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When I see Objectivist thinking or its equally bankrupt little brother Libertarianism brought into a serious conversation I always smile inwardly. Objectivism is based on the writings of Ayn Rand. Objectivist doctrine can be summarized in a short sentence, which happens to be the title of this post. Rand and others put forth the emphasis on rationality and making objective decisions but, risible ornamentation aside, her thoughts boil down to the idea that being selfish and greedy is a good thing and the net benefits accrued from this ego festival will benefit society.
Objectivism fits nicely with the Chicago school of neoliberalism as the selfish nature of objectivist thought fits well with the trickle down theory of wealth and laissez-faire market policy in general.
Before going any further with this post there are a couple of assumptions that I will be working from that will inherently colour my conclusions.
1) Laissez-faire capitalism is a farce. No one actually wants a completely unregulated free market.
2) The neoliberal economic plan put forth by Friedman and the Chicago school is an unmitigated disaster and has been thoroughly discredited.
3) Democracy and Capitalism are mutually antagonistic systems.
I have other tenets but listing them all would only further entangle an already long post. I just want to help establish the tone of what this piece is going to be about. As this is an introductory piece, it would be good to get the wisdom from its source. Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged says:
“[T]he most selfish of all things is the independent mind that recognizes no authority higher than its own and no value higher than its judgment of truth. You are asked to sacrifice your intellectual integrity, your logic, your reason, your standard of truth-in favor of becoming a prostitute whose standard is the greatest good for the greatest number.” (1957: 955-956)
Bruce Barry and Carrol Stephens in the Academy of Management Review (Volume 23, No. 1 January 1998) have taken Randian thought to task. Their reply is as follows:
“Objectivists assume that humans can reap value and attain virtue only through the satisfaction of the self. But, of course, in genuine societies we find ourselves mutually interdependent and often motivated to assist others in order to achieve broader out- comes that serve our own individual interests.” (165)
Let’s Dial the Way-Back machine to September 18th, 2007. Alberta’s Royalty review was released for all to see and read. The contents of the report indicated that we as Albertans’ were getting a raw deal on the Royalties being extracted by the various private energy companies that had taken up residence in Alberta’s Tar Sands. See the whole document here. (Catch a critique of the Royalty Review here) This is from page 7 of the Executive Summary.
“Albertans do not receive their fair share from energy development. The royalty rates and formulas have not kept pace with changes in the resource base and world energy markets. Albertans’ own the resource. The onus is on their government to re-balance the royalty and tax system so that a fair share is collected. This must be done within an equitable and flexible administrative framework that maintains Alberta’s competitive edge for energy investment.
The total government take (Alberta and Canada, taxes and royalties) can be increased with Alberta still remaining an attractive investment destination. The Alberta Royalty Review Panel recommends that the total take for the energy sector be increased by sector, as shown in this table.”
Current Sharing Recommended Sharing
| Current | Sharing | Recommended | Sharing | |
| Albertans’ Share | Developers’Share | Albertans’ Share | Developers’ Share | |
| Oil Sands | 47% | 53% | 64% | 36% |
| Conventional Oil | 44% | 56% | 49% | 51% |
| Natural Gas | 58% | 42% | 63% | 37% |
Okay, nothing unreasonable going on here. Consider Norway or even Alaska for successful royalty planning. Comparatively speaking, Robert Sheppard in his Reality Check article says: “Norway’s technique seems to be to throw virtually everything it gets from offshore oil into the fund and to try to live off the cream. Alberta’s has been to live off its royalties and, if there’s any cream left over, toss some of it into the fund.”
The Results?
In 2004 the Alberta Heritage Trust Fund stood at 12.4 billion.
In 2004 Norway’s Petroleum Fund was valued at 133 billion.
Way to go Alberta Tories. Squandering our money seems to be the mission possible of the day or more succinctly, preserving the profits of the heroic oil companies that rape our land. Of course when we hear it from our rightist lapdog media in Alberta, the Royalty Review is virtually proposing the absolute destruction of the energy industry forever and ever. Which of course, is utter horsepucky, but not particularly surprising considering how politically addled we are as a province. But really, I needed to tell you about this story tell you about this one.
Alberta Health Services CEO and president Stephen Duckett speaks to reporters Wednesday in Edmonton. (CBC)
Alberta will move hundreds of hospital patients to newly created community-based spaces over the next three years, the provincial health authority confirmed Wednesday.
Alberta Health Services told union representatives on Tuesday that 350 hospital beds in Calgary and Edmonton will be closed and patients moved to 775 community-based spaces.
The province has now confirmed the breakdown of bed closures in the two cities — 160 in Edmonton and 190 in Calgary. Of those beds, 20 in Edmonton and 40 in Calgary will be kept open this year to help with what officials called “emergency room pressures.”
The government also revealed that 246 beds will be closed at Alberta Hospital over the next three years. {…}
Do you think possibly that maybe if we had decided to actually get a reasonable amount of return for the resources we have in Alberta would we have to be closing acute care beds? If the Alberta Government did not actually have the the Oil Patches procreating member lodged firmly in its posterior we might be able to pay for the necessary Health Care of the citizens of Alberta.
So what does the enraged populace of Alberta do?? Do we march on the parliament buildings to protect our healthcare? Do we write our MP’s angry letters? Do we say to ourselves maybe we should elect a viable opposition to the government? HELL NO!! We elect Paul Hinman of the Wild Fraking Rose Party of Alberta in a by-election to show our displeasure. The Wild Rose Party is batshite-crazy further to the right than the current Alberta Tories. Make sure you check out their platform; or more succinctly, imagine every wrongheaded neo-liberal fascist clusterfrack policy debacle… their platform gives a wild-eyed thumbs up to them all.
The crazy is strong here today, and I am not liking it.
Funny/sad all at the same time.
Why you would want to have Libertarianism as your fall back political position is well beyond my limited faculties. Daily Kos had a wonderful top 10 list which I will repost the top 5 reasons you may not be Libertarian.
DarkSyde from Daily Kos wrote:
- If you think the separation between church and state applies equally to all faiths except socially conservative Christian fundamentalism, you’re probably not a Libertarian.
- You’re probably not a Libertarian if you believe the federal government should remove safety standards and clinical barriers for prescription and OTC medications while banning all embryonic stem cell research, somatic nuclear transfer, RU 486, HPV and cervical cancer vaccination, work on human/non human DNA combos, or Plan B emergency contraception.
- If you think state execution of mentally retarded convicts is good policy but prosecuting Scott Roeder or disconnecting Terri Schiavo was an unforgivable sin, odds are you’re not really a Libertarian.
- If you argue that cash for clunkers or any form of government healthcare is unconstitutional, but forced prayer or teaching old testament creationism in public schools is fine, you’re not even consistent, much less a Libertarian, and you may be Michele Bachmann.
And the number one sign: if you think government should stay the hell out of people’s private business — except when kidnapping citizens and rendering them to secret overseas torture prisons, snooping around the bedrooms of consenting adults, policing a woman’s uterus, or conducting warrantless wire taps, you are no Libertarian.
I am no fan of Libertarianism or Objectivism, I’ve written a little about how inane the Objectivist ideals are. It deserves another post, which is coming soon.
I am a little on the cynical side, the way humanity moves it seems some days we are bent on self destruction. Then other days you see stuff like this and ya think, as you clear the mist from your eyes, it’s not all bad.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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