How "UnRandian" of Me

On Tuesday, January 28th Atlanta was hit by a snowstorm. Well to most of you a snowstorm involves more than 3 inches of snow but for Atlanta at noon, on a weekday 3 inches is a disaster of almost biblical proportions. Traffic was gridlocked as if a dirty bomb had been detonated and everyone was tryng to escape for their lives, and in a way that's how folks reacted, except that instead of roads to escape on, they had ice skating rinks. You get the picture? Not good. Not good at all. Well during my trek home which normally would take about 30 minutes, which on this fateful night took 7 hours, I found myself sitting in the car at an intersection about 3 miles from home. And we weren't moving. Having "not moved" for hours with only a few hundred feet at a time giving up ground, it finally caught my attention after 30 minutes that something must truly be messed up. So I got out of my car, and walked forward about 200 yards, where I saw a Coca-Cola truck in the right hand lane of a 3 lane road, with about 15 cars all piled up next to it, blocking all the lanes. On this night, there would be no tow trucks, no ambulances since nobody was critically injured, not that any could make it there anyway, and no police officers. In front of my car was about 6 cars before the melee, and behind my car was hundreds more cars just sitting there. About 200 yards behind my car was an opening that crossed the westbound lanes into a parking lot of McDonalds, an old grocery store turned gym, and a generic strip mall.

So I sprang into action.

I started walking back to my car, telling each person in cars at first in front of me, and then behind me, what was up ahead, that we were either going to get out of this jam or spend the night right there on the road. Luckily nobody behind me decided on spending the night, so I started with the cars that were nearest the crossover point, and was directing them as to which way to turn their wheels, and whether or not reverse or forward was the direction. The road was indeed a solid sheet of ice about 3 inches thick and I was only wearing some beat up running shoes that had about 5% of the traction left. Not a good combination for traction on the ice. So I started pushing cars up this little hill, and folks ahead where my car was, came to help. I was the leader of this little Ice Posse, and about 4 of us moved about 11 cars back up a little hill, and directed them across the other lanes of traffic into the Mcdonalds parking lot. Finally all the cars blocking me had been rescued, so I got in my car, out it in reverse and proceeded to back up, and pull over to the safety of McDonalds parking lot. I then went back across the "rink" to those people that were previously in front of me. Then some true idiots decided to ignore the fellow I had posted up at the turn across point, and came barrelling down on us, causing even more cars to be moved. (Slight aside: Some of these people were true assholes. I guess not seeing what me and the Ice Posse had already done to clear out so many others, they were not as appreciative of us having to push their sorry asses back up the hill.) So finally the Ice Posse got all of the cars that were not in the wreck back up the hill, across the rink of the other lanes to the parking lot and around to wherever they were heading.

One of the Ice Posse stayed up at the top of the hill waving his arms trying to get people stopped and across to where they could escape their icy fate at the bottom of the hill, but some people are oblivious to what is going on appparently and as I was finally getting in my car, aching and exhausted I could see the traffic moving back to where I had already cleared. Sorry. I've done what I could do.

Anyway, what the hell does all of that have to do with Ayn Rand?

Well, one of the motorist I was helping out took my picture and posted it to a local Fox stations webpage. She asked me what my name was and I told her, and I thought that would be the end of that, but apparently one of my friends found the post and posted it to facebook. "This Good Samaritan (name redacted) deserves some major props! He's parked his car across the street and is out here pushing numerous stranded people out of a disaster where a dozen cars slid into each other." That's when things went a little crazy. By yesterday, 6 friends had shared the pic, and the one that posted it on my page got about 112 "likes" and about 130 comments at last count. All but one of these comments were things like "Good job", "that's my friend", "heart of Gold", "A great example of an Eagle Scout". It made me feel good. I like to feel good; dont you? Then a certain friend posted another "good job", and immediately I started thinking of all the times we had argued politics and religion with her taking a statist/secular side and me being the world's only Ragnarian (a combination of Christianity and Objectivism- screw you I do what I want!), but I thought well that was probably a shock to her being that she generally thinks me a heartless bastard who wants old people and kids to starve to death because I see Social Security and Welfare as evil and a cause of the degradiation of society. But it was a positive post, but my mind quickly switched to Ayn Rand, and how many people whom, like myself often speak of selfishness as a virtue, and self reliance as the way things should be.

