Next Junto will be 10/21/2010, 2:00pm @ Craigo's pizza.
Our next discussion will be on some select reading of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" and will be lead by Eric Hull. Eric will be posting some prep materials as a comment on this post.
Sean and myself (Colin) are working on some exciting ideas to present at the beginning of Junto on the 21st, so get pumped!
Feel free invite any and all friends to Junto. Keep in mind the primary focus of these meetings is to increase our knowledge of important fundamentals, economic and philosophical, to be better able to defend freedom and liberty to all.
Here's a copy of Eric's email he sent out to everyone:
ReplyDeleteHey Ya'll
Here is the Link to the Francisco D'anchonia speech on money.
http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=1826
It's a quick read that has both basic and complex principles. I will be breaking it up and handing out excerpts from the speech so read it and be prepared to discuss... Also know we welcome disagreement... So read and think and be ready to discuss!
In Liberty,
Eric Hull
I love that excerpt from the book. I wish I could come to your meetings.
ReplyDeleteHere is some light reading to supplement the excerpt from Atlas Shrugged:
ReplyDelete1) Alma 30:16-18
2) 1 Timothy 6:10
3) JST Mark 10:22-26
4) Jacob 2:17-19
5) Acts 4:32
6) Helaman 13:21-23
7) 2 Nephi 9:30
8) Ayn Rand on "charity":
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/charity.html
9) Ayn Rand on "sacrifice":
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/sacrifice.html
10) Ayn Rand on being "unselfish":
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/selflessness.html
11) Ayn Rand about God and religion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTmac2fs5HQ
Ayn Rand was a misguided lady in many respects. However, I feel that she was spot on when it came to the principles of work honesty (she does teach that we should be honest in all our dealings) and Money. She agrees with the fact the the love of money in itself is evil. We should love to work and produce and rather than be a consumer we should be producers first and foremost.
ReplyDeleteI won't ever defend her statements on religion and God but I will say that we should take a closer look on her feelings about selfishness charity and money.
8) Ayn Rand on "charity":
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/charity.html
Agreed she said that there is nothing wrong with giving and she didn't believe it was a moral obligation. Which are her right to believe. But don't we teach the same thing from a different direction and with a different methodology. We do believe it is a moral obligation to give when asked or when we see a true need but first and foremost we believe in being personally responsible and self sufficient. We can't condemn her for saying she believes that we should work for what we obtain, can we? If you read more of here thoughts she actually uses terms similar to "forced philanthropy" Who used that term? Ezra Taft Benson.
9) Ayn Rand on "sacrifice":
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/sacrifice.html
She may not believe in Christ and his Sacrifice. She said to sacrifice is to give up something of greater worth for something of lesser value. I think she brings up a good point. I believe that any man that would put a stranger in front of his own family should be strung up... They strung up Christ for putting his family first.Miss Rand says, "Always act in accordance with the hierarchy of your values, and never sacrifice a greater value to a lesser one." If you ask me we are taught to practice good, better, best in the Church all the time. I think what is happening with her is definitions are different language has caused misunderstandings.
10) Ayn Rand on being "unselfish":
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/selflessness.html
My work and My glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. God gains glory from his work and his work is to help us obtain glory. For a person like Ayne Rand that didn't have a more full understanding of the Gospel God would seem pretty selfish for only working for his own glory... He would almost seem like he was using us. We know better and are grateful for the fact that God gains from his children Glory. Love for his Children stems from their potential. Comparative and absolute advantage. What is wrong with this? The only difference from her and I is that she has a lesser knowledge. She has perverted a few things. Mother Teresa was a wonderful lady... she prayed to the Virgin Mary does that disqualify all of her statements?
11) Ayn Rand about God and religion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTmac2fs5HQ
I'm not defending these statements. But we can't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Maybe I'm wrong?
Brother Kunzler, awesome posts from the Aynrandlexion. She had some very interesting views on a variety of topics. Eric, I really enjoyed your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think that with Ayn Rand its a big game of symantics! What she thinks Charity is, doesn't necessarily meet with my definition and the same goes for sacrifice and altruism. Its hard to argue ideas when it seems that the words mean different things to different people.
Here are some of my thoughts on Ayn Rand. When I think of her position on charity, sacrifice, and being selfish, I get the feeling that she is mainly talking about government imposing those things on the general public. I think that this is some of what Eric was getting at. Forced charity, sacrifice, and unselfish behavior is not good for a society or a market. In Atlas Shrugged for example, when issues such as charity, sacrifice, and unselfish behavior are brought up, they are almost always followed by legislation or government action to force these upon the whole society through taxes or regulation.
In addition, I think that the Francisco speech also makes some great points as to the pysche of the liberal and what the alternatives to the free market result in.
This being said, the deeper we get into Ayn Rand's personal philosophy of objectivism (as Brother Kunzler helped us with his posts), the more we realize that it is impossible to reconcile it with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not the personal code of morals I'd like to have in my life! :)