The Selfish Giver

Is life worth fighting for? Absolutely.

It is days like these, when my son gives my daughter a beautiful Tulip to make up for the dandelion of hers that he stepped on, that make me proud to be a father. Although I wanted to get mad at him for picking one of our flowers without asking, his head was in the right place, which was taking responsibility for his actions (stepping on her flower) and trying to make amends (giving her a new, prettier flower). It is so exciting to see him utilize proper values and virtues for living a full, happy life.

Perhaps the greatest confusion people have with the Objectivist's ethics is their failure to understand how selfishness can lead to positive personal relationships. For me, this picture captures the concept of selfishness perfectly. My son wants to play with my daughter and does not want her sad because she will stop playing with him when he does make her sad. So it was perfectly selfish of him to want her to stay happy, hence the flower. Whenever people think of selfishness, think of this picture.

But why stop there. Its not just my kids that I want to life full, happy lives. I want to live in a world where everyone treats others as my son (selfishly) does here. As a parent, I want my children to live in a world where other people take responsibility for their own screw-ups (instead of asking for others to bail them out). It is in my own self-interest that everyone take responsibility. That everyone acts with the same selfishness that my son does in this picture.

I am willing to fight for a future where these values are taken seriously.

A changing tide?

Last November, I noted that Obama's morality is one shared by the villains of Atlas Shrugged. Obama was quoted saying, "You know I don’t know when, when they decided they wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness." [Bold mine]. It was unclear if Obama, refers to selfishness in the same way as I do. Whether he regards selfishness as a short-term, hedonistic, whim based value system or as a long-term, objective, rational based value system (I believe the latter). But it was clear that Obama believes altruism is moral system that should be applied to politics.

In the comments of that post, Burgess Laughlin made an interesting point. Essentially, he said that Obama will make an easy target. Because Obama's political and moral views are so explicit, it will be much easier for defenders of freedom to pin-point the errors, flaws, and out-right destructiveness in Obama's policies.

What has happened since November? Defenders of rational, self-interested values and lovers of freedom have been busy - for a small sampling check out this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this (The list goes on and on. My appologizes if I missed some good ones). Burgess was spot on with his comment. Obama is a bulls-eye.

In an interview with EdNews.org, Yaron Brook said in response to the question "What would John Galt say about the programs proposed by President Obama"

"Again, I don't want to be presumptuous and speak for John Galt, but certainly everything Obama is proposing today parallels what the political villains in Atlas Shrugged were proposing—and we know what John Galt thought of their actions. From Obama's first day in office, he has engaged in massive violations of individual rights and massive redistribution of wealth."

Indeed, they do parallel the villians of Atlas Shrugged. My assessment of Obama's philosophy has been (unfortunately) proven true.

But there is hope. The rise in Atlas Shrugged sales, the growth of "Tea Parties" protesting the growth of our government and attacks on our freedoms, and the frequent mention of Ayn Rand in the media give evidence that the ideas of Objectivism are not dying. Objectivism is not a philosophy of a few hard core fans. The ideas of Objectivism are spreading. They are spreading faster than I would have anticipated, mostly because of Obama's presidency.

Will Objectivist ideas take hold in our culture? I believe they are starting too, but its just a start. The right ideas must be defended and done so with vigor. I'm begining to see a glimour of hope in the not to distant future. I, for one, plan to step up my advocacy of reason, facts, individual rights, and freedom.

Funny things

After watching my wife breasting feeding the baby, my 2 year old daughter says she wants one. No, not a baby...not a breast. She wants a nipple.

Where is she going to get one? "I buy one at the store."

Perfect sacrifice

No matter how much you think you can sacrifice, there is always more to sacrifice.  What are the moral and political implications of such an idea put into practice?

I started listening to an Onkar Ghate lecture about such a question.  And the logical conclusion is chilling.

Food and Nutrition - 3 books on its history

Over the past few months, I have read a three books on nutrition covering its history, its effect on physical development and economic growth, and the current controversies surrounding proper nutrition. These three books were:

• The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, 1700-2100: Europe, America, and the Third World by Robert Fogel
• Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston Price
• Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health by Gary Taubes

I must admit, that after reading these three books, I have a different outlook on the food in put in my body. As I child, I was lucky to have parents that feed me a very healthy diet - little junk food, lots of food from the garden and from grass feed cattle and chickens. Now I understand why it was so healthy and why I should be vigilant about the stuff I put into my body.

In Escape from Hunger and Premature death, my main take away was that the agricultural revolution (which closely coincided with the industrial revolution) lead to increasing calories available for consumption in Western European nations. The starting point was abysmal low levels of calories, close to starvation for large segments of the populations. With increased calories came greater energy and greater health. Greater energy and health led to greater productivity, further helping transform Europe's transformation into industrial society.

In Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Weston Price chronicles his decade long quest in the early 20th century to find primitive peoples and document their diet and physical condition. In particular, he establishes what happens to these people before and after the introduction of western diets with large quantities of white bread, sugar, and canned food. Traveling throughout North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Pacific islands, Price found that regards of the indigenous diet, all primitive diets resulted in strong health adults. Upon introduction of the Western diet of white bread, sugar, and canned foods, these primitive groups started experiencing degeneration of dental and bone health and increased occurrences of tuberculous and other diseases.

In Good calories, Bad Calories, Gary Taubes reviews the past 50 years or so of medical, nutritional, and diet research. In this review, he questions conventional wisdom that fat is the cause of modern diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. After navigating thousands of studies in a variety of disciplines, Taubes paints a convincing picture that fat is not the boogiman that its been made out to be. In fact, its carbs that are the most likely the biggest culprit in the increasing occurances of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Sugar in particular.

From these three books, a new picture of nutrition has formed in my mind. This picture consists of a simple view of food - each and every thing I put in my body should be for a purpose. Every thing should have nutritional content. Its not just the number of calories that I consume (although the number is important to maintain my energy levels), its the quality of the calories. In general, the more processing conducted on a food product, the less its nutritional value.

I've come to recognize that fat is not something that I need to be afraid off. In fact, many vitamins are only fat soluible, meaning that can only be ingested in fat. I've also found that pastas, rices, and breads have very little nutrition, so I have little motivation to eat them. Ingestion of simple carbohydrates like table sugar and high fructose corn syrup are perhaps the most damaging of to our bodies by creating widely fluctuating insulin levels.

Luckily, I have an understanding wife who has been trying to accomodate my change in diet. Her home cooking, besides being speculatory yummy, is also very nutritional. I still struggle at times when it comes time for me to make my own meals, such as breakfest and occasionally lunch, mostly because I like the convenience that comes with pre-processed foods. But as I discover ways to eat healthy with quick prep time foods (that are yummy), I'm sure I'll be on the road to maintaining my health in optimal ways.

I would particularly recommend Good Calories, Bad Calories if you are interested in personal nutrition. The other two books offer a good history of nutrition and a context for understanding Taubes book. Escape from Hunger is interesting from an economic point of view. It adds a perspective to the industrial revolution.

New Baby

Yesterday, we added another baby to our troop. Mom and baby are health and happy (even if a bit sleepy).

A hint to his name:
His first is found in the founding,
although a father he is not.
His second comes from a father,
if you can guess the logic.
Some people say his initials are bad,
But what can I say, we like it.

Props to the first person who can guess his name.