Ayn Rand GOP darlin'???? The price of following demagogues: If you love Jesus this is a must see.

From the American Values Network:

but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. ~ Matthew 18:6

sop

14 thoughts on “Ayn Rand GOP darlin'???? The price of following demagogues: If you love Jesus this is a must see.”

  1. My youth was under complete Ayn Rand influence by the great pass-through:

    Modern rock pioneers Rush not only produce some of the hardest rocking tunes ever recorded, they also are pioneers when it comes to infusing rock music with deep insight into the natures of human behavior. The band consists of guitarist Alex Lifeson, deeply crooning singer/bass & keyboard player Geddy Lee, and drummer/lyricist Neil Peart. Peart is mostly known for his wildly improvisational, jazz-inspired drumming technique, but he plays an even greater role as the person who has single handedly brought the power of Ayn Rand’s Objectivism to a level that can be understood by even the most stereotypically ignorant, drug-addled teen.

    Ayn Rand’s highly influential Objectivism is a deep topic, and her purely philosophical writings on it are quite dense. Realizing this, she took on the task of translating her thoughts into the realm of fiction in order to make it more accessible to the general public. Unfortunately, the task still proved formidable, and two of her resulting books totaled over 1,000 pages each. The complex nature of what she advocates even dictated that she spend the final 50 some-odd pages of Atlas Shrugged reiterating everything she had spent the previous 1,000 pages explaining. Thankfully, Neil Pert was up to the task of reinterpreting her work for her in layman’s language.

    Live for yourself, there’s no one else
    More worth living for
    Begging hands and bleeding hearts will
    Only cry out for more
    Rush – Anthem

    With that one verse Peart has reached deep into the very core of what is important in Objectivism. Utilizing the power and reach of rock music, he and his bandmates have taught us much of what being an Objectivist is really all about. But how is it that a humble drummer was capable of such a feat? Quite simply, it was due to his environment. You see, Rush is a Canadian band, and as such they know first hand how the forces of socialism can destroy all that is important in man. Why this skill developed solely in Peart and not Lifeson or Lee is due to Peart’s journey to England when he was eighteen. It was there that he first came to truly understand how important Objectivism is, utilizing the excessive governmental involvement in daily life prevalent in England as a catalyst for his enlightenment.

    There is unrest in the forest,
    There is trouble with the trees,
    For the maples want more sunlight
    And the oaks ignore their pleas.

    The trouble with the maples,
    (And they’re quite convinced they’re right)
    They say the oaks are just too lofty
    And they grab up all the light.
    But the oaks can’t help their feelings
    If they like the way they’re made.
    And they wonder why the maples
    Can’t be happy in their shade?

    There is trouble in the Forest
    And the creatures all have fled
    As the Maples scream ‘Oppression!’
    And the Oaks, just shake their heads

    So the maples formed a union
    And demanded equal rights.
    ‘These oaks are just too greedy;
    We will make them give us light.’
    Now there’s no more oak oppression,
    For they passed a noble law,
    And the trees are all kept equal
    By hatchet,
    Ax,
    And saw.
    Rush – The Trees

    Indeed, we are kept down with hatchet, ax and saw. This parable clearly underscores how the small people continue to force those graced with power and influence to bend to the will of those who are not worthy, resorting to violence rather than reason to have their way. The music of Rush asks: Which are you? A noble oak, rising towards the sun, or a weak maple, whining about the unfairness of it all rather than bettering yourself through improved photosynthesis and nutrient gathering? The implied inferiority of the maple, national tree of Canada, is clearly intentional and represents Peart’s dissatisfaction his socialist homeland.

    You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
    If you choose not to decide, you still haven’t made a choice.
    You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;
    I will choose a path that’s clear-
    I will choose Free Will.
    Rush – Free Will

    Lyrics such as these are the basic essence of Objectivism. Free will. The power to change your destiny should you so choose. Total rejection of the idea that some people are born into situations from which they cannot rise out of without help. Another line from the above song goes, “Blame is better to give than receive”. No greater sarcastic truism has ever been uttered. The simple truth of the world is that absolutely each and every person who finds themselves in difficult circumstances is there as a result of their own actions. This is what Objectivism teaches us, that those who have problems deserve no help because it is all their fault anyway.

