Folks -

Ayn Rand’s writing has become more popular as the global economy implodes, and governments everywhere give vast sums of money – money which they do not have, nor will have for generations, money which will never be paid back – to companies which either defrauded investors of money, or companies whose greed and poor planning brought them down.

On the other hand, Rand’s philosophy, "selfishness, rather than being evil, is a virtue. By this she did not mean exploiting others à la Bernie Madoff. Selfishness — that is, concern with one’s genuine, long-range interest — she wrote, required a man to think, to produce, and to prosper by trading with others voluntarily to mutual benefit", is as skewed as the current government’s policies.

There are circumstances which overwhelm and supersede such blanket philosophies.

Viktor Frankl, the Viennese psychologist imprisoned in Auschwitz, wrote of his experience, which follows to a logical conclusion the concept of Ayn Rand’s vision:

"It is easy for the outsider to get the wrong conception of camp life, a conception mingled with sentiment and pity. Little does he know of the hard fight for existence which raged among the prisoners. This was an unrelenting struggle for daily bread and for life itself, for one’s own sake or for that of a good friend…

"On the average, only those prisoners could keep alive who, after years of trekking from camp to camp, had lost all scruples in their fight for existence; they were prepared to use every means, honest and otherwise, even brutal force, theft and betrayal of their friends, in order to save themselves. We who have come back, by the aid of many lucky chances or miracles – we know: the best of us did not return."

Ayn Rand’s model of society, while there is some measure of merit to the concept of individual responsibility, does not consider how to cope with those who require assistance and are unable to compensate for the care they need to survive. The current approach by governments of the Western World absolves behavior by business leaders which would be considered criminal, if practised on a smaller scale. This will not have a happy ending for the vast majority of citizens of the First World.

          

What we are witnessing, to my mind, is a classic case of societal collapse, not from a clash of capitalism against socialism, but from having reached the point where the level of complexity in society compels a shift to a simpler way of life. Such reorganizations are not pretty, they are not painless, and they are not benign events in any nation. That such a sequence of events is occurring now is part of the natural life cycle of any society.

For your contemplation.

Jim Szpajcher

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123698976776126461.html#mod=djemEditorialPage

 

MARCH 14, 2009

Is Rand Relevant?

 

by Yaron Brook

 

Ayn Rand died more than a quarter of a century ago, yet her name appears regularly in discussions of our current economic turmoil. Pundits including Rush Limbaugh and Rick Santelli urge listeners to read her books, and her magnum opus, "Atlas Shrugged," is selling at a faster rate today than at any time during its 51-year history.

 

There’s a reason. In "Atlas," Rand tells the story of the U.S. economy crumbling under the weight of crushing government interventions and regulations. Meanwhile, blaming greed and the free market, Washington responds with more controls that only deepen the crisis. Sound familiar?

 

The novel’s eerily prophetic nature is no coincidence. "If you understand the dominant philosophy of a society," Rand wrote elsewhere in "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal," "you can predict its course." Economic crises and runaway government power grabs don’t just happen by themselves; they are the product of the philosophical ideas prevalent in a society — particularly its dominant moral ideas.

 

Why do we accept the budget-busting costs of a welfare state? Because it implements the moral ideal of self-sacrifice to the needy. Why do so few protest the endless regulatory burdens placed on businessmen? Because businessmen are pursuing their self-interest, which we have been taught is dangerous and immoral. Why did the government go on a crusade to promote "affordable housing," which meant forcing banks to make loans to unqualified home buyers? Because we believe people need to be homeowners, whether or not they can afford to pay for houses.

 

The message is always the same: "Selfishness is evil; sacrifice for the needs of others is good." But Rand said this message is wrong — selfishness, rather than being evil, is a virtue. By this she did not mean exploiting others à la Bernie Madoff. Selfishness — that is, concern with one’s genuine, long-range interest — she wrote, required a man to think, to produce, and to prosper by trading with others voluntarily to mutual benefit.

 

Rand also noted that only an ethic of rational selfishness can justify the pursuit of profit that is the basis of capitalism — and that so long as self-interest is tainted by moral suspicion, the profit motive will continue to take the rap for every imaginable (or imagined) social ill and economic disaster. Just look how our present crisis has been attributed to the free market instead of government intervention — and how proposed solutions inevitably involve yet more government intervention to rein in the pursuit of self-interest.

 

Rand offered us a way out — to fight for a morality of rational self-interest, and for capitalism, the system which is its expression. And that is the source of her relevance today.