“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.”― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged 1957
So states John Galt in Ayan Rand's "Atlas Shrugged", a piece of fiction of the last century which young Congressman Paul Ryan, now the Republican choice for VP, claims as his personal philosophy and even suggests we are now living in a Ayn Rand world! Rand (and her young devotee, Paul Ryan) favor a world where the rugged individual, one of the "special people" who left to his (or her) own devices--unencumbered by government interference, achieves greatness, and wealth. Since they operate on their own, with no eoutside help in this fictional Randian world, they and only they deserve the fruits of their labors. Greed is good, and---no sharing allowed! I suggest here that Ryan go to Yemen a place where there is little government and infrastructure to interfere with his efforts at greatness and to test out Ayn Rand's theories.
Rand's fiction, her atheism, and her philosophy, in her day, were on the far fringe of acceptance--where they remain today. The underlying reason for this is that her premises call into question and are at such varience with so much of Christian teaching and academic research regarding how we interact with our neighbors and even what "society" is. The basic tenets shaping our thinking and those of the Founding Fathers were derived from the works of Hobbs and Rousseau (Leviathan and Social Contract) whose concepts of the "social compact" is that man chooses for his or her own good to join the state and surrender some of their freedoms for mutual benefit. Thus it smacks of injustice and unfairness, if one at first accepts the terms of societie's membership and then, having profited, turns around and rejects the need to pay up one's fair share for the benefits one made use of.
We all can accept that there are some of us who work harder than others---and have prospered. There are others in our great nation who have not. Either they are not wise enough, are ill, lame, or not so capable as others, either mentally or physically. Yes some may even be malingerers. Every society has a few. Looking at populations as a scientist might, we learn that the traits which lead to success can be plotted on a bell curve graph...ambition, ability, wits, business sense, etcetera, etcetera. Those traits are variables which are largely responsible for where a person might show up in the "success" bell curve. Those that do prosper, found in the middle and the far tail-end of the curve, should be fairly rewarded for their efforts. But even of this select group, none of us live in a vacuum, or on a desert island. We are part of a society, a network of interacting and interconnected individuals, and profit or suffer by the actions, economic decisions and behaviors or our co-citzens.
The physician who trains for eight or more post-baccalaureate years (and then more years to gain a speciality) may truly believe that he or she has done it all by him or herself. The long hours of study, the financial sacrifice--the still-unsatisfied loans are seared into that person's conciousness. They deserve enormous credit for their hard work, skill, ability, and sacrifice. . But the economist, or sociologist (or even wise politician) must look at their efforts and successes with the knowledge that their achievement was also dependent upon many other elements which they gained with their entry into society: national financial status, family support, the sacrifices of their wives or husbands, the ccommunity from which they came, the infrastructure which permitted them to prepare for their work, the librarians, the teachers, and the police who kept their neighborhood safe, the engineers who routed their city electrical supply, all the institutions and infrastructure which were there for them to make their lives sustainable and their sucess possible. These were not free. Someone paid for them. They as we do, all live within a great skein of interactions that make their success possible. Yes, you didn't build that---alone. Not one successful businessman, great scientist, or artist I know rose up, book or invention in hand from a desert island. We are a sociali animal, and our survival and advancement depends on interactions with others.
President Obama intimated just that when campaigning in Virginia, on July 15, 2012, when he stated in part that "If you have a business, you didn't built that" The Republicans use of Obama’s simple re-statement of our social contract as a bludgeon, to suggest that he is not sensitive to business needs and his remarks demeaned their efforts is not fair or valid. What he was stating is a fact, a restatment of something we all intuitively accept. We are all interconnected, we are part of a great nation, not some work of fiction, living out an isolated, individual, greedy life in an imaginary place. As members of a society, we have a responsibility to our community, our nation and to the citizenry who populate that entity.
Mitt Romney, did not make his $20 or $30 billion dollar fortune in the wastelands of the Sahara. He made it here in the US, taking advantage of every opportunity. To start up Bain Capital he sought investment money from family and friends, and even from shady El Salvador capitalists (with ties to death squads operating in that country). He used US government supported loans. He took full advantage of existing businesses and banks, and the infrastructure of this nation and the largess of our government’s policies to support entrepreneurship. He in particular, should be wary of bragging that ”I made it on my own". Here is a man who literally was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He came from a wealthy, privileged, politically and financially connected background. Doors were opened (wide) for him, entree into the best clubs, society, and with this came the opportunity to rub shoulders with the rich and well-heeled. People he used to support his endeavors. He used all those valuable assets to make his own way. But he did use them. How can he claim he built ”it” on his own? He was successful and he deserves credit for his success...but let's not fool ourselves into thinking that he did it all by himself.
This discussion always brings to my mind the hazy dust clouded image of the Republic of Yemen. With that thought comes the corollary idea: that Yemen is just the place where Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney should go to test out their abilities to really build a Ayn Rand style empire on their own--fully free of government services and intervention, they so despise here.
