Ayn Rand ... My Convenient Hero
"Hey," you may be asking yourself, "since when did "two week hiatus" correlate to a month long vacation?" Well, it can. I now have a self-sufficient ego, dontcha know? The virtue of selfishness is apparently the "Fountainhead" of all human achievement.
It's amazing how convincing fiction can be. Dan Brown demonstrated this fact recently with the Da Vinci Code. Fiction has been called "the lie that tells the truth," as is aptly demonstrated by Ayn in her books, "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged."
She presents a convincing drama, as well she should … she created the world in which the drama takes place. Her beliefs don't conform to reality, however. Rand believed that selfishness, the concern for one's own interests that are independent from other influence, was the true value. No one could possibly achieve selflessness. As the Atlas Institute (After her book, "Atlas Shrugged") points out, "Rand understands, though, that the popular usage of the word, "selfish," is different from the meaning she ascribes to it. Many people use the adjective "selfish" to describe regard for one's own welfare to the disregard of the well-being of others."
She paints vivid pictures in her books – that the only real and alive people are those that understand their innate capacity for greatness … and fight other sheepish characters to obtain that greatness.
This makes sense, if you don't have a Biblical basis. Economics rests in part on the idea that individuals will do what is best for themselves: good job, cheaper goods, quality products, and so on. Obviously, theology is the only way to combat this idea.
The Golden Rule comes readily to mind. "Do unto others as you would have done to you." Beyond that, to demonstrate the love of Christ involves servant-hood. As Mark asks in 8:36-37, "And how does a man benefit if he gains the whole world and loses his soul in the process? For is anything worth more than his soul?" In context of eternity, self is microscopically insignificant.
Let's do an experiment and take both the ideas of selfishness and selflessness to the extreme. If everyone embodied the ideas of these values, there are markedly different results. On one end we have a world where everyone is out for one's own good. Despite the Atlas Institute's assertion, selfishness in any context can be detrimental to the well being of others. We have a vicious world where competition, something that can produce good ("Iron sharpens Iron") is used solely to rend others apart. To be completely selfish is to not love, feel compassion, or value anything other than one's own reality.
The other extreme is a utopian ideal, certainly, but sounds remarkably similar to the Fruits of the Spirit or the idea of Love expressed in 1 Corinthians 13. Clearly we are called to be selfless and love others as Christ does, rather than fixate upon our own interests. In a purely esoteric sense, I find that I feel better when I perform an act of kindness, make others feel better, or help a friend rather than doing what I want, making myself feel good, or helping myself to my desires. Some unconscious part of myself obviously wants to focus on the well-being of others, rather than my own.
In conclusion, Ayn Rand wrote some very interesting and very weird books. Without a basis in Christ, I found very little rational argument against promoting your own self-interests. However, to be selfless … so concerned with others you don't think about yourself (and therefore humble) is obviously the right course of action. Take up your cross and die daily. Easier said than done, yet it is our commission.
It's amazing how convincing fiction can be. Dan Brown demonstrated this fact recently with the Da Vinci Code. Fiction has been called "the lie that tells the truth," as is aptly demonstrated by Ayn in her books, "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged."
She presents a convincing drama, as well she should … she created the world in which the drama takes place. Her beliefs don't conform to reality, however. Rand believed that selfishness, the concern for one's own interests that are independent from other influence, was the true value. No one could possibly achieve selflessness. As the Atlas Institute (After her book, "Atlas Shrugged") points out, "Rand understands, though, that the popular usage of the word, "selfish," is different from the meaning she ascribes to it. Many people use the adjective "selfish" to describe regard for one's own welfare to the disregard of the well-being of others."
She paints vivid pictures in her books – that the only real and alive people are those that understand their innate capacity for greatness … and fight other sheepish characters to obtain that greatness.
This makes sense, if you don't have a Biblical basis. Economics rests in part on the idea that individuals will do what is best for themselves: good job, cheaper goods, quality products, and so on. Obviously, theology is the only way to combat this idea.
The Golden Rule comes readily to mind. "Do unto others as you would have done to you." Beyond that, to demonstrate the love of Christ involves servant-hood. As Mark asks in 8:36-37, "And how does a man benefit if he gains the whole world and loses his soul in the process? For is anything worth more than his soul?" In context of eternity, self is microscopically insignificant.
Let's do an experiment and take both the ideas of selfishness and selflessness to the extreme. If everyone embodied the ideas of these values, there are markedly different results. On one end we have a world where everyone is out for one's own good. Despite the Atlas Institute's assertion, selfishness in any context can be detrimental to the well being of others. We have a vicious world where competition, something that can produce good ("Iron sharpens Iron") is used solely to rend others apart. To be completely selfish is to not love, feel compassion, or value anything other than one's own reality.
The other extreme is a utopian ideal, certainly, but sounds remarkably similar to the Fruits of the Spirit or the idea of Love expressed in 1 Corinthians 13. Clearly we are called to be selfless and love others as Christ does, rather than fixate upon our own interests. In a purely esoteric sense, I find that I feel better when I perform an act of kindness, make others feel better, or help a friend rather than doing what I want, making myself feel good, or helping myself to my desires. Some unconscious part of myself obviously wants to focus on the well-being of others, rather than my own.
In conclusion, Ayn Rand wrote some very interesting and very weird books. Without a basis in Christ, I found very little rational argument against promoting your own self-interests. However, to be selfless … so concerned with others you don't think about yourself (and therefore humble) is obviously the right course of action. Take up your cross and die daily. Easier said than done, yet it is our commission.
posted by Matt Pitchford at 21:59
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