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Earning Our Prized Possession - Moral Sanction

Posted by mshupe 4 years ago to History
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"With the election season almost behind us, you can still hear the echoes spewing from the pie-holes of politicians of all stripes as they cry out for unity. Yet in her 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged, philosopher Ayn Rand had identified the problem and the solution, “They say it’s hard for men to agree. You’d be surprised how easy it is when both parties hold as their moral absolute that neither exists for the sake of the other and that reason is their only means of trade.”

"Of course, America’s founders had identified the problem and the solution 200 years earlier, and Thompson introduces their achievement to us again when he says,"

"This volume analyzes the mode of reasoning, habits of thinking, patterns of thought, and the moral and political principles that served American revolutionaries in their intellectual battle with Great Britain before 1776, and to create a new society after 1776."
SOURCE URL: https://www.centerforindividualism.org/americas-founders-gave-individuals-everywhere-their-priceless-possession-moral-sanction/


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  • Posted by term2 4 years ago
    Having to live around other people is a pain in the ass UNLESS everyone agrees to the following from AR. "You’d be surprised how easy it is when both parties hold as their moral absolute that neither exists for the sake of the other and that reason is their only means of trade"

    Without that, I would rather live alone, to be honest.
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    • Posted by 4 years ago
      Another basic thing to know, that most people never understand fully, is that the only thing that can prevent us from acting on our own rational judgment is other people. Hence, Howard Roark.
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      • Posted by term2 4 years ago
        I will have to think about that one. It seems to me that I could act against my own rational judgment quite well on my own without anyone else being involved.
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        • Posted by 4 years ago
          If your rational judgment is not to act, then that is also a rational judgment. Rational includes acting or not acting to achieve higher values than the ones you set aside, or something like that.
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    • Posted by $ pixelate 4 years ago
      To your last point, I am looking at large parcels in N. Central Wisconsin, Oregon and Nevada. My neighbors will be similarly on large plots of land and will be well armed.
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      • Posted by term2 4 years ago
        I am currently living in Las Vegas Nevada for the last 20 years. Its NOT what it was. Given the destruction of our current governor, Las Vegas is pretty much destroyed and will never come back, at least from what I can see.

        We have a statist governor who puts the governor of california on a pedestal. There is a lot of land in Nevada where one could essentially hide in plain sight without being harassed by the state government here, but NOT in LasVegas or Reno areas.
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        • Posted by $ pixelate 4 years ago
          A group of friends had planned a Zion Traverse for April 2020. It was to include a few days in Las Vegas. The trip was cancelled primarily as a result of the Closing of Las Vegas (plus some fear on the part of my fellow travelers). Over the next few months, I watched videos and read the "on the ground" stories of what was happening in Las Vegas as it relates to tourism and business. The city had become, by nefarious design, a ghost town. The widespread destruction of business and industry, across this country (and the world), is without justification. It is infuriating -- and I am mentally coming to terms with how to effectively "shrug."

          I have visited and hiked in Mesquite Nevada -- about 80 miles NE of Las Vegas -- it is centrally located in terms of distance from many National Parks. However, it does boast of 110-115F temperatures in July and August ... that would be the time to head north for a couple of months. Another option for land would be just outside of Death Valley Natl Park near the Armagosa Valley. There is something about those wide-open desolate places that resonates strongly with me.
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          • Posted by term2 4 years ago
            Vegas is currently subject to a 75% reduction in occupancy of casinos, bars, restaurants, and many other things. Hours of operation have been cut down to save money also, and one has to wear the damn masks in all businesses and public outside areas. There are no shows currently running, and many of the casino restaurants are totally closed and currently there is only ONE buffet in the whole town. Basically there is nothing for a visitor to do in Vegas. In addition, there is an influx of ghetto guests from the hoods in california, leading to crime and fights on the strip.

            Thanks to our governor, Vegas I think has been dealt a death blow.
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  • Posted by 4 years ago
    From Atlas Shrugged, Part III, Chapter 1 - "I gave them that priceless possession which they had missed., had longed for, yet had not known they needed: moral sanction."
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  • Posted by 4 years ago
    Thanks, and I think Brad Thompson's book does a yeoman job explicating our Founding principles from Aristotle to Ayn Rand. Near the end Of Rand's PWNI, she writes an essay titled, What Can One Do? Thompson does it, and to a lesser extent, so do I.
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  • Posted by $ Thoritsu 4 years ago
    Well for many, it will be nice to stop worrying about which next 4-yr temporary compromise will precipitate, and go back to simply complaining amongst ourselves, as if a perfect ivory tower were the next stop from our present location.

    We are the quintessential two muppets, Staler and Waldorf, in the balcony.

    So much easier than a run on FCC Section 230, to offer two options:
    1. You can edit as you please, but you must disclose your practice and you forgo any protections.
    2. You may not edit of censor, except for clearly illegal publications, and you receive indemnification for prosecution.
    Pick you way, fascism or free speech, and the protections each platform deserves.

    No? Too hard? Well, worry not, for two more months we can ridicule two administrations at once and accomplish nothing. A harvest moon indeed!
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  • Posted by 4 years ago
    This week begins the reading and analysis of Brad Thompson's 2019 book, America's Revolutionary Mind. The link to the online forum is embedded in the blog post above. At Center for Individualism we'd love to see a cohort of 'Gulchers' add their two cents! No inflated currency here!
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