The American Left and its political arm, the Democrat Party,
built a solid electoral base within the European immigrant community of bygone
days. In her book, The
Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys,
Doris Kearns Goodwin recounts how an ambitious young Joe Kennedy was rebuffed
by Boston's patrician Republican elite. An angry Joe hitched up with the Democrats and
sired a political dynasty. In Parish Priest,
historian David Brinkley recounts how Nineteenth Century Irish immigrants
were unwelcome in WASPy New Haven.
The Left found a receptive audience for their schemes of
guaranteed employment, social services and cradle to grave security among these
ill educated yet hard working newcomers.
They
are playing that game to this day.
However, one young Jewish immigrant from Russia wasn't
buying it. Ayn Rand saw firsthand the
failure of state socialism and the misery that it created in her homeland. Despite coming to America with a near-zero
proficiency in English, Rand set upon a career in writing and found work in
Hollywood.
Collectivists are hard pressed to deny the atrocities that
occurred in Rand's native Russia or in other communist nations. Therefore they have chosen a novel means of
attack. They reproach her for her
Godless, "anti-Christian" philosophy.
Is this the best that these hypocrites, this brood of wipers
who booed God at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, can come up with?
OK, so she is an atheist.
Got it. So is about half of
Western Europe and North America. So is
every Marxist, and proud of it too. So
they got her on the first four commandments which relate to man's relationship
and duties to his Maker. On the other
hand she is probably at par with most of her leftist critics in this regard.
Despite her hard hearted public persona, she evidently
honored her mother and father as she tried for years to rescue them from the
Soviet Union. Maybe Lefties are nice to
their moms and dads too. I'll give them
that much.
However, on the backside of the Decalogue, those
Commandments that relate to how we treat each other, Rand has her Leftie detractors
beat hands down.
Let's start with C-10, the admonition against coveting. The Left is all about envy and coveting. Redistribution is all about having what
others earned without the bother of producing it yourself. Rand was all about producing. Atlas
Shrugged is all about
Producers Paradise.
Because they are covetous, Collectivists have no qualms
whatsoever with lying, stealing or killing in the name of the Almighty State. They employ whatever means is necessary, from
brute force to currency inflation to confiscate honestly earned wealth and to
redirect it to favored constituents.
Rand, on the other hand, preached a gospel of nonviolence
and respect. She stood tall for the
inviolable dignity and property of each and every human being.
This leaves us with the Commandments on sexual sin. I won't go down that rat hole because pretty
much no one passes the purity test.
Still, there are many well documented accounts of Statist
regimes forcing women into prostitution.
Rand wins again!
Brand's chief vulnerability is in her open advocacy of
selfishness. In essence, her position is
an awkward reworking of Adam Smith's invisible hand. The point being that each person pursuing his
own lawful interest improves not only his own lot but that of the community as
well.
If you are a devout churchgoer, Rand may not be your cup of
tea socially. Still, she has done more
to advance the cause of peace, human dignity, freedom and prosperity than
almost anyone you can name. Best of all
she has exposed the truth that the kingpins of collectivism are wearing no
clothes. And for this, they can never
forgive her.
Liberals are particularly incensed that Rand rejects the
concept of altruism. Altruism is
the brainchild of August Comte, a Nineteenth Century Socialist. It taught that the individual was to measure
his actions based upon their impact on the community and not to his own
benefit. This is the exact opposite of
the invisible hand theory and runs counter to human nature.
Praxeology demonstrates that the ethical acting individual takes
action to improve his condition. In a
free society this often entails interacting and exchanging with others to each
party’s mutual benefit, despite “selfish” intentions. This individual autonomy that both Rand and
Smith acknowledge and encourage is intolerable to central planners who want to
shepherd a nation of sheeple, people who follow instructions blindly for a
supposed “greater good”.
For this, the Left hates Rand and wishes that she was the one
immigrant who they had turned back.
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Half the people are drowned and the other half are swimming in the wrong direction."
- Paul Simon
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