RoR: Forum

Rowlands,

You make an important point here: "Objectivist politics doesn't need or expect perfect behavior by every person."

As you say, the quest for improvement is not utopian. What is utopian is the implementation of an ideal that demands a change in human nature. While Communism required the New Soviet Man and Nazi Germany the Aryan race, a successful Objectivist society does not need to be peopled by Randian heros. Ordinary folks will do.

Pukszta

Post 1

Thursday, January 6, 2005 - 9:01am

Joe,

You beat me to it. Because of the holidays, I end up getting invited to a lot of parties and so I end up debating politics. And of course every time I spoke at a party there would be someone there who would say that what I was talking about was a utopia and I would have to explain that it wasn't. So I was going to write an article on the matter but you covered it with a good deal more technical expertise than I would have. Good Job as always.

~E.

Post 2

Thursday, January 6, 2005 - 9:29am

Joe,

This article is fabulous. One of the best to date from you (though I enjoy all your articles.) Keep up the fantastic work.

Ethan

Post 3

Thursday, January 6, 2005 - 3:59pm

Great piece of writing Joe. Concise, well thought out and funny. I almost fell out of my chair laughing when you unexpectedly caught me off guard with the "tofu" comment.

Gerald
(Edited by GEWH on 1/06, 5:26pm)

(Edited by GEWH on 1/06, 7:09pm)

Post 4

Thursday, January 6, 2005 - 4:35pm

Joseph,

Your listing of natural disasters & disease with tofu is an insult to natural disasters and disease. :-)

This is a wonderful article!

Post 5

Thursday, January 6, 2005 - 5:18pm

I'm generally opposed to calling this or that theory of politics and society "utopian" because such labelling add little to the analysis that leads to that conclusion.

That said, any philosophy (Objectivism included) that sometimes offers a theory of human nature and reason that is at odds with both the theory of evolution and the views of man advocated by the traditional religious consensus (by which I mean the views and practices of man that have survived many generations and which are common to many religions) will be called utopian until it becomes an established alternative. After that, the successes and failures of that philosophy will speak for themselves.

Post 6

Friday, January 7, 2005 - 12:26am

I want to add my plaudits to Joe for this article. When I first proof-read it in the Article Queue & got to the tofu bit, I'm sure my laughter could be heard the other side of Wellington Harbour. The way it was suddenly inserted when one least expected anything like that was masterly. Humor doesn't come much better than this. But of course, the serious point is *so* salient - the fallacy of utopianism & the paralysis it can cause.

There's no doubt that SOLO is a great place to come if you want to be disabused of foolish notions!

Linz

Post 7

Thursday, January 13, 2005 - 8:48pm

Joe (and others), I've posted a topic in the dissent forum which gets into the topic of utopianism. Basically, I posted an article from an author who argues that libertarianism and leftism are both utopian ideologies. I recognize that you were not promoting libertarianism per se in your article, but I feel that that the author could reasonably critique an "Objectivist" society from the same grounds, and I'm seeking a thoughtful rebuttal...

Post 8

Monday, November 25, 2013 - 6:39pm