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To: Texas_shutterbug; SoftballMominVA
The author supposes that the world would be a better place if we all acted in our own greedy self interests. Isn't that in direct contradiction to that other book you mention - the Bible?

Think about it. Both philosophies cannot be true.

Rand completely missed the fact that the tenets of The Bible are the indispensable elements that PREVENT self-interest from becoming greedy. Our entire economic system; the "invisible hand" of the Free Market requires self-interest to function, BUT if we would have it not merely function, but soar free of the detrimental friction that is corruption, then that self-interest MUST be tempered with Biblical principles that enable the soul to see, think, and feel beyond self to the needs and interests of others.

Call it "godly self-interest", but it suffuses the quest to provide for self and immediate family, with that peculiarly Biblical "Good Samaritan" awareness that empowers us to discern when to subjugate our plan to meet the needs of self to a plan that addresses the more urgent needs of someone else, and enlivens us to do it NOT because we HAVE TO, but because we — out of gratefulness to The Almighty for His grace upon our own lives — truly WANT to bless Him, by our acts of selfLESSness.

102 posted on 11/03/2008 8:37:02 PM PST by HKMk23 (If you ever reach total enlightenment while drinking beer, I bet it makes beer shoot out your nose.)
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To: HKMk23; Texas_shutterbug

The cornerstone of Objectivism isn’t greed; it is rational self-interest. Add to that the individual freedom to achieve without exploitation, and you have two of the most powerful facets of the philosophy.

Rand did not have a “hatred” of God, either. What she had was a hatred towards what she called “mysticism”, or the abandonment of reason for religion when it came to governing societies or economies.


106 posted on 11/04/2008 5:05:08 AM PST by snowrip (Liberal? YOU ARE A SOCIALIST WITH NO RATIONAL ARGUMENT.)
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