Stephanie,

Very eloquently stated.

- Christopher

--- In nathaniel_branden@yahoogroups.com, Stephanie Silberstein
<stephanie_m_silberstein@...> wrote:
>
> 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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