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Russell W. Shurts's avatar

In one sentence you captured the essence of the left's morality through much of my life,. "Just as it would be obscene to condemn a moral man because he has a capacity to commit atrocities, so it would be obscene to value an immoral man because he has the capacity to achieve nobility". Obscene is precisely what it is.

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Yosef Rodrigo's avatar

Your write, “Human beings, insofar as they are rational, productive, and peaceful, are allies in the quest for life and happiness.” And: “there are plenty of people who threaten me… anyone who is essentially irrational.” You use two main examples: the monk and the bum.

The “monk” can include a Christian who commits himself to a cloister, a Buddhist monk isolated in the mountains, or the young adult or middle-aged business executive who make a pilgrimage to Tibet because they are jaded or disillusioned by a life pursuing material values and productiveness.

The “bum” is interesting. He starts off as, “The shiftless conspiracy theorist who emotionally manipulates his parents into giving him a place to live.” Then he becomes just a “shiftless conspiracy theorist”. Finally “shiftless” and “conspiracy theorist” are dropped and he becomes simply the “bum”. In my experience, conspiracy theorists, locally or in the media and social media, are making a living and providing for themselves, some of them are even wealthy. And then when you use the word “bum”, I immediately think of the thousands of homeless people in my big city. I wonder if they essentially possess a “conspiracy-theory” mentality, and what might be another name for that mentality.

Also, I believe that those who believe in climate catastrophe and even Christianity, are conspiracy theorists, in the latter, god and Satan being the players behind the curtain determining the human soul and its activity, and world events.

With respect to anyone who is essentially irrational as a threat to you, would that include people who choose their career, friends, lover, spouse, according to what would satisfy their parents, friends, their group, society, god? Is a man who earns a good living, pays for a home, has a car or two, dresses well, and pays for entertainment & services in his city, but who is unhappy in his soul–how irrational is he?

And how irrational is Bill Gates, and thus how much of a threat to you? How would that spiritual balance sheet look like? Has Bill Gates, once the richest man in the world… has Bill Gates become a bum (in spirit)?

Lastly, how does one gauge how irrational a man is, especially since most men are mixed? The simple (and also complicated) answer is: to what extent do they practice the (7) Objectivist Virtues? To what degree and in what form (combination) do your monk and bum live and *not live* according to the Objectivist virtues?

Thanks (I appreciate this Substack of yours).

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