But of course she followed the comment up within 3 minutes with "How very 'Un-Randian' of you. What the hells going on with you?"

To which I replied that doing this was probably the MOST "Randian" thing that I had done in years.

And it was. To so many people, and perhaps some people who would consider Rand and Atlas Shrugged as influences on their lives, and the way they live, selfish means looking out ONLY for one's self. But this is not what I take away from Ayn Rand. I suppose I should say that I am NOT an Ayn Rand Scholar, and I have never read anything directly about Objectivism as a philosophy. But I dont really give a shit. I took from the books meaning for MYSELF. Anyway, I digress. To me being selfish means that take care of myself and those that are my responsibility because I have chosen that they are my responsibility. My children are my responsibility, as is my wife. All others, although I personally feel my parents fall under my responsibility, are optional whether or not I help them, out of not responsibility but out of generousity. Just because I do things that are in my self interest and make sure my RESPONSIBILITIES are taken care of doesn't stop me from helping others. I help others quite often, probably daily. Why? Because it makes me feel so damn good. I had my own self interest in mind as I started pushing cars up an icy hill, because if I didn't I couldn't get MY car out of there, but I went back after my car was out because it felt good to have an ability and to help others.

Another friend posted that "I was John Galt." Although that is flattering I think I acted more like Francisco in Atlas Shrugged. He had absolutely no reason to help with the furnace break out at Rearden Steel, but he jumped in and helped save lives and the mill. Why? If we "Randians" are really such a bunch of self-centered assholes, why did Frankie (his friends call him Frankie) risk life and limb to save others? Because he had the ability to do so and it feels great to use ability and to help others even when there is no self reward. The feeling is the reward.

So when I say that it was the most "Randian" thing I've done in years I meant it. I had the ability to lead, and to push, and although my body still aches a little 3 days later i can tell you that I felt more alive than I have in a long time. Gonna do a lot more of that in the future when the needs arise, because I am so selfish and it feels so good.

Being Anti-immigrant is being Anti- American

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

There was a period where this poem really meant what it said. Immigrants from all over the world came o the US for that which no other country could provide: A chance for a better life. They risked everything, their lives, their money, some spending everything they had just to get here, to the land of the FREE. They were not guaranteed happiness and wealth, they were only looking for the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

What would happen if the US Government decided that from 1-1-2011 until 1-1-2012 that the United States would allow anybody that wanted to immigrate to the United States to do so? Pass a background check and "poof" you are a legal resident of the United States. After 3 years, if you can pass an English proficiency test and a citizenship test, "poof" you are a naturalized citizen of the United States of America.

I understand that many of you do not like these illegal immigrants. The state controlled media would have us believe that it is because we are all racists that do not like people of different races and ethnicities. That's bullshit. What we do not like is that people break laws and nobody seems to be doing anything about it. Why is it when I am caught without a proper helmet on my motorcycle, I am given a ticket for breaking the law, and have to pay a fine to the state, when there was no victem to my crime, yet these "illegal aliens" can come here and steal public services, and nothing is done to them. No fine, no deportation. This is why we are angry. I have a lot of Latino, and Hispanic friends, who are here legally, and if you want to see who is most opposed to the "illegal aliens" I suggest you take a look at them. I do not like that they are here illegally, but trust me, if i were in their shoes, I would do the exact same thing. If I could not take care of my family or myself, and I lived in a 3rd world country , you can bet your ass that I would do whatever it took to get the opportunity to do so. Having said that, I still think we should round up the illegal immigrants and carry them back to where they came from, and build a giant fence 20 feet tall, and electrified with 10,000 volts, along the entire southern and northern borders of the country. 25 feet behind that one, place another fence also electrified. I do not think that they should be given amnesty, nor citizenship, only a free ride back to their home country.

