[Cuckoosnest] Libertarian Disease, Writ Large]

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Randall <rvh40 () insightbb com>
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 13:15:19 -0500
To: Dave <dave () farber net>
Subject: [Fwd: [Cuckoosnest] Libertarian Disease, Writ Large]

To:  <cuckoosnest () riddlemaster org>
Subject: [Cuckoosnest] Libertarian Disease, Writ Large
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 13:12:10 -0500

Matthew Rothschild: 'Taking market ideology to its cruelest end'
Posted on Monday, January 03 @ 10:17:50 EST
________________________________________________________________________
By Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive

Here's a story I thought was a hoax.

It came in by e-mail on Dec. 30 from the Ayn Rand Institute, and it had
an Onion-type headline that read: "U.S. Should Not Help Tsunami
Victims."

So unsure of its kosherness was I that I called up the author, one David
Holcberg at the Ayn Rand Institute.

He vouched for it, though.

The piece began by focusing on the "private organizations and
individuals" that are helping the victims. "Such help may be entirely
proper, especially considering that most of the affected by this tragedy
are suffering through no fault of their own," the piece said.



"May" be entirely proper? Is there a doubt?

And of the more than 133,000 who have died, did any die through fault of
their own?

The thrust of the rightwing libertarian group's piece was that the U.S.
government "should not give any money to help the tsunami victims"
because "every dollar the government hands out as foreign aid has to be
extorted from an American taxpayer first."

The folks at Ayn Rand don't believe in taxation.

And beyond that, they don't even believe in altruism. All they believe
in is the market.

Check this out: "It is America's acceptance of altruism that renders
them morally impotent to protest against the confiscation and
distribution of their wealth," the piece said.

It calls this altruism "a vicious morality."

What's vicious is letting millions of people go hungry and homeless and
without clean water or medical care.

This self-parody would be easy to laugh off if it did not represent the
apotheosis of free market idolatry, idolatry that is worshipped at the
highest levels of our government.

Reprinted from The Progressive:
http://www.progressive.org/webex04/wx123104.html

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