Mr. Machan, I am in complete agreement with the points that you have made in your article. All I have to offer are a few thoughts that hopefully add a bit to the discussion.

My assumptions are:

1.      Man is an end in himself. This means man’s mind is his basic tool of survival, which he must use to gain knowledge and guide his actions. It follows that he must be free to think and act according to his judgments.

2.      Man should not initiate mental or physical force against others, and his government’s proper mandated is to protect him from others initiating force against him. A government, by definition, is an institution that holds the exclusive power to enforce rules of social conduct in a given geographic area.

3.      A man who values his life will value the lives of others if for no other reason than they are human beings like him. At least this is will be the initial reaction. This reaction may quickly turn to one of dislike once he gets to know the person who is experiencing the tragedy.

It follows that one would think in terms of benevolence and mutual helpfulness toward his fellow man as long as any actions that are taken are consistent with the above assumptions.

The question is this, how does man properly deal with an individual who otherwise adheres to the above assumptions, but who is experiencing hard times or a tragedy of one sort or another through no fault of his own? The answer is he is not obliged to do anything—save and except if his children are involved, in which case he is obliged to do the best that he can—but he may wish to do something to help others. The choice is his. Obviously his reaction to another person’s tragedy will differ depending if the person in question is someone who reflects and embodies his deepest values, or it is someone who is unknown him. His reaction will also be different depending on his resources.

The same group of men may even wish to pool their resources in order to help their fellow man. Alternatively, they may donate funds to an organization like the Red Cross. The choice is theirs to make on an individual basis. It is not proper for politicians to assume that this is part of their mandate.