Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
The article is ignorant of Rand and Zen.
Adam Smith...The Wealth of Nations..
No, Rand literally didn't believe in God. Goodness man, either agree or disagree with Rand's opinions, but at least learn what they are before you do so.
In Ethics of Emergencies Ayn Rand states that man is not a sacrificial animal, and helping others is not his sacrificial duty. The rational man identifies and evaluates instances involving helping others and offers non-sacrificial help to others when it is in accordance with his own hierarchy of rational values and never sacrifices a greater value to a lesser one.
The opposite idea was stated by Hitler in the form of "This state of mind, which subordinates the interests of the ego to the conservation of the community, is really the first premise for every truly human culture...The basic attitude from which such activity arise, we call - to distinguish it from egoism and selfishness - idealism. By this we understand only the individual's capacity to make sacrifices for the community, for his fellow men."
I found it to be well-intentioned, not gibberish, and pleasantly quixotic. I practically laughed out loud at the, “...and then some historical stuff happened...” line. Come on, folks. I’ve read most of Rand and she was fascinating; but we need to recognize some light humor sprinkled with philosophy, when it comes along.
Having a strong, negative reaction to this piece is a bit like having a strong, negative reaction to a football game. Games are for enjoying. If you lose sght of that, you have lost your taste for life and have allowed people you disagree with to affect you at your own core. Don’t cede your core.