Post by RS Davis on Oct 15, 2003 0:46:38 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]RS Davis Wrote:[/glow] Rand railed constantly against this kind of saccharine doublespeak, which makes for good sound bites, but when extrapolated to its natural end is cruel and destructive. What it says is that your life is not your own, but merely a means to a greater societal end. It means that you have no rights beyond the needs of the many.
It means that you are a slave.
This is the theory behind public-interest politics. The financial needs of the many, through welfare – corporate and social – foreign aid, make-work projects, and farm subsidies outweigh the needs of the one to keep the money he earns. The moralistic needs of the many to be free from temptation outweighs the needs of the one to be free to make non-coercive, peaceful choices about his own life – like the choice to smoke pot, visit a prostitute, gamble, or get off watching a Jenna Jameson flick.
Rand understood this amazingly well: “Since there is no such entity as ‘the public,’ since the public is merely a number of individuals, the idea that ‘the public interest’ supercedes private interests and rights, can have but one meaning: that the interests and rights of some individuals take precedence over the interests and rights of others.”
This seemingly meant nothing to Roddenberry, for he appeared to be one of the many collectivists then and now that appear to believe the socialistic dream just hasn’t been done right yet. This despite the fact that every time it has been tried – and no matter how benevolent the intentions – the needs of the many axiom has always led to tyranny, misery, and oppression.
It means that you are a slave.
This is the theory behind public-interest politics. The financial needs of the many, through welfare – corporate and social – foreign aid, make-work projects, and farm subsidies outweigh the needs of the one to keep the money he earns. The moralistic needs of the many to be free from temptation outweighs the needs of the one to be free to make non-coercive, peaceful choices about his own life – like the choice to smoke pot, visit a prostitute, gamble, or get off watching a Jenna Jameson flick.
Rand understood this amazingly well: “Since there is no such entity as ‘the public,’ since the public is merely a number of individuals, the idea that ‘the public interest’ supercedes private interests and rights, can have but one meaning: that the interests and rights of some individuals take precedence over the interests and rights of others.”
This seemingly meant nothing to Roddenberry, for he appeared to be one of the many collectivists then and now that appear to believe the socialistic dream just hasn’t been done right yet. This despite the fact that every time it has been tried – and no matter how benevolent the intentions – the needs of the many axiom has always led to tyranny, misery, and oppression.
