"Or did you say it's the love of money that's the root of all evil? To love a thing is to know and love its nature. To love money is to know and love the fact that money is the creation of the best power within you, and your passkey to trade your effort for the effort of the best among men. It's the person who would sell his soul for a nickle, who is loudest in proclaiming his hatred of money - and he has good reason to hate it. The lovers of money are willing to work for it. They know that are able to deserve it."
No, I didn't read it. She gets somewhat belabored and fuzzy most of the time. I don't, for instance, by the nonsense of the equation that a person who will sell his soul for a nickel is the person who hates money. In fact, it is usually the person who is willing to sell his soul for a nickel who most loudly proclaims his love of money. In fact, there is only so much actual work anyone person can do to earn money, and beyond that point, the money gained is not earned by work, but by other means.
For instance, I know for a fact my lawyer does not earn his 400 dollars an hour, neither does he hesitate to charge me two hours for every one he does actually sit on his butt and talk on the phone. By the same token, he regularly gives away his soul for free. That's why I hire him.
Although not addressed to me, you're right - I didn't read it.
"Or did you say it's the love of money that's the root of all evil? To love a thing is to know and love its nature. To love money is to know and love the fact that money is the creation of the best power within you, and your passkey to trade your effort for the effort of the best among men. It's the person who would sell his soul for a nickle, who is loudest in proclaiming his hatred of money - and he has good reason to hate it. The lovers of money are willing to work for it. They know that are able to deserve it."
And I just skimmed this one too. More atheistic tripe from that genius without a soul, Ms. Rand.
To love money is to set it up as one's idol, and is not only sin - but is the epitome of selfish greed.
The author sets up a straw man that to love money is to love work - and to therefore create all kind of wonderful endeavors for mankind. This doesn't fit my experience of people who love money. They tend to find non-productive occupations that produce the maximum amount of revenue for least amount of constructive effort (ambulance chasers; serial sue-ers; etc).
Work is a gift from God. He made Adam a tiller of the garden, and work is the highest form of stewardship. Doing our daily work, whatever and wherever, at our best - is service to God as 'loving our neighbors as ourselves'. Using the gifts of God to their fullest is to acknowledge our gratitude to God.
I like Ms. Rand's politics - but I've never been able to get through more than a paragraph of her writings without getting sick to my stomach. Although claiming to be for freedom she leads her followers into chains:
John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
What does this heroic materialism mean, except that we are our own gods and the source of our own salvation?
Well, she tries to cover all her bases by predicting which questions would be asked. The problem here is that in order to do so she has to redefine what A) Love IS, and B) what love of money, in particular, means. After building this paper tiger it is then knocked down without ever addressing the real issue. She does not understand what the passage of scripture in Timothy, which someone else has quoted above, even means or is getting at. It is dealing with the human condition of greed and selfishness. And, as usual, Ayan Rand is great with circular logic, which is why she turns me off. :O
I am not a purist capitalist, though I am a capitalist. Whether you want to accept it or not, your local Fire Department or Police Department is paid for by your tax dollars. That is socialism (Little "s" if you will) The money of the community (communi- root, get that?) is used to pay for these services. So you could say that for the ability of a society/community to funtion effectively and look out for each other a little socialism is neccesary. (Little "s", is good).
Don't freak out on me now or misunderstand me at all. I am saying there must be a balance in the order of things. When the pendulum swings to far to either the right or left (the conservative or liberal) or to the north or the south (authoritarianism or libertarianism) then things are out of balance and their are violent reactions to correct the balance.
The greed of the corporations during the peak of the industrial revolution is well documented - where di we get the child labor laws? Or would you defend the working conditions imposed upon children by the corporations during that era? The laws that were made to protect children and the laws that were made to stop human abuses, etc. were passed by "liberals" of that era. Though just about everyone who even calls himslef a conservative today would agree that those laws were neccesary (with the exception perhaps by some of the busting up of monopolies?). So where do we find ourselves today? Agreeing with something that back then conservatives opposed and the big corporations opposed.
Why? Why? for "Love" of money, as defined by Rand? Not at all. But by greed of the human heart. It is the evil that man is capable of that must be guarded against. One only need look at the events of September 11 to see that this is so. In the minds of those who carry out inhuman deeds against their fellow man, there is always a justification in the mind of the perpetrator that what he is doing is "right". But that doesn't make it so. Certainly not from the viewpoint of the victim(s). Rand is a humanist and the pure humanism as reflected by many purist capitalists/objectivists that I know or have talked with is as close to the definition of evil-greed as Rand's definition of what is measnt by the scripture in Timothy is NOT.