    Of course those who are the little people among us are not content taking responsibility for their own failings, choosing instead to blame their problems on “phantom fears” like global economics, abuse of power, and the inherent inequality of capitalism due to its rewarding of greed above all else. This would be fine if there weren’t so many of them, but that is not the case. Those who are accepting of their inherent inferiority outnumber us in such great numbers that they actually are able to influence world events. As a result, our politicians are forced to enact destructive socialist programs like retirement benefits, public transportation and health care for the indigent.

    However, we now have hope. In addition to Ayn Rand’s scholarly and deeply thoughtful writings, we also have a means of making the truth understood to the masses. The music of Rush can be a highly effective tool for spreading the word of Rand. By combining high level philosophy with the power of primitive rhythm and repetitious melody, we finally have an effective tool for convincing the less perceptive among us that our cause is right and that getting in our way is extremely counterproductive. By further simplifying our message we will finally succeed in teaching the meek that the earth is not theirs to inherit, but should either be seized with force or surrendered to those who are stronger.

  4. OK lets get deeeeep.

    http://danariely.com/2011/05/15/wait-for-another-cookie/

    The scientific community is increasingly coming to realize how central self-control is to many important life outcomes. We have always known about the impact of socioeconomic status and IQ, but these are factors that are highly resistant to interventions. In contrast, self-control may be something that we can tap into to make sweeping improvements life outcomes………

    sop

  5. “We are inherently irrational creatures” – yep.

    The point on self-control, self-discipline really, is awesome in scope and true.

    Ayn Rand held some views completely antithetical to the modern (and even older) GOP and even Libertarians.

    Her views were shaped by escaping from a Russia embroiled in the mass starvation, mass murder, and mass deprivation of individual and property rights, which was taking place in the late 1910’s, early 1920’s, as a young child. The final tally there was in the tens of millions dead, literally.

    Witnessing the horrors of mankind firsthand can have a riveting effect on someone; it can lead to wisdom and a deeper understanding of the human existence and purpose (Eli Wiesel, for instance) or it can lead to a warping of the human spirit, or both.

    Like a lot of philosophers or pundits/observers/authors or demagogues (take your pick), Ayn Rand got one important thing right (in my opinion, the inherant connection between private property rights and individual rights (take that, Marx (a guy by the way who wrote his greatest works by the means provided by Engels’ wealthy British estate & Engels’ own erudition)), but that does not mean that everything else she uttered or wrote should be followed like a cult. In reality the woman’s life and mentality was a complete mess and that’s not too uncommon for a war refugee.

    Having said that, I’m a Rush fan. The subtext to Rand, and to Rush, like the song quoted above, is that when, as Pasternak said, “The private life is dead,” almost always actual death follows for many.

  8. Children are too young to learn self-control that is where early parental enforced discipline comes in. Early and consistent parental discipline leads and enables children to eventually learn self-control , i.e. the military will command and teach discipline to the wildest of teenagers but eventually they will be broken like wild horses and learn respect for others, respect for themselves and therefore self control through such discipline. The major cause of the bad social outcomes of today is that the innocent children are never taught early and consistent discipline and as a result they have no respect for authority, no self respect and no self control over their actions in society when they become independent adults. The crying 2 year in the grocery store wanting instant gratification of a toy gets it because the inconsistent mother doesn’t want to discipline the child in public. The child, not taught self control, gets the toy and what do you think the 2 year old will do again in the store the next time. Yes, the old but true Pavlovian principle mastered by the 2 year old but ignored by the supposedly more intelligent parent.

