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Thoughts on my speech on altruism?

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AmbivalentEye

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I was allowed to have a maximum of 100 words from another work, that's why I used the same "Robin Hood" example as in Atlas Shrugged. I will be presenting thgis speech in a tournament next Saturday. I would appreciate any commentary.

Have you ever read Robin Hood? Have you ever heard of him? Robin hood is one of the most famous stories of all time. It has been passed on from generation to generation. There have been countless movies made on it and little children’s books with colorful pictures. And all this time… Throughout all of the years of being told of the noble acts of a man in tights that took from the rich to give to the poor, very few have ever stopped to realize that it is one of the most dangerous and horrible stories of all time. Let’s look at this from a different perspective. Here is a man that claims it right to take away from a productive high class society to give to the homeless, groveling, beggars on the streets simply because they believed they “needed” things more. Don’t get me wrong, I know the story did not originate this way, I hope. I’m sure the original version meant that Robin was taking from the looting rulers to give back to those that had been robbed, but that’s not the story that has survived the ages. Now, he is remembered not as defender of property, but as the instigator that supplemented those that based their gains on needs. He suddenly isn’t the defender of the robbed, but rather a provider of the poor –a complete altruist that did things “for the good of the people”. This is what is destroying our society: this so-called, “Good of the people”, these selfless acts –this altruism.

According to Webster’s dictionary, Altruism is described as the selfless concern for the welfare of others, or the devotion to the interests of others. Did you notice anything wrong with that definition? If you didn’t, then you are the type of person that has already been corrupted. First of all, “selfless concern”. SELFLESS, meaning, NO SELF! As if you were nonhuman. How could anyone do anything without the slightest concern for himself or herself? Why can’t we preach the selfish concern for YOUR OWN welfare? Wouldn’t that be more logical? You exist to keep yourself alive. Shouldn’t you always seek out what is best for YOU? Selflessness is seriously the most evil premise being advocated throughout the world today, and do you have any idea what selflessness results in? Selflessness results in the loss of control of your own existence. So basically, you don’t have a choice in anything you do or say. Selflessness is like the Anti-American, a citizen with absolutely no freedoms who is subjective to the whims of a totalitarian state. This is what happens you know. A selfless person is first controlled by their kindred, then by the masses, and then by the state. Do you know what this is called? Shh… I’ll tell you… It’s called socialism.

Altruism is the core of socialist philosophies and socialist governments. Socialist philosophy holds that individuals have a moral obligation to help others, if necessary, at the expense of one's own interest or benefit. Any person who follows that doctrine is known as an "altruist.” What are socialist governments you might ask? Well, some of the most common examples are: fascism, communism, absolutism, Marxism, and Leninism. The exact political parties that throughout history have threatened to bring the end of the world.

For example, in the early 1900’s, socialist governments were developing in nations all around the world. In Spain, Francisco Franco imposed fascism on the Spanish society, which gave government complete control of the economy, demanded public nationalism, and brutally suppressed any opposition. This is also called totalitarianism, or a policy of controlling all aspects of human life and the wiping out any resistance.

In the Soviet Union that once dominated Russia, communism advocated a society of no social classes and an economy where everything was distributed evenly amongst everyone. First of all, by wiping out social classes, you are forcing people to be the same. Suddenly there are no leaders or producers because everything is done by a collective and distributed collectively. Do you have any idea what this means? It means that anything you make doesn’t really belong to you, it belongs to the nation, and the nation splits it up into 5 million little pieces to give a fraction of nothingness to everyone. YOU KNOW what this is like. I know you do. Do you remember that time when you were really young and one of your siblings or cousins came into your room and took something amazing you had just made? You probably screamed about it, or cried about it, or went to your parents to complain (like we all do). Then your parents said, “Oh let them hold it for a while. You’ve got to learn how to share” SHARE? Do you know where the word “share” has gotten us with most of our youthful creations? It has ended up in total destruction. You know what I mean. You’re sitting down making a drawing, then your little brother or cousin comes along and you know you have to “share” so you let him borrow some, and the little brat breaks all of your colors and scribbles on your page! This altruism being taught by parents everywhere is what later results in the socialist nations. What right does the man down the street have to your property? What right does the president have to your clothes or your food? What right does your brother have to YOUR colors???

