Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism

[bennyboy]

I disagree with the idea that anyone isn't fully living their life as a human being because of some arbitrary metric you set - you don't get to decide if someone 'truly' lived - only they do. Quality of life and living to the fullest aren't the same thing, but having a better quality of life to start with can help you reach your potential.

There are plenty of reasons to disagree with Rand without wondering "but were Hank and Dagny and John really living?" I'm sure she thought they were, but they were reprehensible characters in the meantime.

Okay, I'm happy to be back on the OP.

I agree with most of this, certainly with the idea that you need some quality of life to reach your potential, and that Rand's characters are dicks.  

As for "arbitrary metric," that applies to all subjective terms.  You yourself defined quality of life in terms of creature comforts, an arbitrary metric with which I disagreed.  I think plenty of people have a happy and fulfilling life even WITHOUT many creature comforts.  When I was in my teens, I lived on the streets, ate boot-sole meat at soup kitchens, showered at the "Y" with dirty old pervs watching me sometimes, and lived in condemned buildings without power or plumbing.  And it was the time of my life-- I had good friends, good sex, and a sense of adventure-- I was really living a vivid and enjoyable life at that time. I feel it was because of my financial poverty at that time, not in spite of it, that I really felt so alive.

Now, I have plenty of money (relatively at least), a career, good food, a family, a house, etc. and I have to play self-cheerleader to find a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Things are a little grayer, except when I make a real effort to go out and experience something new.

That being said, I agree that replacing your arbitrary metric with an equally arbitrary one wasn't really a step in the right direction.