Disillusionment and Disappointment
Recently I got into an online "argument" on Facebook with an old friend of mine from high school. And now it looks like I won't be able to see him in the same light again.
It all stemmed from a posting that a former English teacher (at the same school) put up about the Ayn Rand magnum opus Atlas Shrugged. She spoke of both the book and its protagonist John Gault in complimentary, even glowing, terms. I added what I thought was a neutral comment, in which I stated that I found the book itself messy and its theme of Objectivism untenable, finishing with the comment "Selfishness is *not* a virtue." I thought this a valid point to make, considering that the high school that formed our common bond was a Catholic school.
Said teacher put up a second posting, citing Gault's quote of "I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." My old schoolmate jumped in with a gushing "great post!" comment, and went on to turn it into an indictment of the current President and his policies, something along the lines of "how could so many people be taken in by this empty suit?" I tried to be neutral and avoid personal comments, but things quickly devolved. I used to think this man was intelligent and worthy of respect, but as the conversation continued it became clear that he had drunk the wingnut Kool-Aid (and I'm sure he feels the same way about me and my own left-of-center proclivities).
I'd like to think I'm open-minded, but I simply can't fathom how someone with intelligence and education could look to people like Ayn Rand, Rush Limbaugh, and Jonah Goldberg (author of Liberal Fascism, a book that my friend cited as a serious historical work) with admiration and not ridicule. But then again, I never could stand willful ignorance. Call me a crazy liberal moonbat if you want, but I still believe that selfishness is not a virtue.
So here's my question to the reader: How is it possible to reconcile Objectivism and its exaltation of selfishness with the Catholic/Christian tenets of having a duty to help the poor, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, etc.? Are my former teacher and schoolmate merely playing a game of convenience, cherry-picking those data points that support their argument and ignoring the rest? Aren't these philosophies at odds with each other, if not mutually exclusive?
Help me out here, folks.
It all stemmed from a posting that a former English teacher (at the same school) put up about the Ayn Rand magnum opus Atlas Shrugged. She spoke of both the book and its protagonist John Gault in complimentary, even glowing, terms. I added what I thought was a neutral comment, in which I stated that I found the book itself messy and its theme of Objectivism untenable, finishing with the comment "Selfishness is *not* a virtue." I thought this a valid point to make, considering that the high school that formed our common bond was a Catholic school.
Said teacher put up a second posting, citing Gault's quote of "I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." My old schoolmate jumped in with a gushing "great post!" comment, and went on to turn it into an indictment of the current President and his policies, something along the lines of "how could so many people be taken in by this empty suit?" I tried to be neutral and avoid personal comments, but things quickly devolved. I used to think this man was intelligent and worthy of respect, but as the conversation continued it became clear that he had drunk the wingnut Kool-Aid (and I'm sure he feels the same way about me and my own left-of-center proclivities).
I'd like to think I'm open-minded, but I simply can't fathom how someone with intelligence and education could look to people like Ayn Rand, Rush Limbaugh, and Jonah Goldberg (author of Liberal Fascism, a book that my friend cited as a serious historical work) with admiration and not ridicule. But then again, I never could stand willful ignorance. Call me a crazy liberal moonbat if you want, but I still believe that selfishness is not a virtue.
So here's my question to the reader: How is it possible to reconcile Objectivism and its exaltation of selfishness with the Catholic/Christian tenets of having a duty to help the poor, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, etc.? Are my former teacher and schoolmate merely playing a game of convenience, cherry-picking those data points that support their argument and ignoring the rest? Aren't these philosophies at odds with each other, if not mutually exclusive?
Help me out here, folks.