First off, in response to Sharon, who asked me, "Well then, isn't that what Ayn Rand meant by: nature to be commanded must be obeyed? And if that is true, then we better get it right; or face that extinction?"
Contrary to the psycho-babble being taught today, that would have you believe that our psyches and bodies are, “oh, so fragile”; human beings are incredibly resilient by their nature. So barring the most horrific of scenarios (such as a worldwide nuclear holocaust), extinction is not likely at all. History has proved that human beings can exist, and continue to perpetuate themselves, even under the most horrific and irrational of personal philosophies or imposed political systems.
So the question is not so much a choice between life and death, but between merely existing, or truly living. Either a life in the literal sense only, clawing and crawling just to maintain existence, or a life to the fullest; where one can prosper, develop spiritually, and expand intellectually to the fullest degree of his desire and potential. This is the real choice that we face when we decide on the philosophy of life that we are going to apply (or accept by default).
Naturally it is rarely this stark of a choice, because there exist a myriad of philosophies; from the most primitive and abject forms of religious and/or political systems, to far more enlightened ones that have integrated a heavy amounts of rationality, thus allowing for greater human flourishing in spite of their inherent contradictions. You see, when it’s all said and done, well before Ayn Rand formally developed the philosophy of Objectivism: it had always existed. From time immemorial, whenever a man recognized, accepted and acted in accordance with reality, he was in essence, applying Objectivist philosophy to his own life.
Everything else that has followed since, has been the history of the struggle between the men that seek to live in accordance with reality and their own natures, and those that either through ignorance or artfulness, attempt to cheat reality, or free-ride on the backs of those that don’t.
If tomorrow, every single person on earth that defined himself as an “Objectivist” or whatever variant of the word he likes (Randian, Post-Randian, ect .) were to disappear, the philosophy would still live on. For the application of this philosophy’s principles is the precondition for human existence. It is for this reason that I have never, nor do I now, measure the success or failure of Objectivisms influence within our culture, by the success or failure of the “formal” Objectivist movements as they exist within their splinter groups.
Whenever a man acts in accordance with his nature: there Objectivism grows. Wherever there is an achievement or a noble act: there Objectivism grows. Whenever a contradictory philosophy or religion becomes more enlightened: there Objectivism grows.
George
(Edited by George W. Cordero on 4/19, 7:58am)
|
