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Sunday, April 4, 2010
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"America's inner contradiction was the altruist-collectivist ethics. Altruism is incompatible with freedom, with capitalism and with individual rights. One cannot combine the pursuit of happiness with the moral status of a sacrificial animal."-Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness
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Man & Ethics
"From her start, America was torn by the clash of her political system with the altruist morality. Capitalism and altruism are incompatible; they are philosophical opposites; they cannot co-exist in the same man or in the same society. Today, the conflict has reached its ultimate climax; the choice is clear-cut; either a new morality of rational self-interest, with its consequences of freedom, justice, progress and man's happiness on earth--or the primordial morality of altruism, with its consequences of slavery, brute force, stagnant terror and sacrificial furnaces."-Ayn Rand, For The New Intellectual
"A 'right' is a moral principle defining and sanctioning a man's freedom of action in a social context. There is only 'one' fundamental right ( all the others are its consquences or corollaries ) : a man's right to his own life. Life is a process of self-sustaining and self-generated action ; the right to life means the right to engage in self-sustaining and self-generated action --which means : the freedom to take all the actions required by the nature of a rational being for the support, the furtherance, the fulfillment and the enjoyment of his own life. ( Such is the meaning of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ) The concept of a 'right' pertains only to action - specifically, to freedom of action. It means freedom from physical compulsion, coercion or interference by other men. Thus, for every individual, a right is the moral sanction of a 'positive' --of his freedom to act on his own judgement, for his own goals, by his own 'voluntary, uncoerced' choice. As to his neighbors, his rights impose no obligations on them except of a 'negative' kind; to abstain from violating his rights. The right to life is the source of all rights--and the right to property is their only implementation. Without property rights, no other rights are possible. Since man has to sustain his life by his own effort, the man who has no right to the product of his effort has no means to sustain his life. The man who produces while others dispose of his product, is a slave. Bear in mind that the right to property is a right to action, like all the others: it is not the right 'to an object', but to the action and the consquences of producing or earning that object. It is not a guarantee that a man 'will' earn any property, but only a guarantee that he will own it if he earns it. It is the right to gain, to keep, to use and to dispose of material values." -Ayn Rand, Man's Rights, The Virtue of Selfishness
"The moral purpose of a man's life is the achievement of his own happiness. This does not mean that he is indifferent to all men, that human life is of no value to him and that he has no reason to help others in an emergency. But it 'does' mean that he does not subordinate his life to the welfare of others, that he does not sacrifice himself to their needs, that the relief of their suffering is not his primary concern, that any help he gives is an 'exception', not a rule, an act of generosity, not of moral duty.." -Ayn Rand, The Ethics of Emergencies, The Virtue of Selfishness
"The most profoundly revolutionary achievement of the United States of America was 'the subordination of society to moral law'. The principle of man's individual rights represented the extension of morality into the social system--as a limitation on the power of the state, as man's protection against the brute force of the collective, as the subordination of 'might' to 'right'. The United States was the first 'moral' society in history. All previous systems had reguarded man as a sacrificial means to the ends of others, and society as an end in itself. The United States regarded man as an end in himself, and society as a means to the peaceful. orderly, 'voluntary' co-existence of individuals. All previous systems had held that man's life belongs to society, that society can dispose of him in any way it pleases, and that any freedom he enjoys is his only by favor, by the 'permission' of society, which may be revoked at any time. The United States held that man's life is his by 'right' (which means: by moral principle and by his nature), that a right is the property of an individual, that society as such has no rights, and that the only moral purpose of a government is the protection of individual rights." - Ayn Rand, Man's Rights, The Virtue of Selfishness
"A 'right' is a moral principle defining and sanctioning a man's freedom of action in a social context. There is only 'one' fundamental right ( all the others are its consquences or corollaries ) : a man's right to his own life. Life is a process of self-sustaining and self-generated action ; the right to life means the right to engage in self-sustaining and self-generated action --which means : the freedom to take all the actions required by the nature of a rational being for the support, the furtherance, the fulfillment and the enjoyment of his own life. ( Such is the meaning of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ) The concept of a 'right' pertains only to action - specifically, to freedom of action. It means freedom from physical compulsion, coercion or interference by other men. Thus, for every individual, a right is the moral sanction of a 'positive' --of his freedom to act on his own judgement, for his own goals, by his own 'voluntary, uncoerced' choice. As to his neighbors, his rights impose no obligations on them except of a 'negative' kind; to abstain from violating his rights. The right to life is the source of all rights--and the right to property is their only implementation. Without property rights, no other rights are possible. Since man has to sustain his life by his own effort, the man who has no right to the product of his effort has no means to sustain his life. The man who produces while others dispose of his product, is a slave. Bear in mind that the right to property is a right to action, like all the others: it is not the right 'to an object', but to the action and the consquences of producing or earning that object. It is not a guarantee that a man 'will' earn any property, but only a guarantee that he will own it if he earns it. It is the right to gain, to keep, to use and to dispose of material values." -Ayn Rand, Man's Rights, The Virtue of Selfishness
"The moral purpose of a man's life is the achievement of his own happiness. This does not mean that he is indifferent to all men, that human life is of no value to him and that he has no reason to help others in an emergency. But it 'does' mean that he does not subordinate his life to the welfare of others, that he does not sacrifice himself to their needs, that the relief of their suffering is not his primary concern, that any help he gives is an 'exception', not a rule, an act of generosity, not of moral duty.." -Ayn Rand, The Ethics of Emergencies, The Virtue of Selfishness
"The most profoundly revolutionary achievement of the United States of America was 'the subordination of society to moral law'. The principle of man's individual rights represented the extension of morality into the social system--as a limitation on the power of the state, as man's protection against the brute force of the collective, as the subordination of 'might' to 'right'. The United States was the first 'moral' society in history. All previous systems had reguarded man as a sacrificial means to the ends of others, and society as an end in itself. The United States regarded man as an end in himself, and society as a means to the peaceful. orderly, 'voluntary' co-existence of individuals. All previous systems had held that man's life belongs to society, that society can dispose of him in any way it pleases, and that any freedom he enjoys is his only by favor, by the 'permission' of society, which may be revoked at any time. The United States held that man's life is his by 'right' (which means: by moral principle and by his nature), that a right is the property of an individual, that society as such has no rights, and that the only moral purpose of a government is the protection of individual rights." - Ayn Rand, Man's Rights, The Virtue of Selfishness
About Me
- American Egoist
- Veteran, patriot, lover of cool crisp winter air, reading, relaxing at home when I need to, and above all, being as productive as possible.
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