Five Reasons Geoffry James is Bad for Business
Posted by JeanPaulZodeaux 12 years, 2 months ago to Business
In an article written for Inc. here (http://www.cnbc.com/id/48700753) Geoffry James offers up five reasons he believes businesses advocating the philosophy of Ayn Rand is a mistake. According to James, encouraging an employee to acquire their own personal wealth is bad for business, encouraging selfishness is bad, encouraging Rand's philosophy only creates fanatics, Rand alienates the religious, and Rand discourages charitable giving.
In terms of flourishing and prospering i.e. acquiring wealth, James argues that this will only encourage top producers to accept better paying jobs elsewhere, never occurring to James that a business unwilling to pay their top producers accordingly is bad for business.
In terms of selfishness, James has no understanding of what Rand means by that and is really using her advocacy of selfishness as an excuse to sell collectivism. James views the group as more important than the individual apparently unaware that the group is only as strong as its weakest individual and if that individual is sacrificing self for the good of the group that group is in trouble.
On the fanatic point I have to give James some due. Rand has created fanatics, but James only contradicts this concern in his very next point by claiming Rand alienates the religious. Apparently James is ignorant to to the fact that religion creates fanatics.
As to his point of alienation of the religious, far too many "religious" are fanatics who merely use their religion as justification for suppressing others. Conversely, I am religious yet remain a fan of Rand's as are many people I know who reject her attacks on God and religion but are capable of using reason to separate this point from the whole of her philosophy and still appreciate the elegance of Objectivism and these people are hardly Ayn Rand fanatics.
Finally James claims that Rand discourages charitable giving and then uses Rands distaste for altruism to justify his view and never fully makes a strong point as to why a distaste for altruism is bad for business.
Rand has no problem with individual charity but cogently has a problem with the idea that individuals should sacrifice their own ideal for the sake of another. Charity is not sacrificing an ideal it is upholding one. If it is in ones best interest to help another then one should do so and this argument in no way contradicts the Objectivist ideal.
Geoffry James is a writer who shops his work to the highest bidder but thinks you shouldn't.
In terms of flourishing and prospering i.e. acquiring wealth, James argues that this will only encourage top producers to accept better paying jobs elsewhere, never occurring to James that a business unwilling to pay their top producers accordingly is bad for business.
In terms of selfishness, James has no understanding of what Rand means by that and is really using her advocacy of selfishness as an excuse to sell collectivism. James views the group as more important than the individual apparently unaware that the group is only as strong as its weakest individual and if that individual is sacrificing self for the good of the group that group is in trouble.
On the fanatic point I have to give James some due. Rand has created fanatics, but James only contradicts this concern in his very next point by claiming Rand alienates the religious. Apparently James is ignorant to to the fact that religion creates fanatics.
As to his point of alienation of the religious, far too many "religious" are fanatics who merely use their religion as justification for suppressing others. Conversely, I am religious yet remain a fan of Rand's as are many people I know who reject her attacks on God and religion but are capable of using reason to separate this point from the whole of her philosophy and still appreciate the elegance of Objectivism and these people are hardly Ayn Rand fanatics.
Finally James claims that Rand discourages charitable giving and then uses Rands distaste for altruism to justify his view and never fully makes a strong point as to why a distaste for altruism is bad for business.
Rand has no problem with individual charity but cogently has a problem with the idea that individuals should sacrifice their own ideal for the sake of another. Charity is not sacrificing an ideal it is upholding one. If it is in ones best interest to help another then one should do so and this argument in no way contradicts the Objectivist ideal.
Geoffry James is a writer who shops his work to the highest bidder but thinks you shouldn't.
