Pathways to Objectivism
The Ayn Rand Institute congratulates itself, but not without empirical evidence.
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Morally, "the root of all evil" is the desire for the unearned. Politically, said evil is the actual attempt to obtain the unearned by compulsion.
Someone acting on the former is emotionally, a miserable creature. Someone choosing to act on their behalf is a criminal.
Though Rand was not without error, her thinking was truly profound!
Jan
Jan
Rand said it first, for me. -- j
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Rand's books help us to achieve the proper balance.
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It is our nature to be volitional creatures who must choose their values by first choosing to think.
But, given that, "we" (who?) are not "naturally" selfish or naturally altruistic (in either sense). People are different. Individuality - not individualism - is indeed within our natures: within your own body, it is likely that no two hemoglobin molecules are identical.
One way to look at any social species whether humans or salmon or whatever, is to identify Alpha leaders, Beta followers, Gamma floaters, and Omega drop-outs. Many Objectivists are gammas who participate in this or that society for some time or other, but who move on to some other society. In the wilds, the gammas move from gene pool to gene pool preventing inbreeding. They often mate successfully over and above the successes of Alphas. ("Chicks like rogues." - and that goes for nice boys and rogue chicks, too.)
But some members of every group never participate in anything, keep totally to themselves, and do not reproduce -- yet they appear in every generation.
You can find Alpha and Beta libertarians; and you can find Gamma and Omega socialists. Perhaps this would make a good discussion as a new topic.
The vast population of "most people" is "down there" somewhere. They live their lives seemingly well enough, never making full and conscious choices about deep and consequential matters in their lives: they accept what they are given and never question what they are born into.
That does not contradict the fact that it is human nature to choose values by first choosing to think. Animals do not do this. Plants do not. Only humans do this. It is (apparently) our unique nature to be volitional creatures. The first choice is the choice to think. Based on that, it is our nature to choose our values.
People survive at all only by choosing to think and choosing their values. How well they thrive is a consequence of how consistently their choose for their own best interests.
I recommend that if you enjoyed Atlas Shrugged you read Ayn Rand's non-fiction.
Value is a verb.
A coworker handed me a copy of Atlas Shrugged.
And all the way through the book I kept saying to myself "I'm not crazy, at least one other person in this world has had the sam and emotions that I have had all my life". And reading Rand's writings and attending several of the taped lecture series over the next several years cemented my convictions.
I find this heartening, actually.
Jan
themselves objectivists, and that's 79 percent...... but
where did visible appear? -- j
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What that means to me is that if someone were to round up 'all objectivists', many would be overlooked.
Jan
Jan
On the ARI site, you can find the results of their essay contests. Many of the winners come from Catholic high schools. No one is teaching Objectivism there. Yet, people there are (budding) Objectivists
Jan
hesitant to show it for fear of being ostracized and the like. . when I was
carrying the Q clearance for so long, I even recycled the notes which
I had made for a concordance for AS. . I didn't want a girlfriend to find them
and turn me in. . but that was the eighties. -- j
.
Jan
and family -- how loyal is he to the u.s.? . does he drink?
what social functions? . what political functions? . what books?
what tv shows? . what private comments might make him
a security concern for you or the nation? . could you trust
him with your most personal secrets? . what street drugs
does he use? . when did he stop beating his wife? -- j
.
Jan
with the recycled mixed paper. . it reminds me of a reunion
which I had in 87, with a high school friend whom I wanted
to date. . as we were getting to know one another again,
she decided one afternoon to bring out a little MJ to go with
our drinks. . at that point, I had to choose, and decided
to go with my "career" ... after apologetically declining
the offer, I explained it to her. . it's just history. . I had to leave.
it's all sad, really, that our lives are so circumscripted by
things which amount to hazing -- forced conformity which
keeps us from being ourselves, from being free, from
making value with our lives in original and creative ways. -- j
.
things which amount to hazing -- forced conformity which
keeps us from being ourselves, from being free, from
making value with our lives in original and creative ways."
That deserves a thread of its own, johnpe!
the praise of conformity, the nasty consequences for
"sticking out" of the crowd? . pisses me off. -- j
.
No one is obliged to like me or agree with me. And vice versa.
Jan
.
Jan
in my humble opinion, Jan. -- j
It has not gotten better.
Jan
and veterans are currently considered security risks,
those insidious right-wingers who loved the John Birchers
and joined Young Americans for Freedom were not trustworthy.
knowing the real message which Rand implies in AS --
the "forcible inducement" of change in the u.s. -- I was
thoroughly convinced that the FBI, and later the OPM,
would read me as a potential subversive. -- j
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like the manhattan project can exert on employees. . while Oppenheimer
didn't view secrecy like we do now, it is taken Very Seriously
and this background evaluation is strong. . and they knew
that I was an officer in the usaf, of course. -- j
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(jan)
My view of Objectivism from hearing casual conversation, before I'd actually read any books, went like this: "Anything that in anyway smacks of being helpful is immoral. Only trades involving tangible value are moral. What you personally want does not matter. Sunstone Circuits started not long before I did, but I'm not making millions a year. It could be they're more innovative at helping customers. The only possible explanation is it's other people's fault: moochers, gov't policy, the banking system, immigrants, really anything except for things I did. Huge institutions created by an evil world are pulling my strings. Life is a box shits; you never know what bad things will happen next. If you notice anything positive happening, you must be a shill for the establishment because the truly righteous are down about everything.
