Government
I believe in the freedom of humans to by free and to follow their self interest and be self sufficient and produce something that people need , however if their self interest is to be dependent on the producers how do we discourage this? Some sort of government is necessary, am I right. This is what I believe, and I know that I may get some push back on this. I am a Gunsmith and I believe that to protect the rights of man an armed populace will prevent tyrants from enslaving the populace, it is necessary for a free state to allow their people to arm themselves. As Thomas Jefferson said, when the government is armed you have tyranny, when the people are armed you have liberty. I would hope that Ayn Rand would recognize that man has the right , whether natural or God given to defend themselves and their loved ones. I have watched the way that followers of Ayn Rand have castigated one another and I am appalled at your lack of understanding of what freedom of thought means. Kbillado
If you want to learn more, there are many books, papers and videos of Ayn Rand that will explain better than I can.
The slippery-slope comes with the more general uses of government which are ostensibly "general welfare" questions. This is where things can quickly devolve away from the necessary and proper functions into the intrusive functions that begin to introduce coercion of taxation, etc.
As to personal protection, while Rand doesn't specifically address the Second Amendment in her writings, I don't see anything which contradicts with it. Personally, I think that everyone has the responsibility first and foremost to protect themselves and that the portion of that responsibility we delegate to the government is that portion necessary to protect rights and no more. It should also be noted that the first defense is against the overreach of government, not even necessarily infringements by other individuals.
Also, I'd be curious as to where you are looking for Ms. Rand's position on guns? It's not hard to find. I would suggest you do some googling, and THEN if you find something you like, or you find something you DON'T like, come back and you will have something to discuss. Otherwise, I might have to be "appalled" at your lack of ability to learn things for yourself without having to be spoon-fed.
That said, it's always nice to meet new people in the Gulch, especially a 2A devotee, but each of us is required to carry our own weight.
But still, my opinion is that the uncivil ones are in the minority - AND I haven’t seen them around for a while. Let’s just concentrate on enjoying the discussion.
The full essay can be found in The Virtue of Selfishness. http://sqapo.com/complete_textrandthe_virtue_of_selfishness.htm
"The basic political principle of the Objectivist ethics is: no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. No man - or group or society or government - has the right to assume the role of a criminal and initiate the use of physical compulsion against any man. Men have the right to use physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use. The ethical principle involved is simple and clear-cut: it is the difference between murder and self-defense. A holdup man seeks to gain a value, wealth, by killing his victim; the victim does not grow richer by killing a holdup man. The principle is: no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force.
The only proper, moral purpose of a government is to protect man’s rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence - to protect his right to his own life, to his own liberty, to his own property and to the pursuit of his own happiness. Without property rights, no other rights are possible.
Hands, club, knife, gun.....?
Without the definition of Values being an Absolute to Life it's all rhetoric. If I jump to any of Ayn's other works before assimilating "TOE" there is much more subjectivity in interpretation. I have "grounded" my thinking in context to her essay and a 1944 interpretation of Tao te' Ching by witter Bynner; The Way Of Life, According to Laotzu. These two "works" have reduced my uncertainty regarding my thought processes and action more profoundly than any others. I am healthier and happier than at any time previous in my life. It was worth the work!
"The notion that the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are "Living and breathing" written documents subject to changing with the times is totally ridiculous in my mind. Our founding fathers, as old as they have become, were some of the most intelligent individuals to ever have walked the face of this earth. Now what we have are a bunch of legal minds taught by a bunch of other "Legal Minds" all with an agenda that simply fits their prescribed narrative based on who taught them."
Excepted from Lochner v New York, a labor dispute, Justice Holmes dissent: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremeco...
"49
General propositions do not decide concrete cases. The decision will depend on a judgment or intuition more subtle than any articulate major premise. But I think that the proposition just stated, if it is accepted, will carry us far toward the end. Every opinion tends to become a law.
[ I think that the word 'liberty,' in the 14th Amendment, is perverted when it is held to prevent the natural outcome of a dominant opinion,]
unless it can be said that a rational and fair man necessarily would admit that the statute proposed would infringe fundamental principles as they have been understood by the traditions of our people and our law."
The bracketed portion of the "dissent" has been used as Constitutional interpretation as a fundamental for law schooling. And since, we have descended into legal precedent upon precedent.....as Liberty has been formally subjugated to the whim of the populous or the State.
I hope you find this as unnerving and ill begotten as I. Holmes formally separated The Declaration of Independence from The US Constitution.
I am beginning to HATE the word "Safe." Especially when it comes to life, SAFE doesn't exist!
I did agree with one of them on numerous policies but not a single one of them gave me a chill up my leg that made me feel any safer. Here at my place I have never actually felt unsafe except for government intrusion.