How not a surprise. Any movement that gorifies selfishness makes men incapable of being fathers.
How Ayn Rand ruined my childhood ~ Salon.com
My dad saw objectivism as a logical philosophy to live by, but it tore my family apart
How Ayn Rand ruined my childhood ~ Salon.com
My dad saw objectivism as a logical philosophy to live by, but it tore my family apart
So he was selfish and neglected his children.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that the "objectivist" answer to this is that it was actually in his own selfish interest to look after them.
Scrubone,
ReplyDeleteI don't know about that. Most of the objectivists who champion that cause here appear to be childless, so their views on looking after wife and children are totally missing.
We regularly get commenters like LRO that looks to one example from thousands to decide that all Christians are nutters or hypocrites.
ReplyDeleteAs the numbers of Libertarians, Randians and Objectivists grow, we will increasingly find more examples to return the favour.
Obviously though, whilst the Christian message is one of love and redemption, the Randians actually preach selfishness as a virtue, so I imagine the Randians taking such a philosophy to heart will produce some rather spectacular examples for us to ponder.
To be honest, I've never read any of her books and don't know what to think about them. The first time I heard her name was in the movie Dirty Dancing when the bad waiter who got one of the dancers pregnant was carrying around The Fountainhead in his pocket and saying that the little people don't matter.
ReplyDeleteBut those on the right wing blog Big Journalism seem to like her, as does Pamela Geller (who stands up against Islamization) who named her site Atlas Shrugs after Rand's book.
So, as I said, not really sure.
I read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged years ago and enjoyed them, even though they were a bit ponderous. I'm a little more critical in my reading now than back then, so I'm not sure how I would find the re-read.
ReplyDeleteA much shorter read (I think it took like 30 minutes to read) that will give you a flavour for her style is to read "Anthem" as it is a free download for Stanza under one of the publishers (Feedbooks or Gutenberg I think).
PS: Objectivism and Randianism - approach with caution! I'll dig up a little summary for you to read on Ayn Rand's philosophy you might find interesting.
ReplyDeleteLucia Maria: I used to read their stuff a lot. Usually if something is unquestionably good, they come up with some BS reason why it's in someone's selfish interest to support it.
ReplyDeleteSorry zen, not a Randian or a Libertarian, although I do believe in Liberty.
ReplyDeleteYou want hypocrisy, how about people who oppose abortion and birth control? And who do it without being able to mount a single, rational argument to support their position?
Maybe if those opposed to abortion did more to support contraception they would see a lowering in abortion rates. but no, cannot expect those blinded by god to be rational.
LRO,
ReplyDeleteThe more birth control you have in a society, the more abortions there are. For the very simple reason that when you (or the female you are having sex with) use birth control, you expect it to not allow the woman to get pregnant. When she does, there needs to be some sort of a solution to this unexpected problem. Birth control encourages promiscuity which inevitably leads to the need for abortion.
Got any proof of you claims? No, thought not.
ReplyDeleteBirth control can alos encourage more sex amongst married people, not all of whom are happy to breed like rabbits, some like to limit the number of children to the number they can support, yet still like a bit of nookie now and then.
So what is your real, rational objection to birth control? the pope says no isn't an answer.
Rand said that pursuit of ones own happiness and dearly held values discovered by reason is moral and the good for all human beings.If this Father neglected his family then they were not by definition a value for him and he should not have been married and having kids in the first place....maybe he did so because he was press ganged by altruist guilt against what he really wanted...?
ReplyDeleteOf course Lucia et el who are anti-abortion never have sexual intercourse that is not for procreation...count their kids and you will have the near-exact number of times they have indulged in "the deed"....no?
ReplyDeletecount their kids and you will have the near-exact number of times they have indulged in "the deed"....no?
ReplyDeletecategorically no.
James,
ReplyDeleteYou are really trying, aren't you?
LRO,
I am very aware that contraception can be used by married people. I have used it. As many people here well know, I haven't been a returned Catholic very long. Over the years I have come to understand how destructive contraception is to married life due to personal experience. Maybe one day I'll write about it, but not now.