| | Lindsay, thanks for a strong and powerful message.
I wrote an essay on We The Living many years ago called, Philosophically Superior and Reality Challenged, which said basically what you are saying here, that some Objectivist-oriented people use philosophy to miss the real world, and thus are reality challenged.
I would venture to say this has a lot to do with their attempt to skirt the crucial, fundamental issues outlined by Ayn Rand, what you describe as the "malignant unity of mysticism, collectivism, and the ethic of self-sacrifice that together, in one permutation or another, suffuse political tyranny & near-tyranny around the world."
You nailed it to the wall, Lindsay, and this is of monumental importance, especially to those who put their head in the ground and don't want to see the effects of the "malignant unity" you mention. This is the issue that must be challenged if we hope to change the world. And as you say, Objectivism and Ayn Rand are the only anecdote to this poison.
If the sight of 19 men crashing planes into the civilized world, intent on self-sacrifice for a mystical new Islamic paradise, is not proof of what Ayn Rand was alluding to, then what more could one say? That day was a triumph for all the death-laden, swamp monsters of the world, the champions of darkness and death, from the Khymer Rouge to the Taliban to the narcotraficantes of Latin America who murder and terrorize for power and blood lust. And underlining all of this is that "mystical unity" so aptly described by Ayn Rand.
Some libertarians like Scott Ryan, philosophically trained and armed to the teeth, bend over backwards intellectually to ignore this fact, and create scenarios where altruism means "helping others." Others, as you describe, think privatizing the streets or the prisons is a step toward freedom, while at the same time, the hearts and minds of the young are being won away by religion and the attraction of social justice causes that promise a new world or even a revolution where men will finally cooperate unselfishly.
Ironically, where I live in Latin America the word revolution still has credence in regards to Fidel Castro, in that many naive youngsters dream of that new and better world. Yet, as you state, Ayn Rand's intellectual and moral revolution is the only force that will bring lasting freedom, good-will, and prosperity to the world. In my opinion the defects of the Objectivist Experience are easily correctable, and the benefits monumental. By why wait until next year? There may not be a civilized world to work with on her centenary.
Alan Tucker
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