Society needs to start being more selfish. The problem is, that the word selfishness is like a golden statue that has been covered over with thick dust because of misinterpretations. People believe that being selfish is to not care about anybody else and to claim everything for yourself regardless of who it’s harming. But the truth is, that if you went to the original definition, selfishness is actually the anti-altruism. It is the primary concern for your welfare above all others, and the pursuit of things that benefit your life. The main reason why even today, we are in danger of socialist governments, is because people continue to see selfishness as a vice instead of a virtue. If you’re trying to keep yourself alive and pursue your own happiness, isn’t it logical to have yourself as your number one priority? Society, for decades, has failed to acknowledge that what they really want from the youth of this country is for us to be more selfish. If all students were selfish then they would strive for their optimum potential and the achievement of their goals. According to the Yellow Ribbon Association that struggles to minimize teenage suicides, there are about 3 teenage suicides for every homicidal act in this country, and the rate has actually tripled since the 1970’s. Also, ANRED Inc., which stands for Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, has also stated that there are about 5 million teenage Americans today that suffer from eating disorders. If students were all selfish, there wouldn’t be all of these alarmingly high suicide rates and eating disorders, because for you to be selfish you have to care about yourself and about keeping yourself in the best condition. Why would you be altruistic and try to fix someone else’s life at the expense of your own. I mean, if all of the religious premises weren’t a factor, what benefit could you possibly get from starving just to hand your money over to beggars? Yes, they may “need” it more than you do, but the vital point is that you need it as well, and you deserve to keep that money because you have earned it. What can the beggar say in regards to that? You can’t possibly believe that someone who made wrong decisions to end up on the streets and that doesn’t really care about life, has a greater right to your money that you do even though you were the one that worked hours and struggled to get it. Thus, your best interest should be placed above all others before you even consider being a part of some sort of charity.

So getting back to Robin Hood. This is a man that has been praised as a symbol of inspiring humility and charity with wealth that he did not own; by giving away goods that he did not produce. He made it seem like need was the source of right; as if a person deserved to be given everything simply because they needed it more than another. He is the reason why so many people give up every day and expect to be supported by the government. Why so many get huge loans, never pay their bills, and still expect financial assistance. The elder says, “ The government has to pay my medications! It is their duty!” The merchant screams, “He’s made a product that the people need so we should just nationalize it and give it to everyone!” The student whines “ But the state has to fund my education! I mean come on, I was Senior King and the President of the drama club!” What all of these people are expecting without any substantial basis for their requests or anything to barter with, is pure altruism. And it is people that think this way, that make living for the rest of us so horrible. Robin Hood is the man that devoted his life to his inferiors by constantly robbing from his superiors, and in the same way, governments throughout history have likewise enforced extreme taxes on the upper class to supply benefits for the lower class.

Altruism is the reason why people are falling apart all around us. Because by following altruism, they have devoted themselves to the interests of others, rather than being concerned with their own profits and well-being. These premises are what we should be fighting. We should be opposing the Robin Hoods that tell us that we should live for the sake of other people’s lives. In the mid-1900’s a woman named Ayn Rand was one of the first, and most successful people in creating a movement against altruism. It was called,”Objectivism”. I leave you with a direct quote from Ayn Rand’s novel, Atlas Shrugged, and the oath that I have now claimed for my own life: “I SWEAR BY MY LIFE AND MY LOVE OF IT THAT I WILL NEVER LIVE FOR THE SAKE OF ANOTHER MAN, NOR ASK ANOTHER MAN TO LIVE FOR MINE.”

Edited by Felipe
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I'm with Al on this one. I'd like to know some more about the RH story. It took place in the middle ages didn't it? If it did, then I bet the rich consisted of money-extortionists.

Nevertheless, it is important to make the facts clear, b/c after children read RH, they probably leave with the idea of "stealing from the rich and giving to the poor," and other altruistic insinuating ideas. =P

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

In Atlas Shrugged Ragnar explains that although Robin hood stole from the thieving rich and returned money to the extorted poor, he later came to be seen not as a champion of justice, but of need and that's why Ragnar wanted to wipe out the legend.

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  • 2 months later...

I wrote a new Piece. It's called "Feeling For Life"

I did so for various reasons:

1. Emotions make up every aspect of my life right now, so I wanted to express a view on the topic.

2. As part of my midterm exam, I have to present an Oratory to my Debate class, and I thought it would be too cheap of me to just use the old one. So I wrote up a whole new one.

3. I got thrird place twice, but only in minor tournaments, and one of those times I wasn't even acknowledged for my achievement. I got a lot of criticism about the controversy of my viewpoint on altruism, and since most of my judges are parents who advocate selflessness for the sake of their children, by piece never recieved much appeal anywhere that I presented it.

I was also told that the topic itself was not strong enough to be defended in a powerful and moving way (I can't write like Ayn Rand). Which I also saw in another kid whose speech was PROALTRUISM, and he never got much attention either.

The other thing is that I'm a first year debater (novice), so my coaches say that the topic might be too complicated for me to tackle without the experience at public speaking.

So I'm not sure what to think, or if I should continue using the Altruism oratory in competitions anymore.

Well, either way, I have a new oratory that I have also posted, so I'm hoping you'll give me your honest constructive criticism.

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