I believe that the United States is the last best hope for freedom in the world. We are the most diverse country in the world, and that makes us stronger not weaker. There is no place on this planet where you will find 1/2 of the religions that are open practiced here without prosecution. Women, minorities, and those people of all walks of life have the exact opportunities as a white male born to John D Rockefeller IV, well except to become President of the United States, but some would argue that even that has been breeched now. I am not one of those folks, as there are plenty of other issues about this socialist that can be used against him and concentrating on a birth certificate is just silly, but that's just me.

So I say open the borders to everyone that will submit to a medical screening (sorry but non treatable and communicable diseases have to stay out) and background check at their expense (for those really poor folks, there can be funds by private citizens that want to help out the poor folks of Chad for example) come on in to the land of milk and honey. Here's the catch (you knew there had to be a catch right?). Nobody that comes to the United States under this program would ever be eligible for any government assistance. Also, I believe that some sort of replacement of the income tax like the FairTax would have to be implemented, so that everyone would contribute the same.

My prediction? Our population would double in that one year. Hell it may even triple.

Your thoughts?

I Believe in You!

Hello, my name is Ragnar, and I believe in you. That's right; even if you do not believe in yourself, I believe in you. You may think that you can not, and if you believe this way you are correct. If you believe that you can, then you are also correct. One is only beaten, when they stop trying to win. But hear me now and believe me, for what I say is true;you are a winner, and I can prove it to you.
Many people in this country do not believe in you. They will say that you are unfortunate, unlucky, that you haven't won life's lottery, that you are disadvantaged, that you do not have an equal opportunity. They do not believe in you, and they think you can not win, but they are wrong. They would say that you need special treatment because of the way you look, or the place that you are from, or the economic conditions that you are raised in, but once again they are wrong. How can I be so cocky and sure of myself in my belief in you? Because history and precedence says that I am right, and they are wrong.
One of the greatest winners ever was Abraham Lincoln, yet his life was wrought with strife and hardships. A quick list scoured off the internet goes like this:1831 – Failed in business,1832 – Defeated for legislature,1833 – Again failed in business,1834 – Elected to legislature,1835 – Sweetheart died,1836 – Had a nervous breakdown,1838 – Defeated for speaker,1840 – Defeated for elector,1843 – Defeated for Congress,1846 – Elected for Congress,1848 – Defeated for Congress,1855 – Defeated for Senate,1856 – Defeated for Vice-President,1858 – Defeated for Senate,1860 – ELECTED PRESIDENT
Am I saying that you are as good of a person as Abraham Lincoln? No but I believe you have the potential to be better than Abraham Lincoln. Honest Abe wasn't born into wealth, and he could have bean beaten along the way, but he was not beaten, because he never quit. How in the heck could a man born into relative poverty, who failed much more than he succeeded wind up being one of the greatest Presidents according to some, ever? Did he get some special treatment because he was poor, and get into college free?, Was there some sort of underprivileged loans for people to start a business? Did he receive food stamps to feed himself? Did he have housing provided for him? Was his medical bills paid for him? Nope. Abe just decided not to die, but to live, and he made it happen. And so can you. You may say, "oh but this was a long time ago, and times were not as hard then.", but you would be wrong. If you believe that you can do something , then you can. Your own self-limiting beliefs are the only thing that is stopping you.
Beware those who say that you need "help" to achieve your goals. Their form of help will defeat you and your purpose. For everything that is handed to you, a piece of your "self" is lost. Soon you need more "help" then after that you may stop trying to do anything at all for yourself, and are entirely dependent on their "help." Their "help" is what is keeping you down, making you dependent, which is what they strive for. They satisfy their own selfish needs by giving you "help".Some people have good intentions. They actually believe that they are helping you, and that you need the help. They do not want to oppress you , but they do not believe in you. They prejudge you. They would call you unequal, and underprivileged, but I don't because I see your true potential. Still not convinced? Well take the story of a young African-American man, who had grown up in poorness, into a family in which the father, "his only answer to everything was to beat it out of you.", whilst being sexually molested and abused. He dropped out of high-school, and was failing at life, but he kept on doing what he loved, which was writing. He had learned from watching another "self-made" person's show, that writing could be very therapeutic. He wrote plays that bombed, and was homeless in Atlanta, but he didn't give up. He kept writing, and believing in himself. Now whenever he has a new movie out, they put his name above the title. He's not homeless anymore,his name is Tyler Perry, and nobody gave him "help". I believe you can be bigger than Tyler Perry or Oprah( the person whom Perry had watched).
