Now don't get me wrong, I hold great respect for her as a writer and as a thinker of her time, but I do not respect her philosophy toward empathy and altruism , particularly for her uninhibited tirade that they are what's wrong with society today. See, what I like about Libertarian politics is that it holds you, the individual, to be responsible for yourself. But what I dislike about Rand's philosophical statement is that it claims we must live solely for our-self, and by doing so, we are behaving morally. In my opinion, this is complete bull. Don't worry, I'll give you my reason.
The fundamentals of capitalism and our "market economy" is that we must have entrepeunurs who are able to act within their free will to harvest and utilize scarce economic resources to produce a good or service for the population. By doing so, the market stays happy, people have freedom, and so on. Well, this economic ideal and philosophy suffers from the same fallacies that something such as socialism suffers from, it proposes one all encompassing view for how the world should operate. The truth is everyone is different, some are good, some are bad, some are greedy, some are giving, and heck, all of us may truly be innocent in the end. Our behavior is part biological and part environmentally conditioned. No matter what, you'll never be able to squeeze everyone into one box. The world doesn't work like that.
Furthermore, while I feel like we should all be responsible for our actions, I also accept the idea that in the end we are all in this together. Think about it, if I started a company that ended up making one billion dollars within it's first year of operation, who do I owe this to? I owe it to the individuals who helped me run the company, but most importantly, I owe it to the society of which I live in, the economy of which we are all dependent on. Without someone to consume, I have nothing to sell. Moreover, both socially, ethically, and emotionally, we all experience life through each other. While the experience is ours, it is also shared.
Besides that, people should be careful about the idea that altruism and empathy are signs of weakness. One of the most quintessential factors that helped elevate our species over anything else was the development of social morality. Research has shown that oxytocin, a neuro chemical within our brain, has been and still is, heavily linked to the development of proper social behavior. To be succinct, we are programmed to receive and give care for another. We are programed to be moral. I would recommend checking out, " Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells us About Morality," by Dr. Patricia S. Churchland, if you're interested in the subject.
Also, I feel people should look more into why Ayn Rand portrayed such behavior and held such ideas. She came from a rather dark and cold place. During the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, poverty and violence ran amok, propagated by the cause of communism and state control. Then all of the sudden she comes to America during the roaring 1920's. In some ways, it had to be like finding heaven on earth. It's no wonder she had such a extreme view.
Her personal life and legacy are all very interesting. So if you're curious, check out a very thorough, objective history of Ayn Rand by Dr. Jennifer Burns, "Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right." Dr. Burns does an excellent job at creating a narrative which identifies the various factors of influence in her life.
So long for today.
Best,
Mark
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