Yemen is an Arabic-speaking, hot, dusty, parliamentary republic with an area of about the size of Spain, located on the desertified southwestern tip of the Arabian peninsula, across the Red Sea from the Horn of Africa. It is one of the poorest and least developed nations in the world. It’s population of about 25 million are generally tall and skinny, underfed (much of Yemeni food is UN donated) and always thirsty. Each Yemeni must survive for a whole year on the volume of water most of the rest of the world uses in only one month (or what Americans use in only two weeks.). It’s capital city, Sana'a, just recently ran out of potable water. Their infrastructure is non-existent. There are few major roads, no rail system, and no network of electrical supply. There is no regional electrical grid in the nation. In Sana’a, electricity is individually generated by each house or business, which can afford it, using oil-fired generators. Consequently, in Yemen electricity costs 12 times what it would cost in the US. Think of the din in Sana'a with every business running its own noisy, gas-belching generator on its sidewalk or roof top. Think of the choking, gasping levels of air pollution. There is little postal service, and no established medical care. There is little in the way of policing. Only armed tribal bands to intervene were some other nation to invade or hungry Yemenis to rise up in protest. In Yemen, your well-being and survival are pretty much on your own shoulders.
Yemen would be an ideal place for Paul Ryan to experiment with his fictional Randian world view. He might test out how well a staunch, rugged, individualist such as Paul Ryan, or Mitt Romney, would mange in their attempts at building their empires all on their own in a place with no infrastructure. In Yemen they could be completly free of any societal restraints and pay-backs, they could greedily hoard all of their profits. From my perspective they are heartily encouraged to go there and prove out their world view.
Think of it...Romney in his starched white shirt in the dusty, streets of Sana'a in Yemen!
Get the picture?
rjk
President Obama intimated just that when campaigning in Virginia, on July 15, 2012, when he stated in part that "If you have a business, you didn't built that" The Republicans use of Obama’s simple re-statement of our social contract as a bludgeon, to suggest that he is not sensitive to business needs and his remarks demeaned their efforts is not fair or valid. What he was stating is a fact, a restatment of something we all intuitively accept. We are all interconnected, we are part of a great nation, not some work of fiction, living out an isolated, individual, greedy life in an imaginary place. As members of a society, we have a responsibility to our community, our nation and to the citizenry who populate that entity.
Mitt Romney, did not make his $20 or $30 billion dollar fortune in the wastelands of the Sahara. He made it here in the US, taking advantage of every opportunity. To start up Bain Capital he sought investment money from family and friends, and even from shady El Salvador capitalists (with ties to death squads operating in that country). He used US government supported loans. He took full advantage of existing businesses and banks, and the infrastructure of this nation and the largess of our government’s policies to support entrepreneurship. He in particular, should be wary of bragging that ”I made it on my own". Here is a man who literally was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He came from a wealthy, privileged, politically and financially connected background. Doors were opened (wide) for him, entree into the best clubs, society, and with this came the opportunity to rub shoulders with the rich and well-heeled. People he used to support his endeavors. He used all those valuable assets to make his own way. But he did use them. How can he claim he built ”it” on his own? He was successful and he deserves credit for his success...but let's not fool ourselves into thinking that he did it all by himself.
This discussion always brings to my mind the hazy dust clouded image of the Republic of Yemen. With that thought comes the corollary idea: that Yemen is just the place where Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney should go to test out their abilities to really build a Ayn Rand style empire on their own--fully free of government services and intervention, they so despise here.
Yemen is an Arabic-speaking, hot, dusty, parliamentary republic with an area of about the size of Spain, located on the desertified southwestern tip of the Arabian peninsula, across the Red Sea from the Horn of Africa. It is one of the poorest and least developed nations in the world. It’s population of about 25 million are generally tall and skinny, underfed (much of Yemeni food is UN donated) and always thirsty. Each Yemeni must survive for a whole year on the volume of water most of the rest of the world uses in only one month (or what Americans use in only two weeks.). It’s capital city, Sana'a, just recently ran out of potable water. Their infrastructure is non-existent. There are few major roads, no rail system, and no network of electrical supply. There is no regional electrical grid in the nation. In Sana’a, electricity is individually generated by each house or business, which can afford it, using oil-fired generators. Consequently, in Yemen electricity costs 12 times what it would cost in the US. Think of the din in Sana'a with every business running its own noisy, gas-belching generator on its sidewalk or roof top. Think of the choking, gasping levels of air pollution. There is little postal service, and no established medical care. There is little in the way of policing. Only armed tribal bands to intervene were some other nation to invade or hungry Yemenis to rise up in protest. In Yemen, your well-being and survival are pretty much on your own shoulders.
Yemen would be an ideal place for Paul Ryan to experiment with his fictional Randian world view. He might test out how well a staunch, rugged, individualist such as Paul Ryan, or Mitt Romney, would mange in their attempts at building their empires all on their own in a place with no infrastructure. In Yemen they could be completly free of any societal restraints and pay-backs, they could greedily hoard all of their profits. From my perspective they are heartily encouraged to go there and prove out their world view.
Think of it...Romney in his starched white shirt in the dusty, streets of Sana'a in Yemen!
Get the picture?
rjk
No comments:
Post a Comment