The key ethical steps to a rational world:
(1) The foundation and starting point: Why does man need a code of moral values?
(2) Man’s nature is that of a rational being.
(3) Man has free will, and must choose to think (i.e., reason) in order to survive.
(4) Man is constantly faced with unlimited choices and alternatives, and must have rational values and principles to guide his decisions and actions across the span of his life.
(5) Because man’s life is the source of all values, man’s life must be the standard of value. The objective requirements of human life must be the standard for defining principles of right and wrong.
(6) Actions that promote man’s proper survival (e.g., productiveness, honesty, integrity) are rational and good; actions that thwart man’s survival (e.g., dishonesty, passivity, self-sacrifice) are irrational and evil.
(7) The mind is a property of the individual. Each individual must necessarily take responsibility for his own life—i.e., for his own choice to think and to be guided by his rational understanding and conclusions.
(8) Rational egoism is man’s proper moral code.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The Gridiron Heroism of Peyton Manning
I have long admired quarterback Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts, ever since he played college ball for my alma mater, the University of Tennessee. He is the personification of everything good about the world of professional sports, a young man of enormous athletic ability who works hard to stay at the top of his game. Every season he seems to set new passing NFL records. Not only is he enormously gifted; his success derives as much from his intelligence and command of the game as from his physical skills. When the Colts visited San Diego last Sunday to take on the Chargers, I drove down from Los Angeles to watch him in person.
What surprised me most when I arrived at the stadium was to discover just how many people shared my adulation. Indianapolis is thousands of miles away, but the number of fans wearing blue and white jerseys with his name and number 18 on the back was amazing! They were everywhere!
Manning did not disappoint. The Colts' defense couldn't hold a ten point lead, but San Diego tied it up with 1:30 left. What were the Chargers thinking? Did they forget who was waiting patiently on the opposite sideline?
Peyton was facing fourth and inches with 27 seconds left at mid-field. Instead of a quarterback sneak, Peyton throws a 15 yard pass to set up the field goal that won the game. I couldn't believe he did that, but it worked. It was still another game-winning, last second drive engineered by Peyton Manning.
In a world full of irrationality, depravity, hopelessness and despair, witnessing such a display of superior ability is a genuine inspiration, a kind of emotional transfusion that reminds you about the possibilities of life. It was a rare thrill to watch him in action. This is a man who takes nothing for granted. He has truly earned all the accolades lavished upon him by his legions of fans, and I am proud to count myself as one of them.
What surprised me most when I arrived at the stadium was to discover just how many people shared my adulation. Indianapolis is thousands of miles away, but the number of fans wearing blue and white jerseys with his name and number 18 on the back was amazing! They were everywhere!
Manning did not disappoint. The Colts' defense couldn't hold a ten point lead, but San Diego tied it up with 1:30 left. What were the Chargers thinking? Did they forget who was waiting patiently on the opposite sideline?
Peyton was facing fourth and inches with 27 seconds left at mid-field. Instead of a quarterback sneak, Peyton throws a 15 yard pass to set up the field goal that won the game. I couldn't believe he did that, but it worked. It was still another game-winning, last second drive engineered by Peyton Manning.
In a world full of irrationality, depravity, hopelessness and despair, witnessing such a display of superior ability is a genuine inspiration, a kind of emotional transfusion that reminds you about the possibilities of life. It was a rare thrill to watch him in action. This is a man who takes nothing for granted. He has truly earned all the accolades lavished upon him by his legions of fans, and I am proud to count myself as one of them.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Guilt by Association
Much has been made of President-elect Obama’s past associations with the vitriolic American-hating Pastor Jeremiah Wright and terrorist William Ayers, which have been cited as evidence of anti-American tendencies in his thinking, as well as moral turpitude and poor judgment. I would agree with that assessment. On the other hand, a little historical perspective may be in order here.
In 1983, Marc Rich and partner Pincus Green were indicted by U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani on charges of tax evasion and illegal trading with Iran when that country was actively holding US hostages. The pair were indicted while they were in Switzerland. They did not return to the U.S. following the indictment, and remained on the FBI's Most Wanted List for many years.
On January 20, 2001, hours before leaving office, President Bill Clinton granted Rich a presidential pardon. Since Rich's former wife and mother of his three children, socialite Denise Rich, had made major donations to the Democratic Party and the Clinton Library during Clinton's time in office, certain critics alleged that Rich's pardon had been bought.
Yasir Arafat was a frequent guest at the Bill Clinton White House. His wife, Suha Arafat, received a loving embrace from Mrs. Clinton moments after Mrs. Arafat finished a speech in which she accused the Israelis of gassing Palestinian children. In 2000, the Palestinian terrorist leader gave Mr. and Mrs. Clinton gifts valued at more than $12,000, including gold and diamond necklaces, bracelets and earrings worth $7,400.
As disgusting as this is, how does it compare to wasting 4000 American lives and bankrupting our economy in an altruistic Republican crusade like Iraq?
I have no doubt that such repugnant conduct barely scratches the surface of the graft and corruption rampant in Washington. We have no reason to think that Obama is anything but a typical liberal politician and an unprincipled pragmatist. Nothing more. Nothing less. We have survived worse.
In 1983, Marc Rich and partner Pincus Green were indicted by U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani on charges of tax evasion and illegal trading with Iran when that country was actively holding US hostages. The pair were indicted while they were in Switzerland. They did not return to the U.S. following the indictment, and remained on the FBI's Most Wanted List for many years.
On January 20, 2001, hours before leaving office, President Bill Clinton granted Rich a presidential pardon. Since Rich's former wife and mother of his three children, socialite Denise Rich, had made major donations to the Democratic Party and the Clinton Library during Clinton's time in office, certain critics alleged that Rich's pardon had been bought.
