Statists, collectivists, altruists, progressives

These are some of the groups that are the most objectionable to objectivists. Their ideology is most closely aligned with socialism.
They often masquerade as Liberals, but they are not traditional Liberals of the period prior to the early twentieth century. They are the antithesis of traditional liberalism… of objectivism. Individualism is not a value they wish to foster. Self reliance, autonomy, sovereignty are the characteristics they wish to destroy or minimize. These were the foundational traits of those that built our nation and which it was founded on. Rand saw that the prosperity and Liberty of the people of America were inextricably linked to these characteristics and the corollary small, un-intrusive government. It was this state of governance and freedom that allowed people to pursue their aspirations, that fostered the industrial revolution, invention, entrepreneurship and creativity of the greatest age of increasing prosperity the world had ever seen. This period was the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Statists are those that believe that the government should be empowered over the people and that any problem that arises can be solved by government intervention. This is a fallacy of historic proportion. Anyone that objectively observes the unintended consequences of government meddling and that the bureaucracy always grows should recognize the lack of accountability and the increased burdens placed on the productive that inevitably results. Statists support other statists in power that believe they know better than individuals how to run their own lives and more authority should be granted to the government so they may force others to live as their utopian vision dictates. One’s individual will to live for their own sake on their own terms in pursuit of happiness is irrelevant. “A statist system—whether of a communist, fascist, Nazi, socialist or “welfare” type—is based on the . . . government’s unlimited power, which means: on the rule of brute force. The differences among statist systems are only a matter of time and degree; the principle is the same. Under statism, the government is not a policeman, but a legalized criminal that holds the power to use physical force in any manner and for any purpose it pleases against legally disarmed, defenseless victims.” Ayn Rand

Collectivists are those that believe in majority rule. Democracy is their cry. It is no better than mob rule. They care not for Republican principles or the wisdom the founders of our nation saw in them or the disdain they felt for true democracy. History has demonstrated repeatedly the folly and short lives of true democracies. Most Democrats and the Democratic Party are of this persuasion. Of course there are varying degrees of adherence but they are not called Democrats for nothing. There is also one more seemingly common believe among them that is also corollary. They believe in the common good over the rights of the individual. This is nonsense since the common good is not a superior moral principle over the rights of the individual, but it is often true that a side effect of upholding individual rights results in greater common good. Again they employ the voice of the majority… the mob to pressure government force on those who wish to be free from coercion. “Collectivism means the subjugation of the individual to a group—whether to a race, class or state does not matter. Collectivism holds that man must be chained to collective action and collective thought for the sake of what is called “the common good.” Ayn Rand

Altruists are the worst purveyors of sacrifice and servitude. They believe you have no greater responsibility than that to your fellow man. Your life, your good, your happiness and prosperity should be sacrificed to others. You have no right, no legitimate claim to live for your own sake. To every suffering person on the planet your duty is to support them even to your own detriment. That is your burden. Your life is not your own and you have no right to live it as you see fit while others need. Whether they are responsible for their condition, capable or not, it makes no difference. Their need is their claim upon your life, whether you know them or not, even if in some cases they may be better off than you. This is why they too convince the government to force/institute redistributive programs that take from the productive and give to every clamoring voice. The result is a system that grows and encourages takers and penalizes makers while increasing bureaucracy and building a constituency that will help maintain power for those in power. Some in power are altruists. Some only see the profit in playing the part. “Even though altruism declares that “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” it does not work that way in practice. The givers are never blessed; the more they give, the more is demanded of them; complaints, reproaches and insults are the only response they get for practicing altruism’s virtues (or for their actual virtues). Altruism cannot permit a recognition of virtue; it cannot permit self-esteem or moral innocence. Guilt is altruism’s stock in trade, and the inducing of guilt is its only means of self-perpetuation. If the giver is not kept under a torrent of degrading, demeaning accusations, he might take a look around and put an end to the self-sacrificing. Altruists are concerned only with those who suffer—not with those who provide relief from suffering, not even enough to care whether they are able to survive. When no actual suffering can be found, the altruists are compelled to invent or manufacture it.” Ayn Rand

Progressives cover the gamut. They are all of the above in varying degrees. They talk of needing modern approaches to problems largely created by their previous meddling and never recognize, or acknowledge that originally established principles and limited government was superior and equality of opportunity is far superior to attempts to produce equality of outcome. The two primary political parties are both invested in these ideologies, but the modern progressives and the most devoted, effective and destructive of the parties in this regard are the self- proclaimed progressives, which largely belong to the Democratic Party. There are worse political parties, (e.g. Socialist) but they hold little power. “The “liberals” are constantly asserting that they represent the future, that they are “new,” “progressive,” “forward-looking,” etc.—and they denounce the “conservatives” as old-fashioned representatives of a dead past. The “conservatives” concede it, and thus help the “liberals” to propagate one of today’s most grotesque inversions: collectivism, the ancient, frozen, status society, is offered to us in the name of progress—while capitalism, the only free, dynamic, creative society ever devised, is defended in the name of stagnation.” Ayn Rand

Anyone in power or supporting those in power that adhere to these ideologies is in contradiction and incongruent with objectivism.
Ayn Rand — 'I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.'

True capitalism or as close to laissez faire as possible promotes freedom of the individual and provides the greatest opportunity and prosperity for all. No crony capitalism, mixed market variant or centrally controlled market is superior.

O.A.