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Monday, March 9, 2009 - 9:36pmSanction this postReply
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Jason Lewis just appeared on the radio here in the Denver area as a replacement for Bill O'reilly. I have only heard a total of maybe an hour in fragments from three or four shows. He seems, so far, to be a fairly traditional conservative and well informed. I'll be listening with interest to see how consistent he is. And the above quote is quite in agreement, I think, with Rand's 'sense of life'.

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Tuesday, March 10, 2009 - 7:21amSanction this postReply
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Jason said, just after the quote above, that it is "right out of Atlas Shrugged" and that he agrees with it. 

The lead up to this was that he was on the line with a female caller and she was railing about the government meddling instead of letting markets and individuals do the right (i.e., the necessary) thing. Jason jokingly asked her: Who are you? Mrs. John Galt?

Jason Lewis is even better than Rush Limbaugh when it comes to Objectivism and when it comes to the economy. Just keep listening ...

Ed


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Tuesday, March 10, 2009 - 7:37amSanction this postReply
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Productive work is not moral when the majority of the products of your labor are taken and used by your enemy.

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Tuesday, March 10, 2009 - 8:40amSanction this postReply
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Good retort, Dean.

You bring up a great point about context. However, the basic and underlying nature of things doesn't change. The opposite of productive work, for instance, is that of not producing anything -- which means death for all of humanity. The reason that it means death for all of humanity is because humans are different from animals. Animals survive by adapting to their environment and by mooching and looting and killing and fighting, etc. It is in their nature to survive in that way.

Man has a different nature and needs to act differently than that in order to survive (i.e., in order to continue to be able to act in this world). Man has to jealously defend his right to own the product of his efforts (a point which your retort makes clear). Because there are some men on this planet who have chosen to think and to act like they are animals.

Ed

(Edited by Ed Thompson on 3/10, 8:42am)


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Post 4

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 - 3:41pmSanction this postReply
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And that is just what the doctrine of 'Otherism' seeks, to provide that sense of morality to the 'animal' aspect of humanity, the Taking Syndrome...
(Edited by robert malcom on 3/10, 3:42pm)


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Tuesday, March 10, 2009 - 3:58pmSanction this postReply
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I would say that this is mostly correct, but probably needs to be qualified in some way. Collectivists have been at work in the USA for quite some time and their work has been very productive indeed. I would say productive work being the highest moral act is related to the nature of what is produced, although I would cast a wide net indeed to define what "good products" consist of.

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