People ask: If rational self-interest is right and healthy, is it always wrong to help someone? Of course not. If you’re to help someone, (1) they should be of value to you, (2) you should be able to afford the … Continue reading
Category: Ethics
Hitler and Obama: At Root, the Same Ideology
Adolf Hitler: “In the Jewish people the will to self-sacrifice does not go beyond the individual’s naked instinct of self-preservation…His [the Jew’s] sense of sacrifice is only apparent…Here again the Jew is led by nothing but the naked egoism of … Continue reading
All Socialism Is Theft
We’re all taught that the entrepreneurs and inventors who lift everyone under capitalism and freedom are “robber barons.” The implication is: They stole something. What did they steal? No answer is given. Instead, we’re told to rely upon the least … Continue reading
Truth Is Not a Democracy
It’s not about being first so much as being right. It’s not about being right so much as being in touch with reality. “Correct” and “true” are not social or interpersonal standards; they are objective ones. The “truth” is true … Continue reading
Don’t Always Trust the Trusting
The gullible are often the most dishonest. If they’re foolish enough to believe the big lies of others, then they’re foolish enough to expect others to believe their own deception.
The Contradiction of Manipulation
If you’re duplicitous, disingenuous or otherwise manipulative towards another person, then consider the mistake you’re making. By being manipulative, you’re counting on a weakness or foolishness in the person whose behavior you seek to alter by a means other than … Continue reading
The Battle Cry of the Altruists
When you do things for people that they’re capable of doing themselves, you do great harm to them. It’s the same as telling them: “You’re incapable” — even though they are. By doing the thing for them, you’re taking over … Continue reading
Does Suffering Strengthen Character?
Q: I know you, like Ayn Rand, write about the “virtue of self-interest” and contend that self-fulfillment is both moral and rationally healthy. Don’t you think there are situations where self-denial is a virtue and is, indeed, psychologically healthy? Can’t … Continue reading
Authority Isn’t Brute Force
Authority does not reside in someone’s status. It resides in the status of what they say — that is, whether or not what they say corresponds to rational truth and facts, or not. If it does, then you don’t need … Continue reading
Thoughts on the “Golden Rule”
If you’re treating people who are important to you — in business or personal life — the same way you’d like to be treated, then you’re acting with integrity and, more than likely, with rationality. I’m not saying “Do onto … Continue reading
Pie in the Face
‘The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone else is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more.’ (Attributed to … Continue reading
Insanity, Contd.
It has been said that insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, while still expecting different results. If this is true, so is something else: Insanity is thinking the same things over and over again, expecting different … Continue reading