. We are, and have been for quite some time on the road to fascism, and since fascism, as I'm sure you know are aware is a socialist construct it is only a matter of time before we cross the line into full fledged fascism or collectivism.
DeleteEspecially likely with the multitude of blogs fueling the steam engine.
Rand had her views. Based on her early life experiences in the USSR. She found authoritarianism abhorrent. Were she alive today she would absolutely NOT be supporting the fascist authoritarian Trump.
ReplyDelete