Add his turn as Jesse James, from the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, to the list of crazies he played well. Every time he was on screen you never knew whether he was gonna shoot someone or laugh with them. Also, a pretty good southern accent there (not easily done).
She did consider altruism evil. While one may give money without the feeling of altruism they cannot be charitable (look the word up) without this sense of moral obligation.
So it's ok to give someone something so long as you don't feel compassion for that person or think that you're doing anything good? That seems to be her rub. If you assign virtue to charity then it is wrong. She was totally all over the board on this issue and I believe it is because she threw God out and became her own moral code. It sickens me to read her tripe about morals being what we believe them to be. We are our own moral code. She is no better in this area than any other atheist philosopher. She has no more leg to stand on than anyone else who would decide what is right or wrong with no higher guidance than their own musings.
Thanks for the prayers! We need them.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Precisely my point. But much more succinctly put.
"Capitalism and altruism are incompatible; they are philosophical opposites; they cannot co-exist in the same man or in the same society. The conflict between capitalism and altruism has been undercutting America from her start and, today, has reached its climax." - Ayn Rand
She may have said that people should be free to give to charity. But she certainly wasn't FOR it!
I would go one step further. In addition to being in my best interest to help my fellow man, I take God into the equation. At that point I have a responsibility to be a "good Samaritan" when I have the opportunity. I live in Alabama, so I have loads of opportunities right now. I'm afraid Rand would have me look for chances to profit from our recent disasters. She leaves no room for the value one gets from helping someone who is truly in need. She leaves no room for people to end up in need through no fault of their own. And I believe she leaves room for liberals to say that the government is needed to take care of the needy. The fact is, true conservatives (not Rand) are the most charitable people in the world and would be more so if the government would get out of our pockets.
The point is that Rand goes beyond championing personal freedom. She considers charitable giving as morally wrong. Objectivism requires you receive in order to give. So unless I can profit by giving to such a project then Ayn Rand would say don't give. That is the irony.
I thought the same thing. She wasn't for charity of any sort. Now buying shares in this project! That would be Randian.
I made a speech on this (minimum wage) in college leaning heavily on material from the good Dr. Walter Williams. Do you think anyone got it? Actually my teacher quietly told me later that she completely agreed with me. That was encouraging but the fact that she was scared to say it out loud wasn't.
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Thingamajig