Passive Citizenship
Posted by coaldigger 4 years, 3 months ago to Culture
I have always argued for maximum freedom for everyone and one of the basic differences between libertarians and objectivists that I had to do the most thinking on was the role of government. I am constantly reminded of how brilliant Ayn Rand was and as I have discovered her approach is the most rational. In order to have a modern society with maximum individual freedom, a government to protect their individual rights is absolutely critical. It remains to be seen if a government will ever be satisfied to stay within those guidelines but we, in America, came the closest to doing so.
I thought that Objectivism would take hold and preserve what we had begun but it has not. I understood that ultimately altruism would have to be eliminated in public policy and that it was born of and fed by religion but I thought that that could be eroded gradually and people would see that not only was the welfare state not necessary it was evil. I argued with some objectivist scholars that we needed to stop being so demanding of a purity of approach and gradually win them over and they said it would never work. After much struggle I came to the same conclusion and unfortunately there is zero chance of our winning the battle as long as they have producers that refuse to stop producing against all odds. In other words Atlas Shrugged is real. No individual or number of individuals with similar beliefs will form into a force large enough without a John Galt and he does not exist. We are INDIVIDUALS and as such will not form a tribe, a collective, a party or any kind of group. We are strong, rational, intellectual, ambitious, productive, energetic but we are loners, individuals and we meet every obstacle as a power of one. We will not join together and go on strike.
I have now concluded that there is a silver lining and that is that mankind is a collection of traits that we are born with in different proportions. Men of the mind will not die out. Their offspring will carry on the traits to be born over and over. When the inevitable dark ages return they will slowly return to lead a renaissance. The ancient Greeks had steam engines but the knowledge was lost until the 1800's. Sadly, in 3,000 years some Marconi might be broadcasting lyre music on vacuum tube transmitters.
I am too old to worry about it any longer. Collectivism is like the tide and you can't keep it from covering the beach by bailing with a bucket.
I thought that Objectivism would take hold and preserve what we had begun but it has not. I understood that ultimately altruism would have to be eliminated in public policy and that it was born of and fed by religion but I thought that that could be eroded gradually and people would see that not only was the welfare state not necessary it was evil. I argued with some objectivist scholars that we needed to stop being so demanding of a purity of approach and gradually win them over and they said it would never work. After much struggle I came to the same conclusion and unfortunately there is zero chance of our winning the battle as long as they have producers that refuse to stop producing against all odds. In other words Atlas Shrugged is real. No individual or number of individuals with similar beliefs will form into a force large enough without a John Galt and he does not exist. We are INDIVIDUALS and as such will not form a tribe, a collective, a party or any kind of group. We are strong, rational, intellectual, ambitious, productive, energetic but we are loners, individuals and we meet every obstacle as a power of one. We will not join together and go on strike.
I have now concluded that there is a silver lining and that is that mankind is a collection of traits that we are born with in different proportions. Men of the mind will not die out. Their offspring will carry on the traits to be born over and over. When the inevitable dark ages return they will slowly return to lead a renaissance. The ancient Greeks had steam engines but the knowledge was lost until the 1800's. Sadly, in 3,000 years some Marconi might be broadcasting lyre music on vacuum tube transmitters.
I am too old to worry about it any longer. Collectivism is like the tide and you can't keep it from covering the beach by bailing with a bucket.
