Cracking a joke, jbrenner was!

But if you want to bring down the entire room by being all serious, there's nothing wrong with generosity even if you can't afford it if, in your own hierarchy of values, your own comfort is less important than the benefit to another. Objectivism doesn't disapprove of generosity or even charity. There is a difference between charity and alms, generosity and self-sacrifice.

Forgive me for not remembering the characters' names or for muddling the details, but recall the young woman in Atlas Shrugged who worked at a job helping the less fortunate. She did it because she loved the work and it had meaning for her. Rand wrote her as a sympathetic character, one of life's everyday heroes. The young woman's father berated her for enjoying her work and claimed that she was being immoral unless she felt an obligation to help those beneath her, insisting that she must become a sacrificial piece of meat, or otherwise her work was meaningless. She was being unforgivably selfish if she enjoyed it. If I remember correctly that poor woman was destroyed by guilt and wasted away.

This doesn't apply to Gulchers, but I get so aggravated when people out in the world accuse Objectivism of being cruel and selfish (the modern usage) and Darwinian. That's a sentiment expressed by someone who hasn't read or hasn't understood Rand's novels. She has many characters performing mundane tasks to the very best of their ability, and she is specifically pointing out how valuable they are and how they are heroic in their way. You don't have to be Dagny Taggart or Hank Rearden to be held in esteem.

isn't capital A Altruism actually extortion? . involuntary
giving? . either that, or ransom. -- j
.

you are building instead of shoring-up, which is the essence
of the capitalism which makes the world better for all of us,
even the "unlucky." . Smart Man, Sir & Thanks! -- j
.

my family still has the luger from ww2 -- the most accurate
handgun I ever fired. . it's a long-barrel version from a
german officer. . well-made weapon. -- j
.

Gave away his WWII Luger?! That was very nearly criminal. I have one of those guns. In the early 70's my mom bought it from a neighbor for my dad's birthday. I can't conceive of her ever buying a gun! The neighbor had removed it from the possession of a German officer during the war. All original, serial #s on the gun frame and magazine match. Extra magazine and a small tool all in the original leather holster with buckle-down flap.

It's in great shape and I shoot it from time to time. It stovepipes a round once in a while but I always attributed that to the ammo. That gun is a work of art, beautiful to look at and incredibly comfortable to hold.

I prefer to presume that anyone that comes to the Gulch is worthy of giving the benefit of the doubt. And yes, I can easily afford such generosity. Thanks, Herb.

Hillsdale doesn't take government dollars, but they are affiliated with a Christian denomination. They have both a major and a minor in Christian studies. This may be problematic for Objectivists.

"Giving Tuesday" is a guilt trip. I refuse to accept false guilt. Totally agreed, johnpe1.

By the way, points, schmoints, I participate because I enjoy it. Just think, interacting with Objectivists and incipient Objectivists. It was dry as a desert out there for a while.

There is nothing wrong with generosity so long as it can be easily afforded.

The Lugar is a museum piece but not a very good weapon inasmuch as it is prone to jamming. However, lots of modern very smooth 9mm out there.

I second that.

Pretty stupid, huh?

That's good. Who are they?

hear, hear! -- j
.

I'd prefer to think of it as theft by coercive means. -- j
.

this is the altruism which is anathema to objectivists;;;
it is a guilt trip like so many which we see these days. -- j
.

Check out Hillsdale College. They probably are what you're looking for.

If anyone needs valves, pressure transducers, mass flow controllers, thermocouples, vacuum gauges, Unistrut, etc., or perhaps even chromatography equipment, then contact me. If you need electron microscopy done, I am your guy. I can PM anyone who responds to this message.

JB: I'll check back with you after the holidays to see what you have to trade. Meanwhile, if you have any suggestions send them to me.

Go get'um MichaelA!!

Sigh. Whine. I wish.

My father gave away his Lugar - from WWII.

Jan

I'll gladly take your money, but only if I can trade you something for it. Perhaps some sort of materials or chemistry analytical work? Or perhaps for some refurbished or even unrefurbished equipment?

My university, Florida Tech, is not an Objectivist university, but the vast majority of my colleagues are here because we like an entrepeneurial, non-tenure-granting place.

Jan, I understand what James464 is saying and I pointed him up also. I did so because he's expressing another perspective arriving at the same conclusion, which always interests me.

I never knew anyone thought of donations as a form of worship. I know that charity and tithing are expected, but I never thought of it as a form of worship.

I believe that the act of giving is personal and private and shouldn't be co-opted as a marketing tool for businesses or political agendas.

I do like the idea of giving as something whimsical - I never realized that I sometimes give on a whimsy. It's what I did yesterday when I dropped a Silver Eagle in a tip jar - when no one was looking. The staff and owner at this diner are very special. It was only later that I realized - how the heck are they going to divide that up? Oh well.