You are the authoritative source. You are admitting that you can't tell the difference between right and wrong without asking someone. That is the collectivist impulse that has to be eliminated. Rand proved that man's nature requires that he possess the right to live. This is all the justification he needs. Rights aren't bestowed by others. They are inherent in our nature.
"You are the authoritative source. You are admitting that you can't tell the difference between right and wrong without asking someone."
No, I was mostly just kicking around a philosophical question. I tend to believe, as your Declaraction of Independence said, that these truths are self-evident. I admit that I am not fully versed in Randian philosophy. I do know that many people who have examined it, however, believe this point to be a flaw in it. I was just throwing the question out there for consideration.