The article was poorly written and frankly insulting. I wonder why it showed up in Forbes? In our culture women are raised to think of others first. It is inherent in most cultures and traditions. Men are traditionally raised to think independently. That has changed since communism. Now men are raised and taught in school to provide for more than just their family. If they are not providing for more people than themselves we value them less. Women who wo rk are nrtured to enter " give back" fields.
Focusing on the individual is not taught in school and as a matter of fact you are shamed if you espouse the concept. So I completely disagree with the author that libertarians do that. I will say that a big decision in every woman' s life is whether she will have children. This decision can be a major disruption in her professional life. She makes a conscious choice. To think that women never think about it until they marry oruntil they want to decide would be the same as ignoring one's body. The first decision she makes is to prevent pregnancy. Often this decision is made when her doctor is a pediatrician. Most mothers in the US don't jump on taking their daughter to a gynocologist right after she got her sports physical from the family doc. And because we are also somewhat of a sexually repressive society she will not consult with her parents to make that decision. Where is it easy and cheap and advertised directly to her? Planned parenthood. This organization reinforces the notion that the state is there for you. Then she goes to college...I can go on but I do believe that having children plays a role. After all raising a family should be a team effort and team is not individual. Libertarian is a political system and not a philosophy. Objectivism is not developed enough on the concept of family. Will Thomas has written about that and is developing stuff -but that is considered " open." As an entreprenuer I think it's easier to rectify raising children and career. But in most professions women make a choice that does affect their advancement professionally in most cases. I think it plays a role. But the shaming by society, you know -libertarians aren' t nice and you want to be known as a nice girl, right? Is more likely.
khalling; I've encountered your definition of Libertarianism vs. Objectivism as a political system, not a philosophy before and I think it might over simplify the comparison of the two. I find in comparing the two isms, that the truths of both center on the natural rights of the individual. I think of Libertarianism as a philosophy of political life for the individual and Objectivism as a philosophy of individual life in society. Both derive many of their ideas from the Enlightenment and center on the liberty of the individual and I find no absolute contradictions between the two, just expressions from two separate viewpoints.
In recent years, Libertarianism has been espoused primarily by economist and politicians, while most of Objectivism has been espoused by AR working in the arts. But they both lead in parallel paths to the conclusions of individual liberty and the gains to society realized from lives lived in that realm. It's difficult for me to see an Objectivist that doesn't accept the politics of Libertarianism and vice versa. They are hand in glove, two sides of the same coin - the good of the individual.
There may be some validity in that many women chose safety ahead of liberty (which may relate to wanting to protect offspring above all else, but I do not profess to any expertise in this area.)
The women I know, outside the gulch, are not capable of even having this conversation. For the most part I can't stand being around women because they value things I don't care about and don't seem to care about important issues and are I'll informed in general. And this makes me sad.
In our culture women are raised to think of others first. It is inherent in most cultures and traditions. Men are traditionally raised to think independently. That has changed since communism. Now men are raised and taught in school to provide for more than just their family. If they are not providing for more people than themselves we value them less. Women who wo
rk are nrtured to enter " give back" fields.
In recent years, Libertarianism has been espoused primarily by economist and politicians, while most of Objectivism has been espoused by AR working in the arts. But they both lead in parallel paths to the conclusions of individual liberty and the gains to society realized from lives lived in that realm. It's difficult for me to see an Objectivist that doesn't accept the politics of Libertarianism and vice versa. They are hand in glove, two sides of the same coin - the good of the individual.