The fundamental human right, which is FREEDOM, has never been up for debate. It has been the evolutionary push since the beginning of time. The US Constitution is the first experiment ensuring sovereign individuals the right to freedom. "Give me freedom or give me death" is not a statement of martyrdom or sacrifice; it is a blatant "in your face" truth that true patriots share. Einstein's quote says it all: "Great Spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." Ayn Rand was truly a great Spirit. Mediocre minds lift themselves up by putting others down. Who are the great minds? You will know us by our fruit.
"Greed" *is* good. The distinction made in the video between greed and Ayn Rand's more cited phrase "rational self-interest" is a false one. Rand did not make a distinction between the two concepts. In Atlas Shrugged there's an entire chapter called 'The Utopia of Greed' in which we get introduced to Galt's gulch. "Greed" like "selfishness" is a package deal that lumps to things which are not fundamentally the same, i.e., people who desire more of something rationally (more wealth, more children, more love, more holidays etc) and attain those values by rational action (i.e. trade) and those who don't, like the Bernie Madoff's of the world, who want more of something and use exploitation as the means of attaining it.
Agreed. IF and TO THE DEGREE that the word "greed" describes rational self-interest, it is good. To the degree that "greed" describes those who desire irrational goals (wealth at the cost of integrity, for example) and use unjust means (force, fraud, dishonesty, extortion...) it is bad. The fact that both of these meanings are package-dealed into "greed" and "selfishness" (which, in this package-deal sense are synonyms) is not accidental. It is an intentional distortion of language by (but not limited to) Marxist/socialists and those Christians who have a Marxist bent - SO THAT they can disparage rational self-interest, because to the degree that people value rational self-interest, they become more difficult to manipulate and control. Making this distinction was the point of this video, especially in the context of Klavan's rant and overall project.
Great video. Hope you get more subs.
The fundamental human right, which is FREEDOM, has never been up for debate. It has been the evolutionary push since the beginning of time. The US Constitution is the first experiment ensuring sovereign individuals the right to freedom. "Give me freedom or give me death" is not a statement of martyrdom or sacrifice; it is a blatant "in your face" truth that true patriots share. Einstein's quote says it all: "Great Spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." Ayn Rand was truly a great Spirit. Mediocre minds lift themselves up by putting others down. Who are the great minds? You will know us by our fruit.
awesome
"Greed" *is* good. The distinction made in the video between greed and Ayn Rand's more cited phrase "rational self-interest" is a false one. Rand did not make a distinction between the two concepts. In Atlas Shrugged there's an entire chapter called 'The Utopia of Greed' in which we get introduced to Galt's gulch. "Greed" like "selfishness" is a package deal that lumps to things which are not fundamentally the same, i.e., people who desire more of something rationally (more wealth, more children, more love, more holidays etc) and attain those values by rational action (i.e. trade) and those who don't, like the Bernie Madoff's of the world, who want more of something and use exploitation as the means of attaining it.
Agreed. IF and TO THE DEGREE that the word "greed" describes rational self-interest, it is good. To the degree that "greed" describes those who desire irrational goals (wealth at the cost of integrity, for example) and use unjust means (force, fraud, dishonesty, extortion...) it is bad.
The fact that both of these meanings are package-dealed into "greed" and "selfishness" (which, in this package-deal sense are synonyms) is not accidental. It is an intentional distortion of language by (but not limited to) Marxist/socialists and those Christians who have a Marxist bent - SO THAT they can disparage rational self-interest, because to the degree that people value rational self-interest, they become more difficult to manipulate and control.
Making this distinction was the point of this video, especially in the context of Klavan's rant and overall project.