[16702] in APO-L
Summit - Fuel for Discussion (fwd)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Tom Brown)
Fri Apr 25 22:08:41 1997
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 20:48:29 -0500
Reply-To: Tom Brown <tebrown@lonestar.jpl.utsa.edu>
From: Tom Brown <tebrown@lonestar.jpl.utsa.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
This was posted to another list serve and I also thnk it would be
interesting to hear your thoughts.
Tom Brown
San Antonio Texas
C L I N T O N W A N T S Y O U R L I F E .
HE WANTS TO OWN YOU. As demonstrated by his April 27-29 "Service Summit"
in Philadelphia -- he wants you to accept the doctrine that living for
yourself is evil while living in servitude to others is good. Clinton --
and the other politicians and celebrities leading the summit -- have
asserted your "duty" to "serve" others. They want you to feel GUILTY for
living -- if you're not living for others.
These people are profoundly anti-American. It is a moral disgrace for
them to hold their summit at Independence Hall -- WHERE THIS COUNTRY WAS
FOUNDED ON THE RIGHT OF THE INDIVIDUAL TO BE LEFT ALONE TO PURSUE HIS
OWN HAPPINESS. It is a moral disgrace for them to call self-sacrifice
"the American Way." Your life belongs to YOU ALONE, not to King George
III, not to the needy, not to Bill Clinton. THIS is the American way.
The duty and guilt they seek to invoke with their "volunteerism"
campaign is bad enough. But even worse are their growing proposals to
make service MANDATORY. Clinton has embraced Maryland's requirement that
high school students must perform community service in order to
graduate.
We believe that living a rational, productive life in the achievement of
YOUR values is a moral virtue. What we need is not "a new sense of
duty," but a new understanding of THE VALUE OF INDEPENDENCE, which Ayn
Rand so eloquently expressed in her novel THE FOUNTAINHEAD. Here are
excerpts from the hero's climactic courtroom speech:
"Men have been taught that their first concern is to relieve the
suffering of others. But suffering is a disease. Should one come upon
it, one tries to give relief and assistance. To make that the highest
test of virtue is to make suffering the most important part of life.
Then man must wish to see others suffer -- in order that he may be
virtuous. Such is the nature of altruism."
"The man who attempts to live for others is a dependent. He is a
parasite in motive and makes parasites of those he serves. The
relationship produces nothing but mutual corruption. It is impossible in
concept. The nearest approach to is in reality -- the man who lives to
serve others -- is the slave. If physical slavery is repulsive, how much
more repulsive is the concept of servility of the spirit? The conquered
slave has a vestige of honor. He has the merit of having resisted and of
considering his condition evil. But the man who enslaves himself
voluntarily in the name of love is the basest of creatures. He degrades
the dignity of man and he degrades the conception of love. But this is
the essence of altruism."
"Men have been taught that the highest virtue is not to achieve, but to
give. Yet one cannot give that which has not been created. Creation
comes before distribution -- or there will be nothing to distribute. The
need of the creator comes before the need of any possible beneficiary.
Yet we are taught to admire the second-hander who dispenses gifts he has
not produced above the man who made the gifts possible. We praise an act
of charity. We shrug at an act of achievement."
"The choice is not self-sacrifice or domination. The choice is
independence or dependence."
"The egoist in the absolute sense is not the man who sacrifices others.
He is the man who stands above the need of using others in any manner.
He does not function through them.... He does not exist for any other
man -- and he asks no other man to exist for him. This is the only form
of brotherhood and mutual respect possible between men."
"Independence is the only gauge of human virtue and value. What a man is
and makes of himself; not what he has or hasn't done for others. There
is no substitute for personal dignity. There is no standard of personal
dignity except independence."
"Now observe the results of a society built on the principle of
individualism. This, our country. The noblest country in the history of
men. The country of greatest achievement, greatest prosperity, greatest
freedom. This country was not based on selfless service, sacrifice,
renunciation or any precept of altruism. It was based on a man's right
to the pursuit of happiness. His own happiness. Not anyone else's. A
private, personal, selfish motive. Look at the results. Look into your
own conscience."
"I came here to say that I do not recognize anyone's right to one minute
of my life.... No matter who makes the claim, how large their number or
how great their need."
DON'T ALLOW this country's President and intellectuals to destroy it --
and to turn you into a selfless servant. Don't accept the unearned guilt
they want you to feel. Proclaim your moral right to life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness. YOUR happiness.
FIGHT THE SUMMIT. Picket with us in Philadelphia. Sign the Petition
against Servitude we are co-sponsoring with the Ayn Rand Institute at
the Web site given below. The petition will be presented to Clinton on
OUR holiday: July 4.
THE COALITION OF STUDENTS AGAINST SERVITUDE
founded by Objectivist clubs at campuses nationwide, including Harvard
U, Columbia U, Northwestern U, U of Michigan, George Washington U, U of
Pittsburgh, Penn State U
SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST SERVITUDE: http://www.aynrand.org/no_servitude
--
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MIKE KERN
Asst. Coord. Volunteer Services Southern Methodist University
& SMU Service House Advisor PO Box 172
mkern@mail.smu.edu Dallas, TX 75275-0172
(214) 768-4418
(214) 768-4600 (fax)
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