    The family as a disciplinary unit has been broken, the schools can not teach and enforce discipline without such discipline principles being already established in the family. We are seeing the results today in more adults with no self discipline or self control. Gambling addictions, drug addictions, sex addictions etc..Yet the psychiatrists want to show the world how smart they are by discovering new mental diseases every year such as ADD and prescribing a pill as a cure (drugs) instead of looking at the early lack of early and consistent parental instruction and discipline as a major cause. I’ve seen what the theory of time out and reasoning with 2-4 year old produces. I’ve personally seen teenagers diagnosed with ADD who are brainwashed with their parents into a placebo effect for a few months ( convinced by psychiatrists they have a mental disorder treatable with medicine) only to resort back to lack of self control even on medication when they are totally independent of parental control ( freshmen in college). Families are now encouraged to actually raise ADD, out of control children so they can be rewarded with monthly government subsidies.There are true chemical addictions and mental problems which I think are genetically linked but there is too little emphasis placed on early and consistent parental discipline.

    As far as an atheist without Faith (Ms.Rand) she is like a sailing ship without a rudder cause you can have a lot of B.S., Phd’s and wind behind and within yourself ( BS intellectual concepts) but on your own without Divine guidance you are a lost soul going in circles P.S.-The dark emptiness of her dancing eyes reminded me of the eyes of Hitler and some famous mass murderers. The GOP and libertarians would do well not quoting Ms. Rand or aligning themselves with such a whacko atheist despite her few honorable theories that every individual should seek and desire to be self supportive without constant governmental support from cradle to grave.

  9. On a lighter note, Rush’s original drummer, John Rutsey, got hit by a bus and was replaced with Peart. Rush still had great songs on the first album with Rutsey (i.e.: “Working Man”), but that fateful bus accident took the Great Ones in a totally different direction. Lifeson and Lee are no dummies, but Peart’s Ayn Rand influence resonated in some fashion on just about every album. Without Rush, a generation of aimless teens would be completely unfamiliar with Rand’s theories.

    But, I agree that Rand was somewhat of a kook personally. But then again, so were Beethoven and Einstein. Okay, maybe that was not a lighter note.

  10. lockemup,
    I think you’re on to something, but placing blame solely on the psychiatrist is a bit disingenuous. Contrary to popular belief, psychiatrists are not trained to be and most vehemently dislike being “pill-pushers.” Nearly 75% of a psychiatrist’s training has nothing to do with prescribing medication. The very systems which create the entitlements have created the archetype of the physician as “pill-pusher” because it is the only thing for which insurance/government entitlement will pay a psychiatrist. Our society’s reliance on insurance mandated by government regulation to cover nearly everything instead of as a protection against a rare catastrophic event as it was initially intended has made this so. Many psychiatrists have now abandoned the “insurance game” and only accept patients that pay cash because it is the only way to practice what they truly believe and know to be “good medicine” – which is to prescribe medications when it is absolutely necessary, but also to provide scientifically-proven methods of therapy/counseling which are indicated in many more cases. Those proven methods are, at their very core, templates for developing the skills of self-reliance, self-discipline, self-control and coping mechanisms which are constructive rather than destructive.

    P.S. – Rush rocks…

  13. Gate:

    That actually was not my quote, it came from the article I pasted into my comment . But I do agree with it in terms of Peart’s making Rand’s philosophy understandable to a segment of the population who never would have known about it otherwise. I also contend that Rush were/are better musicians than Peart was a lyricist. Obviously, you know enough about me by now to know that I do not (and could not) strictly adhere to Objectivism. I’ve read some Nietzsche and Sartre too, and each had something to offer, but all 3 were kooks. I know enough about you to know that you (like me and countless other educated folks) also have taken certain parts of your influences, and that’s what defines your world-view. In my adolescence, I happened to be a Rush freak. In fact, I’m going to see them for the umpteenth time on June 10 in New Orleans.

    I hear where you’re coming from on why the teabaggers, et al can use Rand as a poster-child for their rants against social programs. What they are doing is what I did as a 15 year old kid; they are analogizing Rand’s philosophy with the concept of “rugged individualism” upon which this Country was supposedly founded.

    Sorry for the Rand rant, but it seemed like you misinterpreted what I was getting at.

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