Objectivist Rehab Program?
Posted by davidmcnab 9 years, 11 months ago to Education
The fact that so many people (even people of genius-level intelligence) spend their lives stuck in looter thinking is evidence of just how insidious, powerful and persistent that mind-set is.
Ayn Rand's novels tend to take a black-and-white view of humanity: you're either a producer or a looter and nothing's going to change. But there are some exceptions. For instance, the young man on the pushbike who meets Howard Roark, sees his new housing development, and is transformed for life.
I'm not interested in people who persist in a life-long choice to remain looters. To me, they're like meth addicts who persistently refuse all help, or babies with their insatiable mouths firmly clamped on the tit of State. But I am interested in those who feel, deep down, that something is wrong, that there must be a better way.
For such borderline cases, there is value to be gained from a program to help them migrate to a whole new perspective. Such people need and deserve support - not in the alms-given sense, but in the sense that we all profit when someone new comes into the Gulch for real.
As someone who was raised an brainwashed in a left-leaning family, community, school and university, I can testify that the looter brainwashing effort is nothing short of spectacular. It's about the only thing the looters are brilliantly capable of. So it needs tremendous ingenuity and persistence on our part to support willing people out of that mind-set. This also implies a view of looters not as moral degenerates (unless they persistently refuse all help), but as victims of endemic organised fraud, victims of philosophical injury who often need help to recover. Just as with a lifelong drug addiction, the barriers to escaping looter consciousness are harrowing.
So I wanted to start discussion here on what a "looter rehab" program would need in order to have the greatest possible chance of success with willing people. A healing program, for willing people to evolve out of looter consciousness into free, empowered, ecstatic producers.
Ayn Rand's novels tend to take a black-and-white view of humanity: you're either a producer or a looter and nothing's going to change. But there are some exceptions. For instance, the young man on the pushbike who meets Howard Roark, sees his new housing development, and is transformed for life.
I'm not interested in people who persist in a life-long choice to remain looters. To me, they're like meth addicts who persistently refuse all help, or babies with their insatiable mouths firmly clamped on the tit of State. But I am interested in those who feel, deep down, that something is wrong, that there must be a better way.
For such borderline cases, there is value to be gained from a program to help them migrate to a whole new perspective. Such people need and deserve support - not in the alms-given sense, but in the sense that we all profit when someone new comes into the Gulch for real.
As someone who was raised an brainwashed in a left-leaning family, community, school and university, I can testify that the looter brainwashing effort is nothing short of spectacular. It's about the only thing the looters are brilliantly capable of. So it needs tremendous ingenuity and persistence on our part to support willing people out of that mind-set. This also implies a view of looters not as moral degenerates (unless they persistently refuse all help), but as victims of endemic organised fraud, victims of philosophical injury who often need help to recover. Just as with a lifelong drug addiction, the barriers to escaping looter consciousness are harrowing.
So I wanted to start discussion here on what a "looter rehab" program would need in order to have the greatest possible chance of success with willing people. A healing program, for willing people to evolve out of looter consciousness into free, empowered, ecstatic producers.
Previous comments... You are currently on page 3.
Help, whatever it is, is NOT there for people who "need" it, "HELP" is there for people who not only WANT it but will do what it takes to get it.
My wife's sister is a great example. My wife in the goodness of her heart wanted to help her sister, for no other reason than she loves her, and cannot stand to see her half starving with no perceived opportunities.
This is where "Rational Self-Interest" collides with "Charity and Altruism."
My personal self interest, and at my expense was to prove a point to my wife and "fix" her mind.
Her sister was attending school to be a CMA, has great grades, and completed her coursework in half the time everyone else did.
During the last 6 months of her training, I offer to let Penny live with my wife and I, complete her classes, and I would pay for her certification exam so she could get a very good paying job.
she graduated, never took her exam, moved in with her son. and went to work part-time at Home Depot, collecting welfare, and food stamps, and complaining about how unfair life is.
Last Thanksgiving Penny had NO money for food because they bought a horse and two goats.
My wife wanted to give them money for food, and I took the time to reason with her, about how that would do NO good other than take money from OUR lives.
The unfortunate aspect of this, is that while I did fix my wife's thinking, because it became painfully aware that money does not fix this issue, Penny has to make her own changes and the ONLY way that will happen is if she has to WORK it our herself. NO amount of charity or good will is going to "help" someone. Only the knawning hunger when their stomach is empty will their brain, hopefully, force them to realize what THEY need to do to fix their lives.
Most people do not have the discretionary resources to prove a point this way.
Now when Penny wants something my wife says NO. Did you get your CMA yet?
Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_fantas... “Studies have found rape fantasy is a common sexual fantasy among both men and women. The fantasy may involve the fantasist as either the one being forced into sex or as the perpetrator. Some studies have found that women tend to fantasize about being forced or coerced into sexual activity more commonly than men.”
Maybe Rand acted out her fantasy in her writing. But, as to more and better sex, I suppose it depends upon the fantasy of the participants.
I also will not call them looters! One of my daughters and her husband are devoted to the Olier. They are not looters! We discuss philosophy often! Sometimes I wonder if they are just teasing me!?!?!
Just what media would this be?
Center from Hard Left is not right wing
I know many socialists and socialist-leaning who are very concerned about protecting the rights of "the little guy," i.e. the guy with little money and property or power, against those with a lot of money who can buy favors. It's a real concern!
However, they're taught to think about it in terms of groups - disadvantaged groups. I like to approach it with : I'm for protecting the smallest minority, the individual. And explain my ideas from that vantage point.
Others are programs that send poor urban kids to farms and camps in the summer. Shows them a whole new aspect of life. Many have hardly ever been out in nature, or paid attention to it, but it can be very soothing and satisfying.
Before I heard of Ayn Rand due to the AS movies, a huge tornado missed my home by a quarter of a mile, causing some damage, though the worst was a pecan tree falling across the street, ripping down all the power lines and almost reaching my front door. The power was restored in 3 days. I had no cable or Internet for a month.
I heard on the news the government was offering a card to cover about $400 for food for tornado survivors, but I knew a lot of people was worse off than me.
A next door neighbor with roof damage said I should get the card because I was having trouble making ends meet and looking for a job though receiving a pension.
I got to thinking OK that $400 would help. There was a huge line at that government building. I got the card and maxed it out buying groceries. I thought that was it.
Big Brother sends a letter to ask me why aren't I using my card EVERY MONTH.
That's when I realized I had electronic food stamps and received a quick education what an EBT card really was on the Internet.
What got me was that Big Brother wanted me to keep using that card bad enough to write an encouraging letter.
I shredded that sneaky backdoor into Obama dependency land.
Later I found a job that I had a while before I returned to fully retired.
I wonder how many people are still using that card but could by without it. Quite a few, I think.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=plea...
And we do! Edit: clarity
For one thing, you have to approach the other person with respect, mind to mind. Not only will they be more receptive (you're not incidentally attacking their egos), but you're modeling what an Objectivist should be like, respecting the other person's individuality and independence. Giving them facts and arguments and doing it with empathy for their point of view - really listening.
And it especially helps to know what values drive them to be a socialist. That way, if any of the reason is based on objectively good values, you can show how your approach better fulfills those values.
BTW, in the '70's, I had opportunities to talk to Rand at Peikoff and Blumenthal's lectures in NYC. I was about 25, but she never, ever treated me in a condescending manner. She always took my questions seriously and spoke to me mind to mind.
1. It's hard work. There is no better cure for the looting mentality than simple, hard work.
2. It teaches pride in hard work. It is an awesome thing to watch plants grow and produce and to know you have had a hand in the process.
3. It teaches the value of investment and return. You till, you plant, you weed, you watch, you harvest.
4. It teaches one to be cognizant of where all food comes from and not to take for granted something we need every day.
5. If you do it right, it gives an opportunity for barter/trade, as you can usually make more than you need, giving you excess for trade with others.
I don't see the corporate-owned right-wing media supporting either cold-turkey or weaning. The best I realistically hope for is freezing spending at current levels, with spending-to-GDP ratio declining slow enough to avoid withdrawal.
The best experience I had, was with a died in the wool socialist, SDS agitator in college in NY, with a Masters in history in his early 30's. It took him 5 yrs to make the full transition to want to reread AS (he'd read it as a socialist from the viewpoint of a man with pride in his own accomplishment. He'd seen it on my bookshelf for all those years and in the first couple made a lot of derogatory comments, but in his reread, we'd often spend another hour or two at work after everyone else had left, discussing what he'd found that he could relate to in his own work and life.
I ran into him 2 or 3 years after he'd moved on and found him taking the mentoring role with a young man working with him. When I made a comment about it, he just turned to me and asked me, 'Was it worth it Jones? The time you spent with me?' I replied, 'Yes Jack, it was.' He came back with, 'It is with me too.' and pointed to his bookshelf with AS and a few others beside it.
That's how it happens. One at a time, several times.
I feel the welfare system would benefit if people's "entitlements" were reduced by 1% every week. That would mean that after a year, they are receiving only 60%, and after 2 years, only 35%. They'd start to get a bit more motivated then.
Load more comments...