Hi Mike,

Rand's basic philosophy does a lot of good. I think the importance of taking
care of yourself first, as well as of rationality, outweigh many of the
negatives.

Where Rand's thinking is harmful, however, is in some of her unspoken
assumptions. Maybe these shouldn't be judged as part of her philosophy; however,
in her novels as well as her non-fiction, she seems to emphasize one idea and
one idea only:

Anyone who is not thriving in this world is struggling because of following poor
ideas. This is his/her own fault. S/he is either very badly mistaken or (much
more likely) evil.

The problem is that the real world does not work that way, and if people believe
these premises they tend to end up disillusioned, depressed, and isolated.

I think that Rand's lack of compassion for people in general is harmful to the
people who most need her philosophy. People whose lives have gone off-track are
the ones who are looking for the answer as to how to get back to what they
wanted and expected their lives to be. But if the truth is bundled with the idea
that the person doing the looking is "evil" for not having lived properly prior
to learning these ideas, that only adds to his/her burden. And yet such people
will cling to her philosophy because the good in it can help them heal. This can
cause a chain reaction in which people are healed to an extent, but not
fully--because Rand's ideas require them to live in isolation, to view people
who already have the answers as superior to those wo are struggling, to view
themselves as good only insofar as they follow her ideas perfectly. These people
experience personal growth without developing compassion; instead of sharing
their inner light with others, they keep it to
themselves. I do not believe this is good for either the person doing it or the
world in general.

Of course, in a perfect world, it wouldn't matter if Rand emphasized isolation
and non-compassion, because in the long run, it is what each person thinks is
important that should drive his/her actions. But to take the good and dismiss
the bad in someone else's ideas--especially someone with as powerful a way of
expressing their ideas as Ayn Rand--requires a strong sense of self to begin
with. And again, those people who come to Rand because they're looking for
something just aren't going to have the inner strength to examine the
implications of her ideas.

The deeper truth, really, is that asking if Rand's ideas are harmful are like
asking if Jesus Christ's are. Christ emphasized following the spirit of the law
over the letter; a similar caveat applies to Rand's ideas. The spirit of Rand's
ideas requires respect fo the individual, and yet a literal interpretation
requires one to dismiss others as unimportant or unworthy and evil. It is this
interpretation that is harmful, more so than the ideas themselves.

Stephanie






There's enough room in this world for everybody to be successful.
In memory of David Newton (1962-2006)

Stephanie Silberstein: Writer, Author, Thinker - the official homepage







----- Original Message ----
From: Michael Lee <mikelee.home@...>
To: nathaniel_branden@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, May 4, 2007 12:10:46 AM
Subject: RE: [nathaniel_branden] on objectivist self-torture



Mr Rael asks a great question:

> What part of Rand's thinking, specifically, was deleterious, in your
> opinion?

I would love to see some thoughtful, specific answers in this forum to this
question.

<snip>

In my life, Rand was an intellectual terrorista. She's the Tarantino of
philosophy: the conversion of the conventionally evil to the righteous, the
Ezekiel 25:17 sense of vengeance and redemption, the sympathy for people who
are confused and aren't making it in the world they're supposed to thrive
in.

On balance, way overbalanced, Rand helped me, not harmed me.

Mike Lee
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