“It’s Objectivism or communism” — Ayn Rand

I don’t make this shit up, loves.

This appears in the chapter “Check Your Tools” in The Moral Bias of Objectivism.

Objectivism Needs to be “Better than Communism”

When I challenge Objectivism, people sniff, “And what about all the GOOD that it does? Why can’t you focus on that?” They typically point to Rand’s devastating arguments against socialism and religion.

Ok. One can readily agree that just about anything is better than slavery and religion. What is being compared makes a big difference. If you compare a tennis ball, which is yellow-green, to green, it will look yellow. If you compare it to yellow, it will look green. Rand’s system is more enlightened than past moral-political attempts. Comparing Objectivism to slavery or communism makes it come out looking like shining gold.

But Objectivism is still flawed. We can agree that communism and slavery are bad. But this is not the issue. The issue here is Objectivism itself. It needs to stand, on its own, as it sells itself, as a philosophy for living life. It needs to be better than something that is “a philosophy that is better than communism and slavery.” I find this kind of argument nefarious. It is like Dracula opening up the door to howling wolves: it’s his potentially murderous mansion or the dangerous night. Why are you using fear to sell me? And Rand encourages this kind of thinking when she writes, “It’s Objectivism or communism” (Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World, 75). Yeah—no. I am going to be looking at Objectivism, as is. I ask that you do the same.

I would ask that you see Objectivism as a psychology, because that’s how it attempts to behave. Rand has elaborate views on how the mind, subconscious, and happiness works—and pushes it to be a morality that thus penetrates your every single choice. By claiming it as a “philosophy,” it is given a stamp of authority and is kept safely away from any critical review when it comes to application to real, live humans. Stop comparing Objectivism to communism, religion, Kant, or Nietzsche. Start comparing it to Carl Jung, Dr. Tsabary, Dr. Ginott, Dr. Aron, etc.

This will appear in my book The Moral Bias of Objectivism

Amber was an Objectivist for 10 years before realizing it’s mostly narcissistic bullshit. She now firmly believes it’s her way or the high way and any other thought is irrationality deserving of immediate punishment. See the first chapter of The Moral Bias of Objectivism

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