Posted by seldomseen on December 30, 2007, at 9:39:00
In reply to Re: The way some people live depresses me. » gardenergirl, posted by Michael83 on December 29, 2007, at 23:24:49
Ayn Rand once said, "the person who loves everybody and feels at home everywhere is the true hater of mankind. He expects nothing of men, so no form of depravity can outrage him."
I was once quite a devotee of Ayn Rand. In fact, the Fountainhead remains one of my most favorite works of all time. I have rejected most tenets of the Objectivist philosophy as I find them to be inherently contradictory.
If the moral imperative of an individual is indeed the development of one's own happiness, truth, and productivity, then why would there be any outrage at all at the behaviour of others?
In fact, it should be the ultimate "live and let live - or more precisely - live and let fail" philosophy. Instead, she clearly portrayed the masses (specifically those in the Fountainhead that failed to honor Howard Roark) as the antagonist in the novel. Perhaps only Howard himself truly realized this philosophy and not Ayn Rand herself.
If we truly believe that we owe this life only to ourself, then why be concerned or bothered by others?
This, to me, is the heart of the contradiction in Ayn Rand's philosophy and the downfall of Objectivism.
Okay, I've gone way off here from your original concern:
"...but my challenge has been to not harbor any bitterness towards these people, which is against my natural feelings, but something I still think is the right thing to do..."
As I indicated before, this IS a challenge, but it can be developed. For me, the biggest thing that helped was education - as much as I could get. I had to get past the "little knowledge is a dangerous thing" roadblock that was crippling me. The more I learned, the more I realized that I don't know anything really. This led to a certain humility that is very freeing and ultimately leads (I'm not there yet) to wisdom.
Also, because I chose science as my discipline, I truly learned that things are as they are. I cannot impose my will on the data. It is what it is. Upon reflection, I learned that this is most likely true of most things as well.
Seldom.
poster:seldomseen
thread:802856
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20071130/msgs/803246.html