When Objectivism and parenting collide
I'm no Objectivist but even my mere libertarianism took a hit when I became a parent. So oh how I loved this McSweeney's post "Our Daughter Isn't a Selfish Brat; Your Son Just Hasn't Read Atlas Shrugged."
It tells the story of a playground scuffle. A sample:
When little Aiden toddled up our daughter Johanna and asked to play with her Elmo ball, he was, admittedly, very sweet and polite. I think his exact words were, "Have a ball, peas [sic]?" And I'm sure you were very proud of him for using his manners.
To be sure, I was equally proud when Johanna yelled, "No! Looter!" right in his looter face, and then only marginally less proud when she sort of shoved him.
The thing is, in this family we take the philosophies of Ayn Rand seriously.
In all seriousness, nothing so much as raising children has made me more aware of the importance of virtue -- not just in my own family but in my community as well. Now excuse me while I figure out what incentives to use for potty training.
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Re: When Objectivism and parenting collide
While self-sufficiency is a good lesson for little Johanna and it should be her ultimate goal, if she wants to do business in the world she is going to find out that you can't achieve a pure form of it. She is going to need relationships.
If her Elmo ball loses air, she better hope Aiden doesn't own the only business in town with an air pump.
Feb '10
Re: When Objectivism and parenting collide
I object to Objectivism because it often leads to extreme individualism and a very selfish outlook on life-- not to mention bitterness at the idea that we may actually owe something to society. I don't believe in government forcing everyone to "help" each other, but that doesn't mean we should eschew the value of helping each other out of our own good will.
In reality, no one is a completely self-made person. We all benefit from our parents, our teachers, our friends, and the knowledge, institutions and wealth of society built up by generations before us. We should have a grateful attitude towards others and be willing to reciprocate out of our own good will, and a desire to make things better for those around us and for those who follow us. Note again that the government doesn't need to have a role in this good will. But a funny thing happens when you are generous towards others-- it does have a way of coming back to you.
Edited on Aug 12, 2010 at 8:38amMay '10
Re: When Objectivism and parenting collide
The Simpsons made the same point, slyly, when Marge sends Maggie to a daycare center called the Ayn Rand School for Tots. No pacifiers allowed!
Jul '10
Re: When Objectivism and parenting collide
Children need to be trained. They are neither virtuous nor civilized at birth. They are, in fact, egocentric and amoral. We give them a background in morality. We teach them the virtue of sharing and the virtue of independence. We hope as they move into adulthood they will use their experience, training and native intelligence to evolve a system of personal ethics which emulates our own. In truth, it rarely does. A major portion of their years from mid to late adolescence through much of their thirties will be spent rejecting just about everything we have taught them or that we believe it. Sometime in their late thirties to early forties, perhaps when their own children are rejecting their politics, they themselves will achieve an understanding of our view and begin to display them. This, I believe, is the natural system. I have watched it through my own generation and its rejection of our parents, and now my son and his rejection of mine and his slow movement back toward my views in his mid-thirties. What has always remained in me and in my son is the essential integrity which will lead you home again.
Aug '10
Re: When Objectivism and parenting collide
Busy System Admin:
In reality, no one is a completely self-made person. We all benefit from our parents, our teachers, our friends, and the knowledge, institutions and wealth of society built up by generations before us.
Exactly.
I think one of the more pernicious myths that we hear from some self-identified "capitalists" is the myth of the "self-made man". Actually read free-market thinkers, like Sowell, Friedman, etc, and they're all quite clear that no one is truly self-made, important as individual effort is. (Sowell is especially clear on the importance of cultural capital, especially among the poor.)
I think the "self-made man" fallacy hurts the free-market cause quite a bit. It's certainly used as a straw man against those of us who don't believe it, and those of us who do believe it, or at least come across as believing it, only make the misconception worse.
Re: When Objectivism and parenting collide
Not much of an expert on parenting, here, but McSweeney's has to be the best site on the Internet. How come no one ever told me about it before?
Re: When Objectivism and parenting collide
Not much of an expert on parenting, here, but McSweeney's has to be the cleverest site on the Internet. How come no one ever told me about it before?
Re: When Objectivism and parenting collide
It's good enough to ask twice, Claire. Here's an old favorite from Ricochet friend Peter Suderman.
Jul '10
Re: When Objectivism and parenting collide
McSweeney's had an awesome piece that purported to be a transcript of Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky doing DVD commentary for Fellowship of the Ring. Brilliant, and instantly familiar to anyone who's had to sit through a freshman critical-theory class.