So why do these other people believe that you cannot win, when there are countless examples of those with less than you, with more "disadvantages" than you, who through their own self determination have won? I believe they fall into 2 categories. Category 1 are those that have given up on themselves. They listened and believed the people that told them that they did not have the same opportunities, or that they could not win without "help". Category 2 would be those that think they are better than you. They have won, some by themselves, but more likely they look at themselves as lucky. Maybe they were lucky, but either way they look at you and they feel pity, and condescension. Some may feel guilty about what they have achieved because they know that they have received this "help" themselves. And hey, If I couldn't do it myself, then surely you can not, which comes back to their view that they are superior to you. They will trot out examples of those they feel have had "bad luck" and ignore the decisions that these "unlucky" people made that lead them to where they are. Think of it as a child. These are people that would let a child win a game of chess, to make the child feel better, but what does the child learn? They have a sense of accomplishment for nothing. Achievement was unearned, but the lesson was learned, even if it was learned unwittingly. These folks are not on your side. They do not believe in you. On the contrary, they feel that you are weak, and that you can not win without their help, which they use to make themselves feel more important. They use what they see as your weakness, to make themselves stronger. They will keep telling you these lies, over and over, until the lies are not lies to you or them, but instead are now true. Their belief that you can not succeed, invades your belief , until that belief becomes reality. There is a sub-section of Category 2 folks which is truly evil, and this would be people that know the truth; that you can succeed without their help, but they want to control you. They feel that they are superior to you, but if they just make you dependent upon them, they can always control you. This is truly evil, and is no different than an abusive spouse that can't leave because they are so dependent and the abuse is the only thing they know. How sad that so many of you have been trapped by this, but you can escape. It is harder for you, and although we have all been created equal, this does not mean that all of our struggles to be successful will be equal.
So am I telling you to shun all help? No, but I want you to understand that the less you do for yourself, and the more you depend on others, the less you will gain for your "self". Do I believe that you can not form a team of people to help you? Absolutely not. I believe in teams and co-operation. Understand when you delegate authority, and when you are working for someone else that you are still working for yourself. Always know that you are "self" employed. You work, and you are paid for your work, and if you deliver results you will be paid more, if you do not deliver results you will be paid less, and if you do not deliver for enough time you will be without a job. You contribute to the whole company, but you are still an individual. You work hard to contribute so that the company will succeed, and therefor succeed yourself. But it is your responsibility to make the correct decisions as to your employment. If you work for a company that is not run well, you need to look out for yourself, and find a company that is. If your industry is changing or being eliminated by overseas competition, then you must educate yourself to be prepared for change. YOU are responsible for YOU! Those that sit around waiting for people to hand them new opportunities are destined for failure, because the winners go get the opportunities wherever they are. You are that winner! I believe in you. There is nothing special about you that is not inside you right now. Its all there waiting for you to understand it and develop it. You are special because you are you, and for no other reason. Nobody else can make you special or make you less than special. Your own power is infinite, and your own ability to win is limited by only you. You only lose when you let others decide for you about what your limits are. I want to say, "You can do it", but that will be putting my own beliefs on you, so I will instead close by saying that if you think you can do it, I believe you are correct.

Freedom!