For this reason I thought I hated Objectivism and wouldn't probably get through one book. Based on the fictional books, I'm a full-on objectivist. I've read parts of The Virtue of Selfishness, but I read it in bed, which doesn't work for history and philosophy.
Appropriate 'selfishness' is more clearly seen when someone else is trying to give away your stuff for a cause that you do not regard benefits you.
Jan
regardless of your will, or shaming you into altruism
in a myriad other ways. -- j
.
I think I am probably in good and ample company here with respect to reacting negatively if someone tries to force me to do something or manipulate me. Eh?
Jan
My time in the military has done nothing to disabuse me of belief in the "Bell Curve". The people I met there ran the gamut from straight-up sorts to utter sleazes.
I was a Sgt, but my father was an officer and he was an honorable man who kept his word and took care of his men. He was a war-time officer, though, and while he was capable of great diplomacy he did not prosper in a peacetime military: When it came down to the wire, taking care of his men was his highest priority. (Yes, he was a Maverick - or I guess they call them Mustangs now).
Jan
The problem as regards officers, as I see it, is that liars have no difficulty repeating an oath not to lie. The University of Virginia, which also still has an honor code, is finding that, too.
Jan
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In the academies for officers, non-commissioned we learned what to expect and how to deal with. I found that education to be worth more than the rest of it put together.
When you found an officer, commissioned who understood the contradiction surprise surprise they had read Ayn Rand...almost invariably or figured out for themselves 'check premises' and a few other truisms such as words have meanings.
Officers, Warrant if former officers, non- commissioned in one group. The Mustangs. The others were ....bore watching.
We also learned to think of ourselves in the manner I have just pointed out. Officers modified by type of. The reason given for that which I passed on is one never knew when a Corporal would be a Platoon Leader or a Platoon Sergeant a Company Commander or a hopefully senior Sergeant the battalion S3.
Bloody wars and quick promotions no matter how temporary. OR...You plan your day but the day plans you.
the exalted position of adjutant. . don't remember our oath
back then, but the biggie is still with me. . it took me about 22 years
to go from gold bar to LC, but it took my dad only 3 years .......
in ww2. . field promotion to LC in the phillippines. -- j
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patriotism play in an objectivist's view of life? -- j
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Where did those terms come from. Observers from the rest of the world who ask "What happened? Your country is such a fascist police state any more." A telling comment was "No matter how bad we could always count on the USA." I had nothing to counter those observations. I have nothing to counter those comments.
Point being it depends on what the definition of patriotism means to you. To me it means being proclaimed an enemy and a danger of and to the current regime for having served the USA those many years. It's their country now. Not mine. Mine got lost in the shuffle by the citizens who sent us out to fight their wars. But citizens of what? Nothing I recognize.
being out there. . I rang up an ask-the-gulch
regarding patriotism. . we'll see how that goes! -- j
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Jan
I have gotten very determined about not donating to charities. I will donate to things I use, such as Wikipedia and my classical music radio station. This is fair trade.
How about you?
Jan, no children! yay!
Comment in quote by John Stuart Mills writings on Comte's Positivism. and only zero cents through kindle which is positive to me and makes me and other? Donation jar at the door.
"M. Comte infers that the good of others is the only inducement on which we should allow ourselves to act; and that we should endeavour to starve the whole of the desires which point to our personal satisfaction, by denying them all gratification not strictly required by physical necessities. The golden rule of morality, in M. Comte's religion, is to live for others, "vivre pour autrui." To do as we would be done by, and to love our neighbour as ourself, are not sufficient for him: they partake, he thinks, of the nature of personal calculations. We should endeavour not to love ourselves at all. We shall not succeed in it, but we should make the nearest approach to it possible.
Mill, John Stuart (2012-05-17). Auguste Comte and Positivism (p. 59). . Kindle Edition.
and my job as a manager gave me the requirement to solicit
UW contributions. . when people said no, I certainly did not push,
the least little bit. -- j
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Consider the problem of establishing truth. You will not get that from WTL, Anthem, or The Fountainhead. Even Galt's Speech only outlines the solution.
You can respond positively to the moral tone of Rand's fiction, and still make serious errors in philosophy, as many people here do. "What are the three axioms of Objectivism?" Everyone gets it wrong.
“Consciousness perceives existence.”
“An existent is itself.” (Often referred to as “A is A,” or the Law of Identity.)
A corollary of the Law of Identity is the Law of Causality, which states that an entity acts as itself.
I had just reviewed that for my commentary on the Secular Progressive view point mmmmm which denies it self and allows only 'we self' or better yet 'we group.' Good Timing It did make me feel good. Even better after I reviewed the entire section. Sometimes it's good to go back and review the basics.