Ayn Rand Didn’t Understand Capitalism. Or Altruism. Or Christianity. Or Reality. JOE CARTER. Acton Institute Powerblog

rand self

There once was a time when I was enamored by the philosophy of Ayn Rand. An émigré from the Soviet Union, the influential novelist and founder of Objectivism had an enthusiasm for market capitalism and a hatred of communism that I found entrancing. I discovered her two major philosophical novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, in my early years in college as I was beginning to wake from my enchantment with liberalism. I was instantly hooked.

Rand’s ideas were intriguing, yet she harbored sentiments that made it difficult for a young Christian to accept. She was an atheist who despised altruism and preached the “virtue of selfishness.” She believed that rational self-interest was the greatest good and sang the praises of egoism.

In retrospect, it appears obvious that any attempt to reconcile these ideas with my orthodox evangelicalism was destined to fail. Still, I thought there might be something to the philosophy and was particularly intrigued by her defense of capitalism. My understanding of our economic system was a rather immature, though, and I failed to recognize that Rand had an almost complete misunderstanding of capitalism. She confused self-interest with selfishness.
Read more >>>Here<<< Read More of my criticisms of Objectivism below... We are not Robots Ayn Rand. We are Moral Agents.

Higher Values than Wealth or Self Interest

Classic Libertarian Idealism Cares (Objectivism is as silly as Socialism)

Christ-likeness…Heroic Self-sacrifice… John Shear throws himself in front of a horse to save little girl. (Ayn Rand’s Objectivism blows!)

Jefferson’s God. The Rock upon which Liberty is founded. (God save us from Atheism!)

Faith, Science, and Reason. The Pomposity of Atheism.

God is the Font of Morality. Why Objectivists Hate Ron Paul. (updated)

The Failure of Objectivist Libertarianism.

Thorns in the Flesh.

Materialism renders Man Nought. Meaning-less, Value-less, Right-less

Atheism has no basis for Rights… or Morals.

Christ-likeness…Heroic Self-sacrifice… John Shear throws himself in front of a horse to save little girl. (Ayn Rand’s Objectivism blows!)

john shear
Hero John Shear 92.

Watch this video!

At 92, John Shear can still pump out 30 pushups every day at the gym. But the man is hailed as a hero not for his unlikely strength but for his brave heart.
Shear has worked as a guard at the Santa Anita Park racetrack in California for 51 years.
He was keeping his normal watch two years ago, holding a rope across one of the gaps in the paddock fence as racing fans of all ages gathered to watch the horses moments before they took to the track.
“Then I heard someone shout out there was a loose horse,” Shear said.
He shouted to everyone to clear the way.
“I went to one side and when I looked down, there was a little girl standing there,” he recalled.
That little girl was Michael Key’s daughter, 5-year-old Roxy Key. Without thinking twice, Shear jumped in front of Roxy, shielding her from the horse that was barreling toward them.
“Before I could even think to even move, here comes Mr. Shear,” said Michael Key, remembering that fateful day.

shear
The defining moment of a man’s character. John does not hesitate to put himself in between the charging horse and the little girl… The Child of complete strangers.

“I knew I was going to get hit,” Shear said. “I thought there was a possibility I was going to die but you cannot stop and think should I or shouldn’t I. There is a five-year-old girl. I’m 90-years-old. I have had a life. She hasn’t had a life. You got to save that life.”
The horse ran full speed into the pair, knocking both Shear and Roxy to the ground.
“She got up and I was shaking. I was in shock,” Michael Key said. “And she’s like, ‘I’m fine, papa, I’m fine,’ and then she looked over and saw Mr. Shear on the ground and there was blood hemorrhaging and she lost it, she just lost it.”
Shear remembers that moment. “I heard her say when her dad asked her if she was fine she said, ‘Yes dad, I’m all right.’ I felt better that she was safe.”

Read more… here

horse6n-4-web
Roxy… now 8 is a Ballerina.

What an inspirational act of Humanity and selfless bravery!
John Shear… I salute you!

It is hard to believe that there is a growing Atheist philosophy that argues that reverence for such selflessness is evil… and that to just stand by in safety…and watch ‘shit happen’ to other people… is an act of liberated virtue… the so-called ‘Virtue of selfishness’.
Talk about a twisted mentality… a Rabid loathing of Christian values
Objectivism is a direct attack on the theistic foundations of inalienable rights, and Christian ethics such as the Good Samaritan.
Objectivism also has the audacity to plagiarise many Christian Ideals like Rights while denying this theft, and then try and say that rights are an atheistic concept and that ‘religion’ is anti- rights!
Talk about serpent lies.

Read my scathing criticism of Anti-Altruistic Objectivism, and its attempt to deceive people into rejecting Christian morality… >>> The Failure of Objectivist Libertarianism. <<< Classic Libertarian Idealism Cares (Objectivism is as silly as Socialism)

Spiritual Warfare. The Great Controversy.

evo christ war

This is an old and valid….(though a tad simplistic I admit) Christian argument which is simply showing that the Modern regression in morality is founded upon both the acceptance of Atheist evolution and the rejection of Bible based theistic Christianity.
I say it is simplistic because some of this ‘liberalism’ has in fact been real progress because it has removed bad Laws… and as such should in fact be supported by Christians… like the End of Prohibitions on Homosexuality, etc…)
Many Christians have been taught by ignorant and bigoted preachers that such reforms are evil…. when infact Christianity proper is not about oppressing sinners and infidels. That has historically been a great evil which resulted from the merging of Church and state…. Constantine…. etc… which was a deviation from what Christianity truly is… a voluntary association… not A political lobby for Power.

