| | Luke, nice article. I agree with your main point. I have only one clarification to offer. You wrote:
"Objectivists from a religious background often make the mistake of attempting to apply justice as an out-of-context "all or nothing" virtue and to engage in the same sort of dogmatic moralizing in which their church ministers engaged. These acts may make their practitioners feel good for the moment, but they seldom serve long-range self-interest. Such actions distract the focus of the practitioner away from improving himself and towards attempting to change others through highly ineffective means. In effect, this misapplication of justice leads to an others-centered world view rather than a self-centered one. It places the locus of control on "them" instead of on "me.""
If I recall correctly, Rand advocated not a "self-centered" world view, but a ~reality-centered~ world view. (I think this was stated in "Causality vs. Duty.") It is true that one's real control in life is with oneself, not over others; and it is also true that in one's efforts to control others, one runs the risk of losing control over one's self (perhaps even losing one's self per se). So, in that respect, you are correct. But we should avoid the false dichotomy of thinking that either our world revolves around others, or it revolves around ourselves. Our world ~just is~. It is our job to decide whether we want to accurately know the world and act accordingly, including our actions toward others. By focusing or centering on reality, we come to realize that there are things we can change and things we cannot change, and that we should focus on the former and let go of the latter. If we do that, ~then~ we arrive at the realization that the fundamental opportunity for change is within ourselves. So, self-focused efforts for change presuppose a reality-focus, rather than either a self- or other-focus.
Roger Bissell
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