https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-common-good-chapter-2-what-good
"Thanks for joining me again as we explore the common good — what it is, where
it went, how it can be revived and strengthened.
The idea of “the common good” was once widely understood and accepted in
America. After all, the U.S. Constitution was designed for “We the people”
seeking to “promote the general welfare” — not for “me the selfish jerk seeking
as much wealth and power as possible.”
What happened? One clue is found in the writings of writer-philosopher Ayn
Rand, who argued that the common good was bunk.
Donald Trump has called Rand his favorite writer and said he identifies with
Howard Roark, the protagonist of
The Fountainhead — an architect who
dynamites a housing project he designed because the builders did not precisely
follow his blueprints. (I doubt Trump has ever read Rand, but for the sake of
this essay, let’s assume he has.)
Rex Tillerson, secretary of state under Trump, called Rand’s
Atlas Shrugged
his favorite book. Former Trump CIA chief Mike Pompeo cited Rand as a major
inspiration. Before he withdrew his nomination to be Trump’s secretary of
labor, Andrew Puzder said he devoted much of his free time to reading Rand.
Paul Ryan, former Republican leader of the House of Representatives, required
his staff to read Rand.
Rand fans are also found at some of the high reaches of American business.
Uber’s founder and former CEO, Travis Kalanick, has described himself as a Rand
follower. He applied many of her ideas to Uber’s code of values. Kalanick even
used
The Fountainhead’s original cover art as his Twitter avatar.
Ronald Reagan professed to being a follower of Rand. His policies — and those
of his contemporary conservative leader, Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain —
appeared to draw inspiration from her thoughts and writing.
In order to understand what happened to the common good, we need to examine Ayn
Rand and her arguments against it."
Via Kevin O'Brien.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