I hear it every day, from a lot of different sides of these politics in the United States. The Democrats and republicans are very fond of using the word "FREEDOM". To quote a good movie, (I love movies with pirates in them you know) "The Princess Bride", "You keep using that word. I do not believe it means what you think it means." Of course they do not know what it means. The word freedom has lost its meaning, as so many other words have, through misuse, and abuse. Other words that have similarly lost their meanings would be, "Racist, Racism, Fair, Greed, Abuse, Torture, Progressive, Fascist, and fortunate, as in that guy is 'less-fortunate". I may go into these other meaningless words later, but for now let's focus on Freedom.

What is freedom? Well as the first part of the word would imply, it has something to do with being "free". Now in today's society, "free" can mean without cost, but I want to focus on the "free" which would mean, "without restraint". If you see a bird in the sky, flying around, that would be a good example of a "free" thing. It has no restraints other than those that are placed on the bird by scientific forces, such as gravity, fatigue, etc. My pet parrot lives in a cage on my ship. He is a handsome devil, and gets fed all the best gourmet crackers, and he seems that he enjoys his life. He even calls out my name, and even curse words at usually the most inappropriate times, but I digress. He seems happy, but yet he is not "free". He is constricted to his cage, and although I let him out once in a while, he spends the majority of his time, not "free". The best crackers and the fact that he has never known what it is like to be "free" probably contributes to his seemingly happy life. But i do wonder if he yearns to be "free" or if the years of being trapped in a cage, and given all that he needs, have deadened this desire to be free? How many people in our society have given up being, "free" as long as their needs were taken care of by their keepers? Does this innate desire go away, or is it deep within ready to be unleashed (literally)? I'm afraid that this desire is gone from so many of our society.

The state of being without constraints would be what I defined as "freedom". You will hear over and over again, from the talking heads on televisions, to the blabbermouths on radio, to the guy next door, or the preacher in the pulpit, tell us that we live in a 'free" society, but I disagree. One will often hear people praise the armed forces, from those of long ago, to the ones that are currently fighting and dying on foreign soil, as "fighting for our freedom", or in the most drastic cases, "dying for our freedom", but again I disagree. More appropriately, they should say that these people have fought or died, for our protection, or the protection of what our leaders, duly elected have decided was worth fighting and dying for. I would say that they are fighting for our freedom, but I make the argument that we do not have freedom. More Free than some? Yes, but if I put my parrot in a really large cage, he is still not free.

But Ragnar, it's right there in the national Anthem, "the land of the free"! Just because something is written in a song, or a document doesn't mean that it is factual. Would you like me to demonstrate how you are not free? I will take an example from both sides of the current political system. The Democrats would say that we are free, but in a "free" society the leaders or governors of that society doesn't confiscate property from you that you have rightfully earned, yet every day for every dollar that one makes, that one has given a piece of their time(life) for 6% is taken off the top, confiscated and put into a plan that one has no choice to participate in, unless of course they are a member of the government, the railroad system, or the clergy (but only on the money earned whilst doing clergy duties), to be given back to this individual, if they make it to a certain age, and meet certain criteria. Forcibly stealing, looting, plundering someone's life can never be free. This is slavery in its simplest form, and at least indentured servitude, in the best of circumstances. The Republicans are no better on this issue. They had the chance to give power back to the people by privatizing this, but alas they did not. Their own desire to control was more than their desire to implement a little bit of freedom to the people. On the other side, the Republicans would tell someone that they cannot smoke Marijuana. Should people smoke marijuana? Maybe not, but that is not the issue. The issue is that the Republicans (and most democrats too) would say that you do not own yourself. We know better than you do about what you should or should not do to your body, so we will not allow this. Therefore, they are no better than the democrats, because they exert control over the individual. They believe they have the right to a part of you. You are property to them as well. Think that slavery was abolished in 1865? Think again. These people who spout off more about freedom than anyone else, have no clue as to what the word means.

