This one is for a young man who told me yesterday, he thinks he's an Objectivist. So @EricMorris, this one's for you.
For one thing, if you "think" you're an Objectivist, I can already tell you're not. You're what is called, in the vernacular, a wannabe. There is no scorn or derision in this, it's just that Objectivists don't have to think about it, it's something that we know with every atom of our being. We don't sit around wondering about it, getting all angsty and wringing our hands. To be honest, we do that about anything. As a group, we internalize a lot. I'm sure there is some huge word that would mean something to a psychology major, but means nothing to us other than we tend to be pretty focused individuals who don't need the approbation of others to validate our existence.
Now, for those of you out there who are saying to yourselves, "Surely, that can't be right! We're all driven by anxiety and what others opinions are!"
No. Objectivists are not. We are rugged individualists who respect ourselves and the property of others. We're not eaten up with self-doubt and worry whether or not the neighbors will agree with our plastic yard sculpture of frolicking gnomes. If we want a plastic flamingo in our yard, then we will have a plastic flamingo in our yard, and Heaven help the neighborhood activist who tries to tell us different because we will shove property rights code right up there with his Preparation-H suppository. We're not mean spirited, we're not really all that out-going. But in the main, we are almost always right because we think things through. We do not allow ourselves the Liberal Luxury of renaming something awful to make it more palatable. We make ourselves see what really is, judge it and base our knowledge on what it really is, and not what we wish it were. It's why we make really crappy Global Warming scientist and Al Gore political advisors.
We like other people who think like us, just like everyone else. Why? Because listening to people whine about how their lives are crap without ever drawing the conclusion that their own actions are causing all their grief is really trying to our patience. I'm not kind at all. I'll shove your own shit right back at you and remind you it's your fault. I wonder if that's why I don't get invited to more parties?
Most of all, we enjoy the silence. Objectivists are pretty quiet folk. We don't have protests or rallies and I think we may get together once a year for a thing somewhere? I could be wrong, I don't always read my e-mail. But I can see wanting to spend some time with folks who think like you do, don't question your every motive and utterance, trying to find the error of your ways to try to convert you into the latest cult of death.
However, we do have folks, new to the concept of thinking of living for oneself and the notion of rational self-interest who do have questions. For ages there was no one out there answering the questions. Then Leonard Piekoff discovered Al Gore's little invention and things just sort of took off from there. The Ayn Rand Institute started it's online presence and Yaron Brook started appearing on PJTV and it was all uphill from there. Things really kind of took off once they realized that you could be an Objectivist, get your point across easily and still have a sense of humor. I've always been quite certain that Ayn Rand was one of those people cursed with no sense of humor, but then I re-read some of Francisco d'Anconia's excerpts from Atlas Shrugged and I realize she was wickedly humorous.
So, if you just think you're an Objectivist, head on over to The Ayn Rand Institute. There are books, videos, articles for you to peruse and listen to to figure it out for yourself. We would never make that decision for you. Better yet, head over to PJTV's Front Page with Allen Barton. Or, as I like to call it, Fun with Finances.
It won't be long until you can utter the delarative sentence, "I am an Objectivist." and know the fullest meaning of it.
For one thing, if you "think" you're an Objectivist, I can already tell you're not. You're what is called, in the vernacular, a wannabe. There is no scorn or derision in this, it's just that Objectivists don't have to think about it, it's something that we know with every atom of our being. We don't sit around wondering about it, getting all angsty and wringing our hands. To be honest, we do that about anything. As a group, we internalize a lot. I'm sure there is some huge word that would mean something to a psychology major, but means nothing to us other than we tend to be pretty focused individuals who don't need the approbation of others to validate our existence.
Now, for those of you out there who are saying to yourselves, "Surely, that can't be right! We're all driven by anxiety and what others opinions are!"
No. Objectivists are not. We are rugged individualists who respect ourselves and the property of others. We're not eaten up with self-doubt and worry whether or not the neighbors will agree with our plastic yard sculpture of frolicking gnomes. If we want a plastic flamingo in our yard, then we will have a plastic flamingo in our yard, and Heaven help the neighborhood activist who tries to tell us different because we will shove property rights code right up there with his Preparation-H suppository. We're not mean spirited, we're not really all that out-going. But in the main, we are almost always right because we think things through. We do not allow ourselves the Liberal Luxury of renaming something awful to make it more palatable. We make ourselves see what really is, judge it and base our knowledge on what it really is, and not what we wish it were. It's why we make really crappy Global Warming scientist and Al Gore political advisors.
We like other people who think like us, just like everyone else. Why? Because listening to people whine about how their lives are crap without ever drawing the conclusion that their own actions are causing all their grief is really trying to our patience. I'm not kind at all. I'll shove your own shit right back at you and remind you it's your fault. I wonder if that's why I don't get invited to more parties?
Most of all, we enjoy the silence. Objectivists are pretty quiet folk. We don't have protests or rallies and I think we may get together once a year for a thing somewhere? I could be wrong, I don't always read my e-mail. But I can see wanting to spend some time with folks who think like you do, don't question your every motive and utterance, trying to find the error of your ways to try to convert you into the latest cult of death.
However, we do have folks, new to the concept of thinking of living for oneself and the notion of rational self-interest who do have questions. For ages there was no one out there answering the questions. Then Leonard Piekoff discovered Al Gore's little invention and things just sort of took off from there. The Ayn Rand Institute started it's online presence and Yaron Brook started appearing on PJTV and it was all uphill from there. Things really kind of took off once they realized that you could be an Objectivist, get your point across easily and still have a sense of humor. I've always been quite certain that Ayn Rand was one of those people cursed with no sense of humor, but then I re-read some of Francisco d'Anconia's excerpts from Atlas Shrugged and I realize she was wickedly humorous.
So, if you just think you're an Objectivist, head on over to The Ayn Rand Institute. There are books, videos, articles for you to peruse and listen to to figure it out for yourself. We would never make that decision for you. Better yet, head over to PJTV's Front Page with Allen Barton. Or, as I like to call it, Fun with Finances.
It won't be long until you can utter the delarative sentence, "I am an Objectivist." and know the fullest meaning of it.
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