This is not to say that Christians ought not to participate in the democratic process, but that they must take care to be on the side of Liberty and justice… not tyranny and oppression.
They must seek to be ‘the salt of the earth’ not by despotic Laws…. but by Example and preaching Christian values and inspiring voluntary endorsement of their beliefs.

This picture also attempts to show Christians why they must be prepared to directly confront the False religion/ pseudo science of Evolution…. because it is the foundation of so many lies and Great evils.
It was when I realised that Evolution was Bogus, that I became much more open to the truth of the Bible…. because The idea of God crating Mankind began to make much more sense.

Read more…

Materialism renders Man Nought. Meaning-less, Value-less, Right-less

The Christian Fellowship is a voluntary private society, not a theocratic political movement.

Standing up for Justice more important than Personal Ambitions

Un-ask-able questions… Police Brutality: When should you shoot a Cop?

PoliceBrutality

This video not only highlights the blatant criminality of police violence agianst protesters, party goers, etc, but also reminds me of the Cannibals case of Jan Molenaar who fired on New Zealand Police officers executing a ‘routine’ cannabis search warrant at his house at 41 Chaucer Road, killing Senior Constable Len Snee and seriously injuring Senior Constables Bruce Miller and Grant Diver. A neighbour attempting to assist the police was also shot. Read about that >>>here<<< I was thinking that Pot smokers and their friends, neighbours, and families have become so submissive of peaceful people being violently fucked over by police under the pretence of the 'war on drugs', that we are shocked when One man chooses to defend his own liberty from a corrupt Political tyranny. Now I am not saying pot smokers should start shooting. I believe in passive resistance. Yet lets not confuse who is in the wrong and who is perpetrating violence against whom! Just by posting this to our site brings the fear of being tagged as 'an extremist' invites the intrusive Evil eye... and phobia of Tyrannical retributions... yet tyranny prevails when good people through terror...say nothing. I'm a fan of Peaceful activists like Socrates, Jesus, St Paul, Martin Luther King, Gandhi ...Oh wait.... they all got Whacked. :-( Tim Wikiriwhi. Christian Libertarian. police-beating-kids-2

Read more… Police Brutality in ‘God’s Own’

Filthy Bastards: “It was an Accident”. Kim Dotcom Raid.

Daddy… What part did you play in the Revolution?

God’s Grace, Libertarianism, and Anne Frank

Prohibition works

1456563_10202530673898281_1242314900_n

Cui bono.

Follow the money.

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (KJV)

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (KJV)

“Prohibition doesn’t work.” You’ve heard it before. I’ve said it before. (See here and here, e.g.) You’ve probably said it before, too. It’s any libertarian and/or drug law reformer’s mantra.

Prohibition doesn’t work. If it did, there wouldn’t be 400,000 New Zealanders who currently use cannabis, and people like Smith to supply. Prohibition has not reduced demand or illegal supply of cannabis. Only a sensible drug policy, such as that promoted by the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party, can do that.

Vote ALCP – End the War on Drugs™.

But I’ve never been entirely comfortable with the claim that Prohibition doesn’t work.

Prohibition doesn’t work. Now think for a moment about that. Prohibition doesn’t work… OK. So, what would it be like if Prohibition did work? What’s Prohibition supposed to achieve? What’s Prohibition for? Prohibition is supposed to stop people taking drugs. Now, ask yourself, why on earth would you want to do that? Is it any of your business if people are taking drugs? How are you going to stop them?

What’s Prohibition for? The official line is that prohibition is supposed to stop people taking drugs. Prohibition manifestly doesn’t do that! That’s why I’m sticking to the official line when I give election speeches. Prohibition doesn’t work!

But what is Prohibition really for? We can find the answer to that by asking what an adaptationist evolutionary biologist would ask when trying to determine the biological function of a phenotypic trait. What has Prohibition done in the past that best explains why we still have it?

Prohibition is for protecting vested interests. Prohibition works.

Prohibition’s time is up. It’s throw a spanner o’clock.

State rape culture?

6a00d8341c51c053ef014e8616c97e970d-450wi

policerecruitment

The top image is a real NZ Police recruitment ad. It ran for about two weeks in late December 2010. It was pulled just before the release of a report prepared for the State Services Commission in the wake of the commission of inquiry into police conduct. The report said the culture within the force seemed to have reached a plateau and fundamental change was needed.

That was three years ago.

The bottom image is a parody ad created by Martyn “Bomber” Bradbury, editor of the Daily Blog, in response to the NZ Police inaction against the Roast Busters. The police contacted Bradbury and threatened him with 6 months imprisonment and/or a $5000 fine unless he pulled the parody. But Bradbury won’t back down.

Rape is a serious crime. So is false allegation of rape. But the concern of this post is the casual manner in which the NZ Police repeatedly attempt to rape our most important freedom, upon which our democracy depends, freedom of speech.

I’ve seen a similar attempt before, up close.

Two years ago the NZ Police made a clandestine ultra vires attempt to take down Billy McKee’s Green Cross website. The webmaster made sure the website stayed up.

Good on Bradbury for not backing down. Freedom of speech is not negotiable.

Every time you speak to me,
Makes it plain that you don’t see,
What’s really happening here,
You just confuse respect with fear,
Lawman, I think you’re a poor man

Give me Liberty, or give me Death!