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From: neal@denelcor.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
Subject: Re: Whither Are We Drifting?
Message-ID: <471@denelcor.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 9-Jun-84 18:49:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: denelcor.471
Posted: Sat Jun  9 18:49:17 1984
Date-Received: Mon, 11-Jun-84 00:42:11 EDT
References: <1099@decwrl.UUCP>
Organization: Denelcor, Aurora, CO
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>	One wonders why anyone would embrace a philosophy that ignores at
>least half of human reality.  (Note that just a few days ago, somebody posted
>an article about being impressed by an Ayn Rand book.)

	Which half, the implied threat that if I don't willingly give all
my money to the poor, that they'll "rise up", murder me, and take it
anyway?

>	Two possibilities spring to mind:
>	(1) We high-techers usually get here from financially-secure back-
>grounds.  (There are exceptions.  I'm one of them.)  Libertarian politics ap-
>pear as the simplest and most straightforward system for the well-off to remain
>that way.  Attendant philosophical overtones (or, in the case of Objectivism,
>a philosophical emphasis) offer a coherent view of reality and ethics - and it
>also happens to be consistent with the technological approach.
>	(2) Perhaps a number of us who can deal with machines so well cannot
>deal with people with as much success.  Thus subjective reality is ignored or
>mistrusted while the objective reality takes the place of it all.
>
>		<_Jym_>

	Speaking for myself as a libertarian:
	
	There's probably a germ of truth to both of these assertions but
there are two (very closely connected) reasons that I'm a libertarian.

	1.  I think I can do a better job of running my life than some
Washington bureaucrat.

	2.  As a productive member of society, I very much resent the
government(s) punishing productivity and rewarding non-productivity (or
even bad luck).

			Regards,
				Neal Weidenhofer
"Nothin' ain't worth nothin'	Denelcor, Inc.
	but it's free"		!denelcor!neal