I am sooo with you on this... that phrase makes me sick...I always yell "Give back??? WHAT DID YOU TAKE?" Just more feel good/guilt relieving horse pucky.

Again, we'd be living in a different world if Romney had said, "No one gave me anything. I earned it!"

I'm about ready to go and "give back" some of the same kind of stuff that was shot and launched at me in Vietnam. We need only to "give back" what our enemies are giving us. I remember something called the Golden Rule, it went something like this: Do unto other as they do unto you, only do it first.

Giving forward. Giving back. If these are required, then they are not virtues. If they are voluntary - go for it if you want to.

This is why we have the concept of an 'oath under duress'. If you are pressured to take an oath, it is not valid.

Jan

I completely agree. I used to make me sick when the public school would plant this in our daughter's head, when they should have been giving her academic content. Now, even the new McDonalds ads about "LOVE", a throwback to the hippie era. Giving back suggests guilt in my book, and my question is, what are they feeling guilty about?

"You didn't build that." -BHO

"It takes a village." -HRC

It's disgusting that 'the message' and its corollaries are so pervasive. 'Apologize for your talent, belittle your accomplishments, and hide your value' because these things are not the result of your effort and focus.

That idea is derived from the assumption that these things are gifts from a 'god' or the people around you. So, you're immoral if you don't "give back".

...excuse me, now, while I go cough something up and rinse out my mouth.

Mama,
go to the ocean and start screaming because it is never going to stop.

This reminds me of Gerald Starnes Jr. and Clifton Locey in AS.

Agree. In fact I wrote on this very topic 8 months ago.

http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/e3...

So true. I always said I was not having any children. Because of the con that is our world. You are told to dream and dream big, but most of us never realize our dreams because they are so unrealistic. You have to be rich, famous and popular to be a success. Why can't you just be happy plowing the same field everyday of your life? I have spent most of my life trying to be a singer, and feeling like a failure because I didn't make it. It wasn't till I was in my late 20s that I realized, I amnot a very good singer. And that's OK. I am finally happy after all that time just being a wife, mom, and working our farm. I have become very solemn and I am so much happier, not being the center of attention that I was convinced I had to be.

This is such a great point. I have noticed this too. Lately it's like we are being beaten into believing that the only way to be a good person is to give everything away. Give away your time, give away your money, give yourself freely to help those around you, whether they are helping themselves or not. I am no where near rich, my hubby makes about 50k a year and we are barely getting by. But we both came from very very low income families.
My husband and I have busted our tails to provide for ourselves and our children, but we also try to make sure they understand what goes into every dollar, and how to earn money and to survive. I have two boys and I refuse to see them become these sorry excuses for men that I've seen along my way. As soon as I feel they are old enough, my kids will read Atlas shrugged, and I have already begun teaching them about her and her teachings. They will definitely not be giving away their earnings or business to just anyone.

The incident reported by LetsShrug is truly sick-
ening. I think she (or he?) should raise h--l with the
schoolboard and DEMAND that this s--t be
stopped. As to the other commentator ( Temlakos), it seems
to me less like Gerald Starnes, and more like
Ivy Starnes, or--hold your stomach--Eugene
Lawson (Yuckh!!) (Parenthetically, if I had a
child, I would not send him to kindergarten,if I
could reasonably get out of it; I didn't go, and
didn't need to; little children need to be at home,
and they can be taught phonics there).

Giving from the heart to someone in need is what we all should do. Of course I am talking about the truly needy and not the moochers. I get more out of giving than I do taking because taking does nothing for my self esteem. only by giving with pure intention is the kind of giving that we should be involved in. I cannot buy Ayn's statement about it not bothering her if someone else gave. She apparently did not give from her heart so that is her choice. But this giving back crap makes me sick at my stomach.

Indeed, the existing system is so completely about taking from producers, one can't help but dream about possible ways to "TAKE back!"

Watch Shark Tank. There is a lot of the "no one gave me anything" that the sharks talk about.

The other phrase for this sort of thing is to "Pay it forward." I gag just writing it down let alone saying it out loud. So...how about this: "Pay it back, pay yourself, and if there's anything left, give some away to a worthy charity."

I'll scream with you if I hear, "It's not if, it's when", again. Actually I already do, scream that is. It helps me relieve tension.

I don't have as much of a problem with people performing acts of charity, as I do with lauding the people that don't work for a living as somehow holier than thou. We have a serious problem with "nobility in poverty" in this country with he goal of making people feel guilty for being successful and working hard.

My T-shirt reads: "The government didn't build my business, I did." On the "give back" matter I give to a person's strength, not their weakness if I chose to give at all.

I wrote a small piece on this very topic.

Enjoy...

http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/e3...

I earn what I get and expect others to do the same. Look at all the $$ sent overseas to help the starving families. PROBLEM!! Families are still starving but those in charge of those countries are getting richer. I give to no charity except if I am going to throw something out that is still good I drop it off at the Salvation Army and I DON'T wait for a receipt for taxes.

Someone has to give you something before you can give it back.

There is nothing wrong in the thought or act of giving as long as it is a personal choice. It is only wrong when it is by force.

I give back based on what I've been given that I didn't pay for. So don't give me that bunk about fire and police protection as I pay for that. Don't say military as I pay for that. And don't say the poor as they steal from me already. I don't think I have anything to pay back because no one has given me anything. Government charity with taxpayer's money has about cleared the issue of paying back. If you want to give, terrific, but don't impose your guilt on anyone else.

I am always giving back.
I give back whenever I kill and eat whatever I can catch or outfight. .
That way, I improve a multitude of species.
Too slow or too weak? You can't mate, Jake.
I even give back whenever I slaughter a nest of hatchlings.
That way, I control that deficient neglect your nest gene.
I give back whenever I relax and open my mouth.
That way, all the cute little pterodactyls may fly in and pick rotting rancid flesh and offal out from between double-edged serrated machete-sized teeth.
I even give back when I mark my territory.
That way, my fertilizer helps grow food for prey.
I'm a good giving back horrific terrorizing billy bad-assed predator.
Excuse me while I go wash off some gore.
Dang, is that pancreas stuck on a talon? .