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.Ayn Rand
Philosopher and writer
1905 -1982
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Good Morning Friends,
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today is Sunday June 21, 2009
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Well, Gladys lived until her 83rd birthday so that is a good thing. She is now working on her 84th and that is also a good thing. Made it to the track yesterday and I got half of a 300 dollar triactor so that was quite neat, except I still did not end up a winner, but things could have been a lot of worse so it always pays to look on the bright side of things as you are most likely aware.
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I have been watching quite a few videos about the philosopher Ayn Rand lately, which I have already mentioned in these spaces. Now, when you watch these videos something pops out at you concerning the personality of Rand. It is her intellectualism of course and it is rather striking. She is direct and does not budge from her philosophy and her beliefs. And, she is very quick in responding to questions. No fuss and no muss.
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She is an atheist, a believer in free enterprise or individualism, and she dislikes the misuse of altruism. She blames the philosopher Emmanuel Kant for many of our contemporary problems since he is the one who formulated the idea that it is a good thing to be moral and altruistic as it were. But, this practice of altruism by our society is a negative she feels because it breeds collectivism, socialism of ideas and institutions and hampers society by the way money is spent to lift people up. This is wrong approach to take she claims as those with gifted powers are neglected in the process. The only way a society is successful is because of its entrepreneurs and gifted people, so these are the people who should be supported and not those drawing on the resources of the rest of us. Taxation is just theft anyway. In fact, she says that the state and the economy should be separate, just as church and state are separate.
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But, it is her views on love that I find the most interesting. And, these views are related to her ideas on altruism. People should not make the mistake of getting married out of altruism she claims. That would be foolish and even immoral she states. Why is this so? Because what kind of marriage would that be if you married someone out of pity or because you thought you had to help them? That would go against the wishes of man's inner nature which is basically selfish she says. And, I totally agree that man is selfish as I have stated many times on these pages and elsewhere. So, I totally agree with Rand on this issue of course.
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She says that the currency of love is virtue. I suppose, without asking her what this really means, we would have to surmise that a good marriage would be one that involves something for each of the participants of a marriage, and having as the means of exchange to use her metaphor, something composed of virtue. If it has to be earned as she claims then each partner to a contract of marriage would have to be supplying something to that marriage to make it work. Why would you marry just anybody? There has to be a reason I think why you pick one person to marry as opposed to another one. So, that would be the element of self interest that I do not think we can escape. Each person is expecting something out of the relationship. Both, are most likely interested in the sexual component, but not necessarily I suppose. However, I think if a man is marrying a woman the relationship must have something to do with the sexual opposites, otherwise why would you marry someone from the opposite sex? But, then as we know, not everyone marries someone from the opposite sex so there must be more to it than that of course. But, even same sex partners must enjoy some kind of a sexual relationship I would think. So, I don't think we can ever completely abandon the importance of sex in a relationship. You may want to disagree of course.
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At any rate, there there must be some roots for the attraction of two people, whatever these attractions are. There is a union and there is some kind of contract, written or unwritten on things concerning the expectations of each party to the marriage or the living together of two people; something is keeping them together. And, it better not be altruism or that relationship will fail according to Ayn Rand. So, I suspect that she is on to something here because I don't think a marriage would work if someone married someone else because society says that it is your duty to do so. If you are not happy in the relationship then neither will your spouse or partner. There will be something wrong and unhealthy about the relationship and that is why altruism will not work in marriage. So, virtue is the currency says Rand. I suppose if you believe what Rand is saying then this virtue would have to be a special kind of virtue, not just any old kind of virtue, and especially not an altruistic variety. I suppose this is her definition of love as she understands love. It would have to be a virtue possessed of self interest; giving because you love; but surely expecting something in return. Happiness for both parties should be the driving force I think ( another one of Rand's beliefs is the happiness of the individual ) behind any successful marriage. And, happiness is not going to come to either party unless it is earned. That is the message of Ayn Rand. So, it looks like there is a bit of work involved in this marriage business as well. How did I earn her love? Why the old fashioned way of course. Have a nice day friends and thanks for reading.
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You might want to check out my latest marriage proposal ( Marriage Proposal Number 3 over on the main blog ) to see what kind of a virtuous person I am. And, you can read a related post of mine found on my series, the Bachelor Philosophers found here:
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Here is a guy singing the 1963 song by the
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Drifters: On the Roof
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I think he did a great job. This is the song that I have as part
of my latest marriage proposal to the girl of my dreams. So, this
is an example of my selfishness and wanting to get something out
of marriage, which is of course, my happiness. Now, the only other
problem of course is: where is the girl's happiness going to come from?
Well, that is up to her now isn't it? No happiness - no marriage. And, no virtue of any variety whatsover.
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