My naïvety astound even myself. How could I have expected when giving an older gentleman in an white tee shirt which read Ayn Rand Fan an opening like "nice shirt" that it wouldn't have draged me into a conversation I was not prepared to have in the middle of my work day. For me the most difficult part of discussing Ayn Rand with a stranger is hiding my disgust with her- as much as I may enjoy a fraction of her work the over arching philosophy which she began and her group of fanatical followers have since perpetuated is just too much for me. If you don't know about Rand's ideas I will not get into them here and leave you siting through my own ranting and ravings over her. I will only say I agree with her as much as any other animal might; in the state of nature Ayn Rand would have been the first and only Queen.
I digress. Upon complimenting my A.R. fan's shirt he made me an excellent capitalistic offer- my very own Ayn Rand tee shirt. After several minutes (twenty) of listening to the fan's stories about his personal Rand experience, his communist brother working for Castro, the 25 part book sets he's bought for each of his twelve grandchildren and the monetary bribery with which he encourages them to read her work (home grown capitalism if I've ever seen it) he left with plans to return the next day with a shirt of me.
I had no idea what I was in for. Here, I give you, what fifteen dollars of Ayn Rand looks like-
1. Two Ayn Rand Fan tee shirts:
2. Ayn Rand: Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology (book):
The book is a classic Rand work and fully thought out explanation of her philosophy which doubles as a bible. The copy I received is severely worn, with tattered edges and beautifully worn pages. On the inside cover the fan gave me his contact information.
3. Health Care is NOT a Right by Leonard Peikoff (pamphlet):
I read through this pamphlet with gritted teeth. Here, in its purest form, is the problem with Rand- the death of altruism. The death of altruism in modern, civilized, society. The pamphlet does make some good points though about constitutional law but nothing which could cure my liberal fever backed brain. The inside cover information about the pamphlet says that it is a transcript of a talk delivered "under the auspices of Americans for Free Choice in Medicine as a Town Hall Meeting on Health Care. Red Lion Hotel, Costa Mesa, California, December 11, 1993." Merry christmas 1993.
4. 22 pages of propaganda (group ads, information, reading lists, articles):
This gathering of leafs includes an Objectivist Summer Conference booklet, an article from The Undercurrent about free speech (accompanied by that cartoon of Allah which got so many people killed,) The Twilight on Freedom on Speech, and Ayn Rand institute book list, Take a hard Look at the Nazis, Harry Binswanger's Must Memorize Definition List, and a free trial offer for HBL, which as I gather is a mail order set up where they send you Harry Binswanger in a box like a Russian bride.
One gem among the pages and pages of propaganda is a single simple sheet entitled 'Introducing Objectivism.' Along with a picture of Rand and and an easy explanation of her works philosophy there is a quote by her which I can, for the most part, agree with- it in many ways embodies the best parts of her life's works- "My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productivity achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."
One gem among the pages and pages of propaganda is a single simple sheet entitled 'Introducing Objectivism.' Along with a picture of Rand and and an easy explanation of her works philosophy there is a quote by her which I can, for the most part, agree with- it in many ways embodies the best parts of her life's works- "My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productivity achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."
And that's it. Pretty good deal huh? I feel as if I really lucked out on this chance encounter, I met a nice man, I got some cool swag, and a good story. I just hope when I wear the shirt I'm not mistaken as an Ayn Rand fan, but what are the chances of that?
Looking back on that quote though, I have to say, when it's all said and done my more prefered Rand quote is not by her but about her-
"Atlas shrugged... and said 'Who the fuck cares?'" -Carroll, my mother
22 comments:
So you deceived some over-optimistic guy who thought you were open to ideas, when in fact your mind was as sh_t shut as you mother's. He was benevolent to you and you were a sh_t behind his back. No wonder you dislike Rand, she is trying to purge the world of minds like yours. And, apparently, the apple that is you did not fall fart from the tree.
Wow, pretty cool grab. However, if under 1a) the edition of ITOE is only 'the first' I'd take the whole pile back, dump it down and not only sue for money back, but also for emotional damage and Bait and Switch; shudda been "Second Edition." Go for trebble damages.
By the way, are you daming with faint praise, or prasing with faint damn?
John Donohue
Pasadena, CA
P.S. By the way, Rand pulled her punches on 'altruism'; she was considerably less totalizing than the guy who invented the phrase, Comte.
http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~campber/altruismrandcomte.pdf
Wow, you took advantage of a guy who thought you were really interested in what he had to say, and got 'some cool swag'.
You are an true hero; at least you should be.
Caleb... I'm trying to make an argument, but I can't... It's just funny. You gave him fifteen dollars so you could get an interesting shirt and write a post. You should be ashamed.
