Ayn Rand is an Asshole

Yeah, I said it. I usually try to be fair and open minded, but that chick teaches a really ugly philosophy. I also prefer not to result to cursing at anyone, even dead people, if I can help it. But there’s no getting around the basic fact that Ayn Rand’s Objectivist philosophies just leads to assholery of the highest degree.

A post I made yesterday on Facebook, based on a link to a petition calling for the forgiveness of all outstanding student loan debt, spurred a pretty heated debate. Most of my Facebook links go unremarked upon but this one went on for quite awhile.  The gist of the debate was that some people took issue with the idea of forgiving people’s debt. They believe that forgiving people’s loans will lead to irresponsibility. They take strong issue with people asking for handouts.

If you don’t think about it to much, they have a point. Just letting people run huge debts and then forgiving them will just encourage them to do it again. Giving people everything they need and asking for nothing from them, will just make people lazy.

The problem is, no ones trying to do that. Socialism, the big enemy of Randian philosophy doesn’t do that. It’s not about providing everything to everyone free of charge. It’s about society being there to help you out when you get hit with the Unlucky stick.

There are a lot of inequalities in the world. Most people try to ignore them. Some people do try to balance them out by placing an unreasonable burden on everyone else. But those aren’t the only two options. You can help people who need it without screwing everyone else. It’s just hard.

Which is where the whole Randian philosophy falls apart. Setting up a fair society that helps those that need it without unduly smothering the drive to excel is a hard balance to find. But Randians are supposed to believe in the value of hard work. So why, instead of making that effort, do they instead say we shouldn’t even try? It’s everyone for themselves, let only the strong survive.

A successful society can’t work like that. We are all in this together. A person taking out a student loan to get an education that will enable them to have a good career is not irresponsible. Being unable to pay back the loan because the economy collapses is also not irresponsible. It’s unlucky. It’s no different than getting cancer or some other debilitating disease. Those are not irresponsible actions. They’re just bad luck.

That’s where socialism, for lack of a better term, says Society as a whole should step in and offer a helping hand. Some bit of bad luck strikes you that is beyond your control (disease, disabling injury, no jobs available that you qualify for, being born to a poor family, etc, etc), Society will provide you assistance (education, job training, financial aid, medical treatment). In exchange, you, and everyone else, contribute a part of your success to help pay for this help.

It’s the basics compact of living in a society. Randians, and pure ultra-capitalists, would have you believe that this is some how a bad thing. That society taking care of those who need help will somehow destroy society. According to them, if you’re unlucky, you either suck it up or die.

Now, before someone tries and points out that the “53%” movement is about the “fact” that 53% of society pays taxes and are carrying the other half, realize that that fact is complete BS. Sure, only 53% pay INCOME tax, but they do pay payroll taxes, sales taxes, state taxes (they’d pay property tax too, but they can’t afford to buy property). They don’t pay income tax because their income is too low. But instead of being concerned that 47% of people make an income so low that taking income tax out of it would push them over the edge into poverty, the “53%” people are just annoyed at the fact that those people don’t pay income taxes. Ayn Rand teaches them to call these people moochers.

I find that way of thinking sad.  Why should we view helping others as a negative? Why should we view higher taxes as a penalty? Your income goes up, your taxes go up. You still have more than you did before. You are still better off than you were before. But so is the rest of society.

• I reject the idea that society can not come together and take care of each other.
• I reject the idea that the middle class is dead.
• I reject the idea that asking those with means to help care for those without is unfair.
• I reject the idea that being poor is entirely that person’s fault.
• I reject the idea that business is only responsible to their bottom line and not the rest of society.
• I reject the idea that helping someone get ahead means I fall behind.

We can solve our problems together. Ayn Rand has done enough damage to the spirit of cooperation in this country. It’s time to once again view helping each other as a virtue instead of a weakness. It’s time to stop viewing life as a zero-sum game. People don’t need to be poor in order for other people to be rich. Bringing the poor up to the middle can be done without making the rich poor. They’ll just be less rich, but that’s not a negative.

Let’s dispose of this mean spirited notion that paying taxes is a punishment. It’s all a matter of perspective. If I make $150k, and after taxes make $100k. Then I get a raise to $200k, but after taxes I only make $125k, I still make $25k MORE than I did before. Being taxed more means you are being successful. View it as a badge of honor, not as a punishment. View it as a noble deed, succeeding in life AND helping the rest of society.