On Libertarianism and Ayn Rand...

Over at VA's blog I began to reply to a question. And it wound up growing into a post of it's own:
'New Zealander': ''Is it true Rand was Jewish and no lover of Jesus Christ?''
Yup. Jewish by ethnicity, HARDCORE atheist by belief system. I've only read Atlas Shrugged and in it she doesn't have a nice word to say about faith in general and Christianity in particular. From Wikipedia:

As an atheist who rejected faith as antithetical to reason, Rand embraced philosophical realism and opposed all forms of what she regarded as mysticism and supernaturalism, including every organized religion.[96] Rand wrote in her journals that Christianity was "the best kindergarten of communism possible."

It would have been interesting to have witnessed a debate between Vox Day (who describes himself as a 'Christian Libertarian') and Ayn Rand considering his low opinion of obnoxious atheists such as Richard Dawkins. In fact he wrote a book titled The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens .Her stance on moral values is also clear, also From Wikipedia:

During these speeches and Q&A sessions, she often took controversial stances on political and social issues of the day. These included supporting abortion rights, opposing the Vietnam War and the military draft (but condemning draft dodgers as "bums"), supporting Israel in the Arab-Israeli War of 1973 as "civilized men fighting savages", saying European colonists had the right to take land from American Indians,[YIH: that's debateable] and calling homosexuality "immoral" and "disgusting", while also advocating the repeal of all laws against homosexuality.

The ending of Atlas Shrugged can only be described as utopian, literally a libertarian paradise.
Part 2 of this post is below the jump.
And it is why I've been moving away from libertarianism
The main reason is the radical expansion of the so-called 'gaming industry'.
When I was a kid, 'gambling' meant the lottery (which was new then) horse tracks here and there and 'OTB' offices (Off Track Betting, also new then) and of course Vegas/Reno. Then in 1976 Atlantic City legalized casinos. The city, which had been a tourist destination for New York City residents, had become a dump due to the availability of air travel to newer and much nicer destinations. Gambling was seen as the 'shot in the arm' that the city (and it's tax base) needed to revitalize it.
By the time I was an adult I was also exposed to dog racing and a sport(?) known as Jai-alai an odd form of raquetball that is wagered on. Later 'Lotto' was introduced in the State I now reside in. By this time casinos were being legalized in various places around the US. Then through a series of court decisions Native American tribes gained the ability to establish most forms of gambling on their reservations. And gambling expanded still further.
Now you open a newspaper, turn on a TV or radio (or for that matter surf the 'net) and what do you see and hear? Lots of ads for gambling of all kinds. Now I'm not that fond of the term 'gambling addiction' but I've seen the negative effects gambling brings. From people who waste money that could be put to better use elsewhere, to people who commit crimes to supply the fund for ever more desperate people looking for 'the big win'.
This is what changed my mind about drug legalization, if 'legalized', drug use will be promoted (much more so than it already is) by those in the business of producing and selling them with governments looking the other way due to the tax revenue the business produces. And they will tax it! Which will destroy the argument that drug users resort to crime because drugs are so expensive due to the fact they are illegal. They will stay expensive because governments are hungry for additional tax revenue.
As I once said to a friend of mine 'what would you think if one day you saw on your site ''Buy Brand X pot!'' on an ad you have no control over?'
That could happen here, that animated .gif you see at the top is a placeholder for an ad banner. That I cannot control, change, or remove.
That's something that gets under my skin about libertarians (especially Randians) and many 'conservatives', this idea that capitalism=morality. Not at all, capitalism is neither moral nor immoral, it's an economic system. It's neither right or wrong it's buy and sell. Prostitution is not moral (and it also tends to be a quite unhealthy activity). But it is capitalism in action, selling a 'service' for money. And it is also legal in many countries (and like gambling, in certain parts of Nevada as well). Importing (often toxic) crap from China might ''be good for the bottom line'' but the side effects can be rather tragic.
Which forces the question ''Where does the line get drawn?''. A lawless 'Mad Max' type scenario? A modern-day 'wild west'? I wouldn't want to live in such a society. Or in what would amount to a gilded prison where just about anywhere outside of its walls is ''a no-go area''.
What worries me is for many reasons it appears to me that is what we are headed for anyway...

Posted by: YIH at 03:28 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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