Title: Obama about Ayn Rand Post by: herzmeister on October 27, 2012, 01:05:38 PM http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obama-and-the-road-ahead-the-rolling-stone-interview-20121025
Quote Have you ever read Ayn Rand? Sure. What do you think Paul Ryan's obsession with her work would mean if he were vice president? Well, you'd have to ask Paul Ryan what that means to him. Ayn Rand is one of those things that a lot of us, when we were 17 or 18 and feeling misunderstood, we'd pick up. Then, as we get older, we realize that a world in which we're only thinking about ourselves and not thinking about anybody else, in which we're considering the entire project of developing ourselves as more important than our relationships to other people and making sure that everybody else has opportunity – that that's a pretty narrow vision. It's not one that, I think, describes what's best in America. Unfortunately, it does seem as if sometimes that vision of a "you're on your own" society has consumed a big chunk of the Republican Party. Of course, that's not the Republican tradition. I made this point in the first debate. You look at Abraham Lincoln: He very much believed in self-sufficiency and self-reliance. He embodied it – that you work hard and you make it, that your efforts should take you as far as your dreams can take you. But he also understood that there's some things we do better together. That we make investments in our infrastructure and railroads and canals and land-grant colleges and the National Academy of Sciences, because that provides us all with an opportunity to fulfill our potential, and we'll all be better off as a consequence. He also had a sense of deep, profound empathy, a sense of the intrinsic worth of every individual, which led him to his opposition to slavery and ultimately to signing the Emancipation Proclamation. That view of life – as one in which we're all connected, as opposed to all isolated and looking out only for ourselves – that's a view that has made America great and allowed us to stitch together a sense of national identity out of all these different immigrant groups who have come here in waves throughout our history. Title: Re: Obama about Ayn Rand Post by: myrkul on October 27, 2012, 01:50:15 PM http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obama-and-the-road-ahead-the-rolling-stone-interview-20121025 So, he missed the message, too, huh? Not surprising. Most people do. Title: Re: Obama about Ayn Rand Post by: vokain on October 27, 2012, 04:01:47 PM http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obama-and-the-road-ahead-the-rolling-stone-interview-20121025 So, he missed the message, too, huh? Not surprising. Most people do. But it's so simple :( forcing people to work together is not the same nor does it bode as well as letting people work together. And I haven't even directly read any Rand yet. Title: Re: Obama about Ayn Rand Post by: grantbdev on October 27, 2012, 04:14:21 PM I had an Ayn Rand phase when I was younger too. I just could never fully consider myself an Objectivist though, because I couldn't comprehend how you could sincerely think that unlimited greed is moral and altruism is evil. We may come to the same points on actual policy, but I work with a morality/philosophy more in line with Kant and just the basic libertarian principles.
Title: Re: Obama about Ayn Rand Post by: malevolent on October 27, 2012, 04:16:57 PM I had an Ayn Rand phase when I was younger too. I just could never fully consider myself an Objectivist though, because I couldn't comprehend how you could sincerely think that unlimited greed is moral and altruism is evil. We may come to the same points on actual policy, but I work with a morality/philosophy more in line with Kant and just the basic libertarian principles. I have a similar attitude, I like Rand and generally agree with her on most issues but... to a lesser extent (I'm not as 'extreme'). Title: Re: Obama about Ayn Rand Post by: myrkul on October 27, 2012, 05:02:30 PM http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obama-and-the-road-ahead-the-rolling-stone-interview-20121025 So, he missed the message, too, huh? Not surprising. Most people do. But it's so simple :( forcing people to work together is not the same nor does it bode as well as letting people work together. And I haven't even directly read any Rand yet. That's the ticket. :) I had an Ayn Rand phase when I was younger too. I just could never fully consider myself an Objectivist though, because I couldn't comprehend how you could sincerely think that unlimited greed is moral and altruism is evil. We may come to the same points on actual policy, but I work with a morality/philosophy more in line with Kant and just the basic libertarian principles. It's not that altruism is evil, it's sacrifice that's immoral. Altruism is doing good because you enjoy it. Sacrifice is doing good because you don't. Rand is not very good at getting that across, though. She's Russian. They're not so good at the emotional stuff. Title: Re: Obama about Ayn Rand Post by: justusranvier on October 27, 2012, 09:08:12 PM Stefan Molyneux has some very useful critiques of Ayn Rand's approach to ethics.
http://media.freedomainradio.com/feed/FDR_1506_A_brief_history_of_ethics.mp3 (http://media.freedomainradio.com/feed/FDR_1506_A_brief_history_of_ethics.mp3) |