This concept may be original in the thinking of Rand and is foundational to her moral theory: she holds that evil is a parasite on the good and can only exist if the good tolerates it. Atlas Shrugged can be seen as an answer to the question of what would happen if this sanction were revoked. When Atlas shrugs, relieving himself of the burden of carrying the world, he is revoking his sanction.
--wikipedia
Thanks for posting this (#7). During the debate over who the rebels might be in Libya and whether we should assist in Gadaffi's removal, I concluded they'd likely be Arab muslims and it really wouldn't matter- any outcome would not benefit us or the west in general. It's due to hatred ingrained in their society, something that's held them back for ages.
Establishing a society that respects life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with the greatest protections against tyranny ever created was an act of love- love of the people. Muslims and communists build society around hate and fear.
Which led me to conclude that we must do everything we can to disengage from these societies as there is nothing to be gained from them. We must look toward the future for ourselves and abandon those who are mired in a centuries-old pattern of hate and it's inevitable lack of productivity.
Our duty is to ourselves, our children, and their children. We experimented with the Great Society at great cost in the form of opportunities missed by investing in failed policies where much better returns could have been had if we'd never chosen to do so. Trillions of dollars later, the problems we sought to solve have worsened. Dicking around in the middle east trying to establish 'democracy' will only cost us as much if not more of that which we desperately need to better ourselves and the west in general- our wealth.
We in the west (including Israel and India) must turn our backs on the haters. We must move toward energy independence and deny them the funds they use to attack us. Let them eat goat. And we should do this because we can and, someday they may thank us. If that day never comes, who cares? Let them eat dust. As to our domestic 'haters', many who depend on the public for sustenance be it the trough or the teat, we must be prepared to do the same. It's not a question of whether we are capable of carrying the heavy load they place upon us, but rather, should we? Are there not ways to lighten it?
Doing nothing is no longer an option if we're to survive as a free country. We must disengage from those who expect a handout with no intention of helping us build a more productive society. We must lose the failed policies of the past like public education ministries where gobs of money are thrown at failure. Make it local, make it accountable, or make it go away. And that goes, as well, for just about every damn government program in existence today.
We've got the people who can do it as many of them turned out last November (2010). I suspect that was just the tip of the iceberg as many more will soon realize how unrealistic what comes out of Washington really is. The future is THAT WAY and we are the ones best suited to get there. Not the Arabs, not the communists, not even our domestic Michael Moores, just us. My hope is that very soon this train will be leaving the station- if only for our kid's sake. It's been fun visiting Buttdragville, but it's time to move on.