Dirty Socialists are flocking to criticise Ayn Rand for taking monies for cancer treatment from Medicare (see this comment left by Dr. William Yelverton, Professor of Air Guitar, MTSU). Ayn Rand wrote the following in “The Question of Scholarships,” The Objectivist, June 1966...
"The recipient of a public scholarship is morally justified only so long as he regards it as restitution and opposes all forms of welfare statism. Those who advocate public scholarships, have no right to them; those who oppose them, have. If this sounds like a paradox, the fault lies in the moral contradictions of welfare statism, not in its victims.
"The same moral principles and considerations apply to the issue of accepting social security, unemployment insurance or other payments of that kind. It is obvious, in such cases, that a man receives his own money which was taken from him by force, directly and specifically, without his consent, against his own choice. Those who advocated such laws are morally guilty, since they assumed the “right” to force employers and unwilling co-workers. But the victims, who opposed such laws, have a clear right to any refund of their own money—and they would not advance the cause of freedom if they left their money, unclaimed, for the benefit of the welfare-state administration."
Ayn Rand availed herself of what she put into the system. Granted, she did so under her married name; that seems slightly off kilter. Maybe she couldn't find her birth certificate.
And for creating the character Ellsworth Toohey, after whom all the far-Leftists alive today are modeled (An octopus, all tentacles and no brain.), she gets a break AFAIC.
"The recipient of a public scholarship is morally justified only so long as he regards it as restitution and opposes all forms of welfare statism. Those who advocate public scholarships, have no right to them; those who oppose them, have. If this sounds like a paradox, the fault lies in the moral contradictions of welfare statism, not in its victims.
"The same moral principles and considerations apply to the issue of accepting social security, unemployment insurance or other payments of that kind. It is obvious, in such cases, that a man receives his own money which was taken from him by force, directly and specifically, without his consent, against his own choice. Those who advocated such laws are morally guilty, since they assumed the “right” to force employers and unwilling co-workers. But the victims, who opposed such laws, have a clear right to any refund of their own money—and they would not advance the cause of freedom if they left their money, unclaimed, for the benefit of the welfare-state administration."
Ayn Rand availed herself of what she put into the system. Granted, she did so under her married name; that seems slightly off kilter. Maybe she couldn't find her birth certificate.
And for creating the character Ellsworth Toohey, after whom all the far-Leftists alive today are modeled (An octopus, all tentacles and no brain.), she gets a break AFAIC.
Yes, socialism is unAmerican... right?
ReplyDeleteWell, unConstitutional, it seems. Still a very important matter to some.
ReplyDelete