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by seanhunter 438 days ago
Objectivism has many of these sorts of contradictions. Most famously, Ayn Rand herself collected medicare and social security as her health deteriorated towards the end of her life.
2 comments

Is that really a contradiction? We all have our ideals, and we all fail to live up to them sometimes, because life can be brutal.
Socrates allowed himself to be put to death even though his supporters had bribed the jailer to allow him to escape. Given his philosophy of ethics, even though his trial had been unjust, he felt it was incompatible with his teachings for him to avoid the sentence that had been handed down to him.

Some people believe that their ideals are important enough to live up to even though life can be brutal.

To be fair, Rand herself said (to paraphrase) that because the state took it from her against her will it was fair play to take it back and I think that was self-consistent.

That said, she wanted to let the disabled starve to death so I don't think anyone really has to be fair to her at all. Empathy is only for the empathetic.

"Selfish person happily takes from the government, but feels bad about having ever given the government anything" seems pretty consistent to me too.
Ayn Rand did not "want to let the disabled starve to death". What a ridiculous lie.
It is not a lie. She felt that the government had no right to assist, and that they should be left to depend on "charity" (IE - Begging).

There are also tapes of her saying that the retarded should not "be allowed to come near children," and that children cannot deal with the "spectacle of a handicapped human being."

Question from audience: [muffled audio which sounds like:] "...why is this culture..."

[loud noise which sounds as if it represents a point where the tape has been edited]

Rand: [mid-sentence] "...for healthy children to use handicapped materials. I quite agree with the speaker's indignation. I think it's a monstrous thing — the whole progression of everything they're doing — to feature, or answer, or favor the incompetent, the retarded, the handicapped, including, you know, the kneeling buses and all kinds of impossible expenses. I do not think that the retarded should be ~allowed~ to come ~near~ children. Children cannot deal, and should not have to deal, with the very tragic spectacle of a handicapped human being. When they grow up, they may give it some attention, if they're interested, but it should never be presented to them in childhood, and certainly not as an example of something ~they~ have to live down to."

- Ayn Rand, The Age of Mediocrity, Q & A Ford Hall Forum, April, 1981

*EDIT* Youtube video: https://youtu.be/Q1HD8KXn-kI

Great pull, thank you for the quote and the link.
> Children cannot deal, and should not have to deal, with the very tragic spectacle of a handicapped human being. When they grow up, they may give it some attention, if they're interested, but it should never be presented to them in childhood, and certainly not as an example of something ~they~ have to live down to."

There's an irony in here, since this is more of less a summary of the ideology that wants "safe spaces" in schools.

Just, you know, with an entirely different set of things that proponents want to shield children/young adults from.

I don't agree with her worldview, but it isn't a contradiction. She paid into the system.