One will hear about the greatness of all the other industrialized countries, and how great their systems are, and what the services that they provide for their people. You hear about the awesome healthcare that the people do not have to pay for, the 6 weeks of paid vacations that they may get the wonderful transit systems, free colleges, and such. Have you once heard anyone say, 'I think that ________(Sweden, France, Great Britain, Germany, Luxembourg, Canada is so great because they are so "free"? I never have, yet so many people look to these countries as role model as to what we should become. Why? Could people in those countries be so wrong? They seem to like it, so maybe we would also? Well back to my parrot; perhaps after so long of enslavement, they have grown accustomed to their condition. I can let my parrot out of his cage, yet he does not fly off. Why would he? He has all his needs taken care of; heck he doesn't have to think. He wakes up, and poof a brand new gourmet cracker, fresh water, and a place to poop. Life is great! Until i took him up the Amazon River one year, and there all around us were wild birds, flying around looking for their next meal or their next mate. Did my parrot look with envy to those birds, or did he look at them with ridicule, as in "har har, I don’t have to fly around looking for food, this guy brings it to me. I'm better off than you." I will never know, since I can’t speak parrot or read parrot minds, but I can tell you that humans have thrown off the shackles and chains from ancient times. We have an innate desire to be free. Free from the Egyptians, free from the Greeks, free from the Romans, free from the Nobility, free from the American slaveholders, free from Imperialism, free from the Soviet Union, and free from apartheid. Over and over again people have fought for and died for freedom. And what does this country do with its freedom? It allows rulers to be in place that would strangle, and chock that freedom, yet the people do it willingly for some sense of security.

I hear that some people are "unfortunate", or at least "less-fortunate", but I say that most people get exactly what they have worked for. "You reap what you sow" is found in all 3 major religions, and it is true. You get out, what you put in. All that you are is in direct relation to the choices you have made and the actions that you have done. However, there are those that are your enslavers, and to a certain extent, they can affect your "fortune". This is where the oppression is really aimed. The oppressors do not want you to succeed; they want you to be subservient. They are power hungry, draconian, and greedy. Yes I said greedy. That word gets thrown around a lot to describe individuals and companies that are trying to succeed, yet the ones that are truly greedy are the rulers-the oppressors. They want more and more control and power over the individual. They see you as nothing more than a serf or slave to rule over. They put systems in place that punish you for succeeding, and reward you for failing. You don’t have to be BF Skinner, or Pavlov to understand that the reward/punishment will lead to more of the behavior that leads to reward and against the behavior that leads to punishment. Is this all making sense yet? By punishing the successful and rewarding the unsuccessful they thereby create a society that is complacent to fail. They also pit one class against the other. Why? To remain in power. If they can create a society in which more than half the people are dependent on them, and do not strive for freedom, they thereby ensure their survival. Vote for me, and I will still give you _______, vote for the other guy and he will take away your________. We will take from them (the successful) to give to you (the unsuccessful). Easy enough, the revolution had occurred without a shot fired. Only the reward/punishment and the enslavement of their subjects.

How do I see freedom, and what can be done to instill it? Well in the United States there is a document that grants freedoms, and rights. Unfortunately, over the years some people have in times of crisis, expanded the government's control to a willing public who were afraid and wanted security. these abuses, were gradual, and only effected a small group of people, so folks said, "Okay, well if it only hurts_____, then do it", yet they failed to see the larger picture, that with each bit of freedom they conceded for security, or for the government's outright abuse of the documents, to which the citizen's did not demand an accounting, and repeal, they voluntarily were shackling themselves. The death of freedom by a thousand cuts. The cuts were so gradual, that after a while the people in their comfort and security began to like the programs, like social security, welfare, Medicare, and Medicaid. Sort of like my parrot likes those fancy crackers.

I hope that my parrot takes off one day in search of a tasty fruit, or bug, or whatever parrots like to eat out in the freedom of the wild. And I wish people in the United States would throw off the security of the social programs, to have a choice in their destiny, and to remove power from the rulers. But unfortunately like my parrot, which seems happy and secure in his cage, eating gourmet crackers, I am worried that the people in the United States, have grown complacent in their security, and their enslavement, and will keep the shackles on, until someone shows them what freedom really is. That time is coming, but many of these people will miss it, due to watching American Idol or the Sean Hannity show.