First, let me say, no persuasion will be forthcoming.
Next, let me say thank you. An interesting, thought provoking discussion on such a potentially divisive topic is a rarity, but it is one of the hallmarks of Freerepublic.
This is interesting because I agree with her rebuke of Altruism as portrayed in her books. But what I notice in the characters is that they are unable to invoke altruism in themselves. It is always demanded of others, but never of the characters demanding it. Not that I can remember anyway. It was demanded of Hank and Dagny by their family members, but those characters gave nothing.
Is there any character in her stories, or examples in her other writings of a person, real or fictitious who actually personified Altruism? Do you recall what her assessment was of that person?
But they were practicing it fully. You see the standard of value of altruism is the zero. Whatever virtue you choose to name it was their lack of it that gave them first rights to the lives of Hank, Dagney, Francisco and the rest of the producers. They were good according to the altruist morality precisely because of the inability to produce the values needed to sustain their lives and a Hank Reardon was evil because he was supremely good at it. The goal of altruism is selflessness, which is really non existence if you think about it. The desire to be selfless is the desire not to exist. Besides all that talk about the good of others is just a smoke screen to hide their true motive, even from themselves, which is hatred of the good for being good, hatred of existence and of life and of the virtues required for life. Notice how all the looters were disappointed when the bridge didn’t collapse. They could not stand the sight of a superlative achievement of the mind and they felt compelled to destroy it.
You know when I first read that book, Atlas Shrugged, I was so angry I wanted to throw it in the fire. I couldn’t believe she would suggest that the looters, and by extension our modern day liberals, did not want to live. I thought it ridiculous but at the same time there was this nagging feeling that kept making me return to that book. It caused me for the first time in my life to examine all of my premises. I have always thought about the big questions in life and one thing I could never understand was leftists. I always thought they wanted the best for everybody just as I did. I took them at there word that they wanted prosperity for everyone but I could not reconcile this with their policies and actions and embracing of communism. Couldn’t they see the results of communism and the millions upon millions of bodies piled up by it? Then one day I asked myself what if they don’t want prosperity. What if there purpose was the piles of bodies? I’ll tell you it was as if all the tumblers in a lock finally snapped into place and the truth came crashing down on me. I got chills up and down my spine because every contradiction that had been driving me crazy about them suddenly made perfect sense. That is when I knew she was indeed right. But answer it for yourself. Just look at all the things liberals consider evil and all the things they rail against and all the things they support and ask yourself if their purpose is life. It was five years ago when I made that connection and now I can not look at them as Human. I’m not talking about your average run of the mill Democrat but people like Obama, Kass Sunstein, Van Jones, Harry Reid and their brethren.
I guess If I had to pick one example of an altruist it would be Elsworth Toohey from The Fountainhead. And she assesses all altruists the same; the essence of evil. I would say the best example of an altruist from the 20th century would have to be Hitler but don’t take my word for it. Go and read transcripts of his speeches and count how many times the word appears and how many times he talks about sacrificing for the good of society.