Saturday, March 14, 2009

Letter to WSJ on link between morality and politics

Daniel Henninger’s Rosetta Stone comments on President Obama’s mind were chilling – and much anticipated by those familiar with Ayn Rand’s famous remarks linking morality and politics. Tell me what a man thinks is right and wrong, she said, and I’ll tell you what kind of government he will demand and vote for. “Politics is based on three … philosophical doctrines: metaphysics, epistemology and ethics – on a theory of man’s nature and of man’s relationship with existence,” she said.

Mr. Obama believes in the morality of altruism, wherein the alleged “strong” must sacrifice their lives and money to the “weak.” He believes that strong (rich) do not deserve their rewards for their hard work and education. He believes in victimhood. He is a Hobbesian skeptic, believing that human nature is corrupt, incapable of efficacy and self-determination, and in need of a “guiding” statist hand.

Here’s one more prescient quote from Ms. Rand almost 50 years ago: “The basic and crucial political issue of our age is: capitalism versus socialism, or freedom versus statism.” The little Russian-American lady would’ve had a field day with the immorality and concomitant statism of our new commander-in-chief.

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