“The result [of altruism] is that need, pain,
failure and disaster are made into the leading purpose and value in
life. In other words, altruism amounts to the following principle,
which you can see being adopted in politics today: If a man fails for
any reason, whether through his own fault or through accident, that
failure gives him a mortgage on the lives, the earnings, the property
and the services of those who have not failed. The result is a
hierarchy of values in which the zero is the dominant standard. To the
extent to which a man lacks any values at all — material, spiritual or
intellectual — he has a claim on his betters. To the extent to which a
man has
achieved any values, he is the sacrificial animal for any zero-holder
who can present his lack as a claim against achievement.”
Ayn Rand,
Objectively Speaking: Ayn Rand Interviewed, p. 145. (Interview occurred in the period of 1962-1966.)
Sound familiar?
Failing banks vs sound banks? Homeowners in arrears or facing
foreclosure vs homeowners paying their mortgages? Collapsing automobile
makers vs auto manufacturers not needing bailouts? States that have
huge budget shortfalls vs states with balanced budgets? Disaster
victims vs those paying for those destroyed homes? Mothers on welfare
having multiple babies vs prudent parents paying their own expenses?
Medicaid recipients vs those paying for their own insurance? Farmers
collecting subsidies vs farmers winning in the marketplace? Subsidized
energy producers (such as wind and biofuels) vs traditional, cheaper
producers of energy? People who pay no federal income tax receiving
“tax refunds” (welfare checks) vs rich people who are taxed more and
more? The growing clamor of politically connected leeches with their
claws extended for handouts vs the hardworking, moral individuals who
quietly grit their teeth and struggle onward to live their lives?
The yammering class dares to claim that “no one knows if this or that
stimulus will work.” This is, of course, pure, unadulterated bullshit
spewing from the mouths of those who cynically or ignorantly or
hypocritically reject and deny the efficacy of principles. It is
precisely
principles — of morality, of politics, of economics —
that predict with assurance that the actions of the criminal, political
class will not only not work but will fail spectacularly as the new
laws and regulations and taxes and bailouts achieve the exact
opposite of what the statists and collectivists in power claim they are seeking.
Perhaps, though, the real goal is not a healthy economy and a free
society but a strengthening and tightening of the chains that are
wrapped around our collective throats. That, I predict, is precisely
what these monsters in sheep’s clothing will achieve before they are
done.
(from
Don't Get Me Started!, 2-26-09)
