Why I am an Objectivist

Recently, a friend asked me this: "Why are you an Objectivist?" It seemed a puzzle to her because I'm very independent in my views, which means, at times, that I must go my own way alone. Ironically, that's the answer to the question, or part of it anyway.

Let's back up a little. What is an Objectivist? It's someone who ascribes to the philosophy of reason identified by Ayn Rand, which she called Objectivism. For more details, scan the web. You'll find over a million hits. The best place to start is http://www.aynrand.org/.

In layman's terms, what does Objectivism mean to me? It helps me to understand myself, the world and my relationship to it. In particular, it helps me to see clearly the difference between right and wrong...by a rational, objective standard. It helps me to see and appreciate the good that moves the world daily. Personally, it helped me to see a good woman, the one who asked me the question, for what she was and is and not let her slip away from my heart.

In short, Objectivism gave me the intellectual and spiritual tools to work and fight for my happiness. I'm not out to save the world with Objectivism. I'm out just to save my world, my slice of it. If more people had that perspective, the world would fix itself pretty damn fast.

I'm not speaking theoretically. I'm speaking from experience, 26 years to be exact. That's how long I've been familiar with Miss Rand's ideas. Her ideas helped me rise from financial and spiritual poverty to the wealth in both I enjoy today.

Years ago, when Miss Rand's ideas were still new to me, when they were still theory, I was impressed by this passage in Atlas Shrugged. It's an excerpt of John Galt talking to Dagny Taggart:

If you fail, as men have failed in their quest for a vision that should have been possible, yet has remained forever beyond their reach—if, like them, you come to think that one's highest values are not to be attained and one's greatest vision is not to be made real—don't damn this earth, as they did, don't damn existence. You have seen the Atlantis they were seeking, it is here, it exists—but one must enter it naked and alone, with no rags from the falsehoods of centuries, with the purest clarity of mind—not an innocent heart, but that which is much rarer: an intransigent mind—as one's only possession and key. You will not enter it until you learn that you do not need to convince or to conquer the world. When you learn it,you will see that through all the years of your struggle, nothing had barred you from Atlantis and there were no chains to hold you, except the chains you were willing to wear.

"Rags from the falsehoods of centuries" surround us. I've learned to see them and stop being afraid of them. In the clear light of day and reason, they're like cheap Halloween masks, not very scary. But punching through the facade takes what Miss Rand talks about—an intransigent mind. Such a mind is not the monopoly of the smartest person in the world. It can be owned by any spirit that chooses to think for itself. And owning that gives you your key to Atlantis, spiritually at least, which is where it all begins.

Why am I an Objectivist? Because I enjoy being happy and look forward to earning more happiness in the years to come.