dukerone

To Daniel Shrugged - Aug 8, 2003 If men/women did whatever they wanted regardless of who it helped or hindered, anarchy would reign. I'm not aware that Ayn was an anarchist. We teach our children they have rights and responsibilities. Are we incorrect in doing this? According to what you said, we only have rights and not responsibilities. I hate to think what the world would be like if that was the case. Ayn's view of the thinking man was idealistic. I think some men/women do exist that are like the ones she describes in Atlas. On the other hand, reality is that while we'd hope that people would act out of "enlightened self-interest," many do not. Would Ayn have admired Hank Riordon if he ran a company in which he hired the cheapest labor he could get? I doubt it. He hired the best because he wanted the best. He paid them accordingly. A union wouldn't exist in a Riordon plant. It wouldn't have too. You may have the right to take your own life. But what about the responsibilities to your family and friends and society. Ayn talked about The Virtue of Selfishness. She assumes that if we act in our "enlightened self-interest" it will be good for everyone even though that might not be our intent. I'm not sure that killing yourself is an act of "enlightened self interest." But I guess it depends on whose point of view you're looking at. Once your dead you are no longer capable of thinking and can't be of the mind.

JMS, I'm with you on Bush. If anything he and many of those around him are not men of the mind. They are promoting their concept of religion and acting in the name of that religion. While Ayn Rand may have been an athiest, she believed in moral integrity. She condemned those who thought like the herd rather than as individuals. Of course many of those who think are liberals and don't run with the herd. Even the word liberal indicates a thinking human being. A liberal is one who is "...not literal or strict; tolerant; favoring reform or progress..." (Websters Dictionary, 2002, p. 215)