Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism

[thesummerqueen]

Also, what do we decide is "unearned?"

Many people believe that healthcare is unearned, and yet I suspect that most of the people on this board believe that it is a human right in some form or fashion - if only because taking care of our entire country's health is a net benefit for everyone involved, even if it costs a few extra dollars out of everyone's paycheck. Even the very poor benefit from this, as when they're suddenly stricken they can take advantage of that safety net and not become even more impoverished by the exorbitant medical fees this country charges.

And values change over time. At one point, wifi would have seemed like a luxury which 'moochers' took advantage of if they could. Now it's expected because access to the internet and connectivity are increasingly necessary *across the socio-economic board* in this day and age, and most providers are creating false scarcities in order to drive up their profits (at least, they are here in NC, and thank god Google is coming to town). Everyone from school children to the President need access to this service. At some point we're just going to have to accept that video-streaming-capable wireless is something we're all going to need the same way clean water is expected in every city (sorry Flint MI).

The problem arises when a prior generation who lived without those services and was used to dealing without them decides they're not necessary solely because "back in my day" and calls people lazy and freeloaders and spoiled. No. Just because you managed to live without it when your culture wasn't set up for it doesn't make it a luxury when it's now the way everyone functions.

The quality of life for the planet, by and large, continues to improve (except for climate change, fuck) as industry kicks on and for the most part humans are raised in a level of prosperity that would have made Solomon blush, all because of socialized programs that give people a more equal chance when they start and continue through life and which benefit all of us - public education, public roads, public water, public art, public parks, etc. We have to stop falling into the false-scarcity trap. There are plenty of situations and instances where capitalism works, but Rand's extreme version of it is the worst vision of what America and England already tried during the two waves of the Industrial Revolution - when eventually many regulatory bodies and social programs were also put in place to mitigate the effects.