I think you and Piekoff are using different definitions of the word "altruism" (another commenter alluded to this). Rand has no problem with donating money to other people. If you believe people at certain levels of income - or by another other rubric that you decide, should get some minimum level of healthcare - feel free to donate to a private organization that offers such a plan, and encourage your friends and family to do the same. Not only will you have more control over where your money goes, but competition will minimize the cost to you and to the healthcare recipient, all while maximizing the benefits and care involved.
What Piekoff rightly objects to is a government-forced healthcare service, which would not only be completely UNinterested in maximizing efficiency while minimizing costs, but would also make it difficult for you to track your tax dollars, and force unwilling individuals to give up a larger portion of their productivity (ie income).
It's a shame that even though you've summarized Rand down to a short quote, you still fail to apply that principle across the board.
It's quite odd that you've tagged your post as "insanity" and "rambling", yet do not even attempt to address anything the guy said, or anything Rand said. You cite a quote from Rand, then cite another quote, then quote your mom. That's the entire contents of your post.
Brian, you miss the whole point of the post. It's not really about Rand or politics. It's just a funny story. That's why it's "rambling"...
Actually Matt has missed the point. There was a whole lot of value he could have found but he pissed on the door and walked away giggling like an 8 yr old.
See, I need some connotation with tags. It's impossible to tell if those things are being applied the subject of the post, or to the post itself.
I'd still like you to explain away "insanity", though...
First... Richard I'm ignoring you because you make me ashamed to be a quarter Canadian.
Secondly, thanks for your comments Brian. I can see you don't agree with Caleb's take on Rand, but both he and I really appreciate the comments. I don't really feel like debating health care, though... it's just a headache and I really don't have a good idea myself for a solution to the current problem.
As far as the tags, they are for the post. Caleb is calling his own writing rambling, just a quick story about something that happened to him. As far as insanity goes, I think it was more to the situation than the guy. Speaking for my friend, I think that Caleb enjoyed the talk with the Ayn Rand fan, but found it really odd. Caleb is the sort of person who talks to everyone and winds up in really odd situations like this.
Insanity and rambling are Matt's judgement of what he was dealing with, period. He jerked the guy around and got a kick out of it. Who's the real jerk? It is not uncommon for such people to attribute their own psychology to their victims, almost as a justification.
Haha, what a good show, a magnificent battle. I do not in one way or another address Peikoff's argument, I instead address Rand's brand of altruism; or lack there of. When I speak of the death of altruism I of course mean the death of altruism in a state of nature, that good old "you kill me or I kill you" sort of place. And I even admit that Peikoff makes some good points, as the one you yourself pointed out Brian. However, his talk argues that the Constitution offers us three rights (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) but overlooks that whole bit of tacked on gibberish we call the Bill of Rights. Also, I am not summarizing Rand in one quote she is, it's her quote- she uses the words "in essence" you see? You are making me get into philosophy here Brain, something I had hoped not to do, which is why I, in essence, avoided it in my anecdote. My mother's quote (she was a member of the Ayn Rand society in that far off land called the sixties when kids still cared about things like 'serious business' and the world around them) was also, a joke. The story is insane, the post was a ramble, but i will now, for your sake, address my new friends words to me. He told me what you seem to be missing, that he nor I nor anyone else seem to have the answers. I then gave him fifteen dollars, and he gave me some tools with which to educate myself. If this post seems tactless and frivolous perhaps you should consider that this is a 'blog' which regularly writes about tentacle rape in a vain attempt to stave off any google alerts.
Rory, I took no advantages. I paid the man and we both enjoyed one another's company.
Matt confesses he is a stupid ass. Nice ending.
John, it is the second edition. I am grateful to the man for, as I said, the information, the product, and the story. If i seem overly jovial and even glib in this matter it is only because of the sheer surrealism the experience had on me. As I told my Ayn Rand fan, I enjoy Rand's fiction very much.
Rich, I love you man, we need to get together, I think we'd get along swimmingly. Lets say we get short and brutish with one another and see who comes out on top, waddaya say?
Sorry, Caleb, I went a bit off the cuff, it's just the impression one gets from this is that you were doing this deliberatly to swindle him out of his stuff, making him think you actually cared about what he was offering.
The presentation you give of him is of some lonely idiot trying to impress his bizarre cult ideas on to you, like a hobo raving about the moon-men coming for his precious bodily fluids.
whoa, double digit comments.
you should dupe and swindle more often, foolio.
also,
when i read the fountainhead, i imagined that howard roark looked like an older version of you because he had red hair.
Nineteen comments! Jesus! Ayn Rand really stirs people into a commenting frenzy. I agree Caleb, you and Matt should write about her more.
completely unrelated to everyone else's comments, but caleb your mom's quote is awesome :-D
Holy fuck.
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