body

"Upholding the use of reason to transform nature and create wealth, Objectivism honors the businessman and the banker, no less than the philosopher and artist, as creators and as benefactors of mankind."

the business man and banker are not benefactors of humankind. they perpectuate a society and mindset that claims that one must work to survive, that one must sacrifice whatever one truly wants in order to earn money, in order to eat. i cannot believe that anyone truly WANTS to be a banker or businessman. they may enjoy dealing with numbers and abstract numberical concepts. they may enjoy interacting with others, serving the needs of others, a secure job, and the knowledge that they are in control of the lives of others. but i cannot believe there has ever been a 5-year-old who got up and said "i want to be a banker!"
the nature of man is to create something from nothing, to create art, sculpture, book. to bring something new, to spiritually give birth. it is the fundamental instinct of every underdeveloped creature to keep oneself alive, and perpetuate the species. it is the fundamental instinct of every higher developed creature to keeps ones soul alive, and to perpetuate that soul. it is, incidentally, the highest being that sees there is no soul to maintain or perpetuate.

"Ayn Rand was a champion of individual rights, which protect the sovereignty of the individual as an end in himself; and of capitalism, which is the only social system that allows people to live together peaceably, by voluntary trade, as independent equals."

capitalism only creates the illusion of equality. people are divided by economy. people like to be divided. we evolved from creatures that lived in small family tribes, divided from all other tribes. what we want is to be divided, becasue our minds are too small to accept love of all. people make up philosophies like objectivism and satanism to justify division. the element of these philosophies i have the most touble with is "love those who deserve it." "don't love the self-sacrificing non-individual." "don't love the idiot."
love it the eaqualizer. it is the one thing that cannot, truly, be biased. i don't love vit more than josh more than darian more than the atoms making up this keyboard. it is eaqual, only the relationships are differant.
why is it easy to imagine someone sacrificing their lives for a lover, but not a stranger, not an animal, not a tree, not a galexy on the ohter side of the universe? the one thing that the objectivists do seem to agree with me on is that love is about making acceptions (though i doubt they would hold ones own life to be something that can be made an acception on). to live and die for the things you love - including yourself - is very locigcal. the more you love EVERYTHING, the more you will see the unity of all objects in the universe, and, in turn, you will loose the illusion of seperation. and, acheive moksha.