Yasir Arafat was a frequent guest at the Bill Clinton White House. His wife, Suha Arafat, received a loving embrace from Mrs. Clinton moments after Mrs. Arafat finished a speech in which she accused the Israelis of gassing Palestinian children. In 2000, the Palestinian terrorist leader gave Mr. and Mrs. Clinton gifts valued at more than $12,000, including gold and diamond necklaces, bracelets and earrings worth $7,400.
As disgusting as this is, how does it compare to wasting 4000 American lives and bankrupting our economy in an altruistic Republican crusade like Iraq?
I have no doubt that such repugnant conduct barely scratches the surface of the graft and corruption rampant in Washington. We have no reason to think that Obama is anything but a typical liberal politician and an unprincipled pragmatist. Nothing more. Nothing less. We have survived worse.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Counterfeit Messiah
“Is there anyone out there who still questions that America is the land where all things are possible, that the dream of our founders is alive in our time?”
--Barack Obama
Watching the respective speeches of Barack Obama and John McCain on election night, one thing was unmistakably clear: the best man won. Obama is not the corrupt, America-hating “subhuman” demon that certain Objectivist spokesmen claimed him to be; he is, if nothing else, an extraordinary human being, a born leader with a singularly powerful and eloquent voice. His speech told of the glorious vision of America’s founders and how this day gave further demonstration of their revolutionary grasp of human potential, of how there are few limits to what free individuals can achieve, regardless of barriers and limitations. He spoke of individual liberty and of his love for the hope America presents to the world. He was strong, bold, and confident, painting a Reagan-esque portrait of the contrast between where we are now and what America can be and ought to be.
McCain’s concession speech was a typically vacuous, boring, rambling epitaph for his erratic, losing campaign, a last plea for sympathy from a clueless, self-important windbag who felt the need to assure America that they should be thankful he will not be delivering further such tortuous diatribes over the next four years. “I don’t know what we could have done different to win this campaign,” he said. Try offering America something other than traditionalist bromides, socialistic bail-outs and Bible-thumping Republican Barbie dolls.
In terms of basic ideas, there is almost no meaningful difference between Obama and McCain. It is Obama’s charisma, presence and personality that set him apart. His vapid, worn-out ideas are hopelessly impractical and destructive—but so were McCain’s. Obama is nothing more than a symbol—a beacon of hope and promise for an obscure, undefined future. His campaign theme of “fundamental change” is essentially meaningless, but it can serve as a point of departure, as a rallying cry for those who recognize that it is truly time to rethink the ideas and values—the disastrous contradictions-- that led us to our present state of chaos, and to adopt a radically new philosophical framework, one that is truly consistent with the Enlightenment vision of America’s founders. That is, a philosophy of reason, individual rights and free market capitalism.
Obama is not the leader we need for the future. But his anti-Republican campaign was the clarion call of the demand for such a leader, and underscored the crucial importance of making a clean break with our nation’s recent cultural-political trends. Religion and religious morality have been profoundly repudiated, leaving a philosophical void we must try our best to fill. Obama is a counterfeit Messiah, a brilliant voice who must devote his youthful energies to camouflaging the embarrassing truth that he offers nothing new, that all the ‘solutions’ he proposes have been tried and failed, over and over again.
That void will soon become apparent. It is the task of Objectivists to expose that void, as clearly as possible, and to spell out a truly rational alternative.
--Barack Obama
Watching the respective speeches of Barack Obama and John McCain on election night, one thing was unmistakably clear: the best man won. Obama is not the corrupt, America-hating “subhuman” demon that certain Objectivist spokesmen claimed him to be; he is, if nothing else, an extraordinary human being, a born leader with a singularly powerful and eloquent voice. His speech told of the glorious vision of America’s founders and how this day gave further demonstration of their revolutionary grasp of human potential, of how there are few limits to what free individuals can achieve, regardless of barriers and limitations. He spoke of individual liberty and of his love for the hope America presents to the world. He was strong, bold, and confident, painting a Reagan-esque portrait of the contrast between where we are now and what America can be and ought to be.
McCain’s concession speech was a typically vacuous, boring, rambling epitaph for his erratic, losing campaign, a last plea for sympathy from a clueless, self-important windbag who felt the need to assure America that they should be thankful he will not be delivering further such tortuous diatribes over the next four years. “I don’t know what we could have done different to win this campaign,” he said. Try offering America something other than traditionalist bromides, socialistic bail-outs and Bible-thumping Republican Barbie dolls.
In terms of basic ideas, there is almost no meaningful difference between Obama and McCain. It is Obama’s charisma, presence and personality that set him apart. His vapid, worn-out ideas are hopelessly impractical and destructive—but so were McCain’s. Obama is nothing more than a symbol—a beacon of hope and promise for an obscure, undefined future. His campaign theme of “fundamental change” is essentially meaningless, but it can serve as a point of departure, as a rallying cry for those who recognize that it is truly time to rethink the ideas and values—the disastrous contradictions-- that led us to our present state of chaos, and to adopt a radically new philosophical framework, one that is truly consistent with the Enlightenment vision of America’s founders. That is, a philosophy of reason, individual rights and free market capitalism.
Obama is not the leader we need for the future. But his anti-Republican campaign was the clarion call of the demand for such a leader, and underscored the crucial importance of making a clean break with our nation’s recent cultural-political trends. Religion and religious morality have been profoundly repudiated, leaving a philosophical void we must try our best to fill. Obama is a counterfeit Messiah, a brilliant voice who must devote his youthful energies to camouflaging the embarrassing truth that he offers nothing new, that all the ‘solutions’ he proposes have been tried and failed, over and over again.
That void will soon become apparent. It is the task of Objectivists to expose that void, as clearly as possible, and to spell out a truly rational alternative.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)