Comments | hutta: Have I Mentioned I Hate Dogma?

hutta

Have I Mentioned I Hate Dogma?

Feb 02, 2005 23:45

It's Ayn Rand's birthday. Libertarianism, free-market capitalism, and atheism -- what's not to like about Objectivism? Well, I think I've got that figured out now: dogmatic egoism. Ayn Rand's Objectivism demands that it be swallowed whole and defines its principles as moral and everything else as immoral. I'm amazed to see such unapologetic ( Read more... )

Comments 14

moroveus February 3 2005, 08:14:34 UTC

What's really bumming me out is that the partisan split over Social Security is drowning out any and all rational discussions about the merits of privatization.

I fully admit that I'd be much more likely to support privatization if it were proposed by a Democrat, but I think that point of view is justified. The Republicans just don't have a good track record when it comes to social services, so it's hard to think that they have the good of the people in mind when they propose sweeping changes to Social Security.

hutta February 5 2005, 04:30:19 UTC

Wow. Just wow.

moroveus February 5 2005, 08:11:37 UTC

What? At least I'm honest about my partisanship.

popjunky February 3 2005, 14:37:30 UTC

I think that's the most competent anti-objectivist rant I've ever read.

argiope February 3 2005, 15:46:10 UTC

I am very weary of privatisation due to the messes it has caused abroad in my home town.
As far as christian dogma goes, I couldn't even bring myself to watch the him last night, GAH! Although I was raised christian and have held onto the belief that altruism is at our core as human beings.

P.S. I have put your items on our site but now have to look for conservative parafernalia - not looking forward to that :(

jdcooper February 3 2005, 17:33:52 UTC

your main problem with libertarianism seems to be that "it wouldnt solve any problems that shouldnt have existed anyway, and wouldnt have existed had everyone been libertarian from the start". i dont think its supposed to. its an ideal, like communism but without the voluntary poverty.

hutta February 3 2005, 18:03:42 UTC

I think you misread. I'm a Libertarian. The post is about the dogma that exists within Objectivism (which is libertarian in part). I think you also missed what I was trying to say about it.

jdcooper February 3 2005, 23:25:55 UTC

i see it less as dogma, and more as intellectual elitism. and why shouldnt they/we be elitist? there has never been any failure of our ideology, no evidence that we are wrong.

altruism and dogma ethernight February 3 2005, 19:06:38 UTC

"Martin Luther King, Jr. and others believed it was better to risk or outright sacrifice their own quality of life for the benefit of future generations."

I don't know that I agree that being willing to make sacrifices for something that you deeply care about would fall under the heading of altruism. In my own life, all sacrifices I make are motivated by my own selfish desires to mold the world into a better place to live.

"Unfortunately, I can't relate dogma to any of these events."

I would consider that quite fortunate.

Re: altruism and dogma hutta February 5 2005, 04:24:24 UTC

I don't know that I agree that being willing to make sacrifices for something that you deeply care about would fall under the heading of altruism. In my own life, all sacrifices I make are motivated by my own selfish desires to mold the world into a better place to live.Sure, that would be the case if the expected payoff was during your lifetime. In this case, it clearly wasn't, nor did he expect it to be. It could be argued that his higher status in life as a leader and (eventual) martyr were his selfish motivation, but I really don't think that's why he (or others in the movement) were fighting ( ... )

Re: altruism and dogma hutta February 5 2005, 04:45:58 UTC

To expand ( ... )