Re:Do we have a moral obligation to society?
by javert on Saturday November 03, 2012 @03:26PM
(#4737601)
That wasn't a reference to the entire body of her work
If you use "Ayn Rand style rhetoric" to argue against taking someone's argument seriously, you are discounting Rand and her entire body of work, and you're doing it in a backhanded way.
It was a reference to her views re: self-interest, altruism, and society as an oppressive instrument.
Well, she held that society is a marvelous thing and that we're all much better for it. Just want to make sure you realized this. In fact, she makes the strongest philosophical argument for this that I've ever seen.
calling it "slavery" cheapens the discourse
No, the person who called it "slavery" was right on par. If the individual has "obligations" to society, he is coerced to serve society.
Yes, there is a question of degree. But we're not talking about 1% of an individual's effort being forcibly taken to serve others. We're talking, what, 30, 40, 50%? In France, it's 75% for some people now.
Plus, free speech and just conducting business are becoming highly regulated, which means highly non-free.
Society is great, but not a society like that. Which is why some of Ayn Rand's heros "shrugged" and decided to stop contributing.
If you use "Ayn Rand style rhetoric" to argue against taking someone's argument seriously, you are discounting Rand and her entire body of work, and you're doing it in a backhanded way.
It was a reference to her views re: self-interest, altruism, and society as an oppressive instrument.
Well, she held that society is a marvelous thing and that we're all much better for it. Just want to make sure you realized this. In fact, she makes the strongest philosophical argument for this that I've ever seen.
calling it "slavery" cheapens the discourse
No, the person who called it "slavery" was right on par. If the individual has "obligations" to society, he is coerced to serve society.
Yes, there is a question of degree. But we're not talking about 1% of an individual's effort being forcibly taken to serve others. We're talking, what, 30, 40, 50%? In France, it's 75% for some people now.
Plus, free speech and just conducting business are becoming highly regulated, which means highly non-free.
Society is great, but not a society like that. Which is why some of Ayn Rand's heros "shrugged" and decided to stop contributing.